Posted on 06/11/2022 10:42:10 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
It all started when Howard Deering Johnson, who grew up in the town of Quincy, Mass., purchased a drugstore and began peddling homemade ice cream. His dessert became so popular, he then opened an ice cream stand on Wollaston Beach, where, legend has it, he sold as many as 14,000 cones in a single day. In 1929, the first Howard Johnson's restaurant opened in Quincy Square.
Fast forward to 2022, and what was the largest restaurant chain in the United States throughout the 1960s and 1970s—with more than 1,000 locations—is now closing the doors to its last remaining location. According to Eater, the 70-year-old establishment in New York State's tourist-packed village of Lake George did not open its doors during Memorial Day weekend and seems to have been shuttered since March.
The beloved restaurant chain began to take a downturn in the late 1970s. The company was first sold to Imperial Group, one of Britain's largest companies at the time, for $630 million in 1979. Six years later, Imperial sold Howard Johnson's to "rival restaurant empire" Marriott for $314 million. After that, Howard Johnson's locations began to disappear, and by the turn of the century, there were fewer than a dozen Howard Johnson's restaurants left standing.
The lease for the Lake George location is now listed for a mere $10 and is described as a "rare business opportunity to lease a prime piece of real estate in the heart of Lake George."
Care to reminisce? Look for a group called HoJoLand on Facebook. Its description: "A group for fans of HoJoLand.com, a website dedicated to an American icon, Howard Johnson's Restaurants and Ice Cream Shops. Long live the Orange Roof!"
The most recent post in that group reads: "Lake George is officially dead. Plastic tables and chairs removed. All memorabilia removed. Cobwebs on the door."
Then come the nostalgia-fueled comments, like "Had several great meals there on my honeymoon in 1963" and "Summer 1983. Nothing but happy memories for me and Howard Johnson's."
I remember that from a drive across the U.S. back in 1981 when I my dad had orders moving him from the East Coast out to Californing. We ate at Stuckey's a lot. We did the same thing on the return trip East a year and a half later.
I grew up near a HUGE Howard Johnson’s restaurant.
I’ve heard it was called the “Queen of the Chain”
It was advertised as the largest roadside restaurant in the world
It was located on Queens Blvd at Junction Blvd. in Queens, NYC. Late 40s early 50s I used to love their pistachio ice cream.
The following link has many images of this restaurant. Of note is the background. In early ones you can see the 1939/40 World’s Fair and then how the neighborhood built up over time.
http://www.highwayhost.org/NewYork/Restaurants/RegoPark/regopark1.htm
The last one I was in was in Newport Beach California and Buddy Ebsen was at the next table over with his two teenage daughters that I went to school with. That tells you how long ago that was !!
“On road trips with parents, always looked forward to stopping at on on the new interstates.”
That just sparked a memory. Early 70s summer vacation Somewhere in Virginia we ate breakfast at a HoJos and watched a guy hitchhiking get picked up.
Early evening somewhere in Georgia we had dinner at another HoJos and watched as a car stopped and the same guy from the morning gets out and throws his thumb up. He caught another ride before we had finished eating.
You are even more ignorant than if you were a native from the islands.
A main lander that never heard of HoJo?
Loved HoJo’s. Worked at one as a teenager on highway 1 across from the University of Miami. Spilled a chocolate milkshake (yum the best) on a customer one time. The clams were to die for. So Sad to see them vanish.
I thought the Howard Johnsons in Rock Ridge was still open.
Count me in as one who prefers the bellies in the clams. Otherwise, you might as well be eating fried calamari. Then again, I'm the guy that scrapes the tomalley out of lobster shells when nobody else will eat it!
HJ's also spun off a regional steak house chain in New England called Red Coach Grill during the 1960s and 1970s. This was considered an upscale eatery at the time and as I grew up near Saugus, MA, they had one right down the highway from the Hilltop - which was the busiest steakhouse in the world in the 1970s. If the lines were too long outside the Hilltop, one could go a couple miles further and get a table at the Red Coach Grill.
I wonder if many remember that some Howard Johnson restaurants not only served alcohol but also had a cocktail lounge in the back. I remember my father order a 7%7 there while we were having BREAKFAST!
They also had what was considered (at the time) an exotic item there called "Chinese Chow Mein." Back in the 1970s, getting a Chinese Chow Mein at the local HJ's with a 7&7 and clam strips was considered living on the edge.
I remember that too! At the time, it was considered "junk food" and an indulgence by my parents. Way more nutritious though than the chicken nuggets and fries that kids eat today.
This is exactly what happened to Applebees. In their early days, that was the place to go for casual dining. You got excellent value for top notch food. In the middle of the restaurant was a well lit neighborhood friendly bar where even women traveling on business could feel comfortable sitting at because they were surrounded by local families having dinner which really cut the "creep" factor down.
As the chain grew, the corporate consultants swooped in to save a nickel of cost here and a nickel of cost there to squeeze out as much margin as possible. Menu items were pre-cooked and frozen in industrial kitchens to be microwaved at the restaurants. I found this out the hard way when the broccoli I ordered with my bourbon street steak came still partially frozen. Also, the plates and silverware came to us with crud still on them. Disgusting. We ended up never going back.
Ared HoJos and Hot Shoppes related?
Cracker Barrel, where crackers aren’t treated like 2nd class citizens.
And Po Folks.
I remember they didn’t have Coke or Pepsi, they had “Hojo Cola” as their in house cola drink.
Yep I remember Burger Chef. They had good burgers, better than McDonald’s in my opinion.
So many formerly well known companies have gone under or merged out of existence, such as Burger Chef, Howard Johnson, Montgomery Ward, Woolworth’s, Toys R Us, Tower Records, Flying A gas stations, Border’s bookstores, Kinney Shoes, Thom McCan shoes, Robert Hall, EJ Korvette, and many others many of us grew up with are gone.
Not true.
ML/NJ
When I was a kid and we went on the annual two week driving vacation Howard Johnson’s was the go to stop for lunch or dinner almost everyday. Good times! 😊
Fried clam strips followed by a banana split.
FYI: Howard Johnson Motels are still widely available —
https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/hojo/locations
I remember the Minnie-Ha-Ha, but not the music. I am a bit older. My memories are of the late 60s and 70s. My last trip with my family was in 1979. We did a day trip to Lake Placid to see the preparations for the 1980 winter Olympics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.