This Once-Largest Restaurant Chain In America Just Shuttered Its Last Location

Eat This ^ | 6/8/22 | Melissa Fiorenza

[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."

[discostu]

I thought they all died in the 20th century. Like most of those chains they lived on that precipice level of mediocrity. You knew it wasn’t going to be good, but you knew it was going to be the same where ever you went.

[discostu]

We stopped being into mediocre food just cause it was fast and cheap. Since that was the entire chain, kinda hard to survive.

[Impala64ssa]

LOL! Reminds me of when Chuck McCann did a spoof on The Godfather "Don Corleone, you can only give me just st the one favor? The powerful Johnson Family on the east side has 31 favors "
"Guido, those are FLAVORS you idiot!"😃😆😆

[Vaduz]

Imperial sold Howard Johnson’s to “rival restaurant empire” Marriott for $314 million. After that, Howard Johnson’s locations began to disappear.

Ever wonder why people who invest your money in things are called brokers?.

[Albion Wilde]

It was a reliable place to go many stops along the way on Route 1 down to Florida and back. I loved their fried flounder and scallops.

[deport]

Defunct restaurants in the United States[edit]

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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• Arthur Treacher's – fish and chips, one location remains^[1]
• Big Daddy's Restaurants
• Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill
• Bill Knapp's
• Blue Boar Cafeterias
• Boston Sea Party
• Bresler's Ice Cream
• Briazz
• Brigham's – a Boston-area ice cream parlor and restaurant chain that closed in 2013^[2]
• Britling Cafeterias
• Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse
• Burger Chef
• Carrols Restaurant Group
• Cheeseburger in Paradise
• Chi-Chi's
• Childs Restaurants
• China Coast
• Clifton's Cafeteria
• Clock
• Coon Chicken Inn
• Cuppy's Coffee
• Deco Refreshments, Inc.
• Dee's Drive-In
• Don Pablo's – closed in 2019
• Druther's
• Dubrow's Cafeteria
• Earl Abel's
• Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour
• Forum Cafeterias
• Fresh Choice
• Geri's Hamburgers
• Gino's Hamburgers
• Henry's Hamburgers
• Holly Tree Inn
• Horn & Hardart
• Horne's
• Hot Shoppes, Inc.
• Howard Johnson's – a restaurant chain that featured an iconic orange rooftop, reasonably priced, consistent-quality menu items; founded in 1929 by Howard Deering Johnson in Quincy, Massachusetts; at its cultural peak, it served more meals outside of the family home than any entity except for the US Army; in 1979 it had 1,040 locations, but only one franchise remained open in Lake George, New York^[3] until its owner was arrested in October 2017.^[4]
• Huyler's
• Isaly's
• JB's Restaurants
• Kahiki Supper Club
• Kenny Rogers Roasters
• La Petite Boulangerie
• Laughner's Cafeteria
• Little Tavern
• Lone Star Steakhouse – parent company for other restaurants
• Lum's
• Lyon's
• Manning's Cafeterias
• Mighty Casey's
• Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken^[5][6]
• Montana's Cookhouse
• Morrison's Cafeteria
• Mr. Fables
• Mr. Steak
• Nedick's
• Nickerson Farms
• Official All Star Café
• Pancho's Mexican Buffet
• Pioneer Chicken
• Po' Folk's – once owned by actor Burt Reynolds^[7][8][9]
• Pok Pok – Portland, Oregon and New York City
• Red Barn
• Rio Bravo Cantina
• Roadhouse Grill
• The Royal Canadian Pancake Houses
• Rustler Steak House
• S&W Cafeteria
• Sambo's
• Sandy's
• Schrafft's
• Sholl's Colonial Cafeteria
• ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen
• ShowBiz Pizza Place
• Signatures Restaurant
• Sisters Chicken & Biscuits – founded in 1979, this was Wendy's first attempt to expand beyond burgers^[10][11][12]
• Soul Daddy
• Specialty Restaurant Group
• Steak and Ale
• Steve's Ice Cream
• Sweet Tomatoes – Founded in San Diego in 1978 and operated as Souplantation in California. Closed all locations temporarily in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but announced in May 2020 that the closure was permanent.
• Tasty Made
• Texas Land and Cattle – peaked at 20 locations, only 1 remains in Austin
• Two Pesos
• Valle's Steak House
• Velvet Turtle
• Victoria Station – one restaurant remained open in Salem, Massachusetts until it was abruptly closed in December 2017^[13]
• VIP's – Oregon-based restaurant chain
• Wag's
• Weenie Beenie
• Wetson's
• Whiskey Soda Lounge – Portland, Oregon and New York City
• White Tower Hamburgers
• Wimpy Grills – founded in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1934; eventually grew to 25 locations within the United States and 1,500 outside of the U.S.; its international locations were eventually sold to J. Lyons and Co. in the United Kingdom, which remains open while all of the American locations eventually closed by 1978^{[14][15][16][17]}
• Yankee Doodle Dandy
• York Steak House – one restaurant remains open in Columbus, Ohio
• Zantigo – a revival of the Zantigo menu and format has seven restaurants in Minneapolis, Minnesota^[18]

CLICK

[Tijeras_Slim]

Roy Rogers got bought up by some other chain, and disappeared.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I grew up on Long Island, New York and travelled in New England with my family when I was a kid.

Those Howard Johnsons restaurants, with their orange tile roofs, were everywhere.

They were famous for their fried clams and of course their many flavors of ice cream.

Some of the restaurants even included motels, such as the one I mentioned near Santa Barbara, California.

I don’t believe they showed the inside of a Howard Johnson in “Blazing Saddles.” As far as I know, the chain did not exist in the days of the Old West.

But when the camera panned the main street of the fictional town of Rock Ridge in the movie, one of the businesses said “Howard Johnson’s Ice Cream. 1 Flavor.” One of Mel Brook’s many amusing moments scattered throughout the movie.

[eyedigress]

I drove to Dallas last year and saw those things along the way.

They are freaky huge and went all in on big oil.

I really didn’t have time to check it out.

I noticed they are moving into the Carolinas and Tennessee.

[avenir]

I live in DFW and have only driven past them. I can’t eat all that good stuff anymore, but it looks like it would be fun for travelers and their kids.