US: Howard Johnson's restaurant to close, leaving only 1 more

[webfact]

Howard Johnson's restaurant to close, leaving only 1 more

By DAVID SHARP

 

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — The closing of one of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants in a couple of weeks will mark the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers and leave the once-proud restaurant chain teetering on the brink of extinction.

 

The slice of roadside Americana will no longer be served up in Bangor after Sept. 6.

 

For waitress Kathe Jewett, it's the only job she's held since starting work when the restaurant opened in 1966.

 

"It's bittersweet, but it's nothing to be sad about," the 68-year-old Jewett insisted Tuesday during a break from serving customers. "I've been here for 50 years — and it's time."

 

The closing will leave only one Howard Johnson restaurant, in Lake George, New York.

 

Before falling on hard times, Howard Johnson took restaurant franchises to a new level. The orange-roofed eateries once numbered more than 800, with the New England-based restaurant chain predating the ubiquitous Howard Johnson hotels.

 

Howard Deering Johnson started the business in 1925, when he inherited a soda fountain outside Boston. That evolved into a chain of restaurants featuring comfort food and 28 flavors of ice cream. The orange roof with a blue spire represented a dependable place for travelers to park the family car, grab a meal and spend the night.

 

In Bangor, the Howard Johnson Restaurant and Lounge in its heyday was popular with travelers and locals alike, including horror and science fiction author Stephen King. King, who lives in Bangor, said he used to eat there often and enjoyed the patty melts and milkshakes.

Owners David Patel and his wife, Sally Patel, kept their restaurant going for the past four years as business slowed and hours were scaled back to just breakfast and lunch.

 

"It's not worth it to keep it open. We tried for four years," Sally Patel said Tuesday, noting the hotel side of their business remains healthy and will be unaffected by the restaurant closure. "We felt bad to close it."

 

Fortunately for HoJo fans, the Lake George restaurant appears to be on solid ground and is open year round.

 

"We're doing great," owner John LaRock said. "We're going to do some renovations this winter. Spruce it up, keep it going."

 

He said it's a "good feeling" to be keeping the HoJo legacy alive.

 

"Knowing I have the only one left makes it special," he said.

 

There was a tinge of sadness Tuesday as Bangor diners digested the news.

 

Christopher Leek, of Orrington, learned while celebrating his 49th birthday with his girlfriend and his mother that the restaurant he's visited since childhood is about to close.

 

"I'm devastated," he said. "It's my favorite breakfast place. It's a homey place."

 

Walter Mann, of New Haven, Connecticut, who started a website dedicated to documenting HoJo's restaurant history, said he and other HoJo fans still hold out hope that an "orange knight" will step forward to revive the restaurants. If not, he'll still cherish the memories.

 

"A lot of people have warm, fuzzy memories of a more innocent time," he said. "People certainly crave for something like that to bring back the good memories."

___

Associated Press writer George Walsh in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-24

[Ulysses G.]

One of my favorite jobs was working at a Howard Johnson's hotel in San Francisco. It did not have the orange roof or restaurant though. It was a Ho Jo's in name only.

I made really good money and had lots of fun. The manager was a big drug user and drinker and the staff loved him. He liked to share and he let us stay in the rooms for free. I wish I could find a job like that now.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[ezflip]

HoJo was always the highlight of my childhood summer road trips through NE America. Loved their milkshakes. Sad to see it go.

[ilostmypassword]

I know a French Chef who when he came to the United States refused all kinds of haute-cuisine offers to work for Howard Johnson.  He wanted to learn about this part of the food industry. That was when the original Howard Johnson ran the place.  He  said Howard was a stickler for quality. But when his some succeeded him, the quality standards were drastically lowered. That's when Hojo's began its decline.

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I used to eat there as a kid. I'm surprised they still even have one location! I remember the clam strips. I can't remember other menu items. Hot dogs? 

 

I remember (quite possibly incorrectly) a story my Dad used to tell me. He grew up in the great depression and his family was literally starving. They call it "food insecurity" these days. His story was they went into Howard Johnsons and put saltine crackers and ketchup in a glass of water and that would be a meal. He had a funny name for that delicacy but I don't remember it.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

I always had the clams and ice cream for dessert - 28 flavors!

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Ulysses G. said:

I always had the clams and ice cream for dessert - 28 flavors!

Yeah, ice cream, that rings a bell. Probably banana splits and shakes too. 

[yellowboat]

When did the one close on Manhattan?  Ate there when very young.  They guarded their restrooms zealously, even if you ate there.  Always loved Howard Johnson's hotel. 

[kamahele]

Wow. End of an era for those my age and older. As a kid, loved to stop by for ice cream. As an adult, loved that wherever you were in the country and whatever time it was day or night, you could get a good, filling meal while on a long road trip.

[snooky]

At one time, most, if not all, the rest areas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike were run by HOJO - enjoyed stopping there and passengers on my bus would run out to grab something quick to take with them even if we only had a ten minute stop.  They will be missed - end of an era!  The only thing I did not like was the introduction of fake cream for the coffee which is now widely used the world over.

[TheFishman1]

I use to really like there 28 flavored ice cream good old days

[dddave]

As a fifteen year old, my first real summer job on Cape Cod was at "Ho-Jo's" in Orleans, Ma.  It was the first Howard Johnson's on a highway (Intersection of Rt's 6 & 28) but it was never actually a franchise.  The owner was a crusty old salt named Reginald Sprague and he had been a high school classmate of Howard Johnson in Quincy, Ma where Johnson opened his first fried clam/Ice Cream stand near Wollaston Beach. Coincidentally, that same stretch of beach was where the first store of another famous and now huge franchise operation got it's start: Dunkin' Donuts.

Sprague helped Johnson build his first real restaurant, then built his own, buying his Ice Cream from HJ but preparing all the other food from scratch, except for the clam strips.

I worked there for two summers and had the time of my life, making friendships some of which I still have.  The whole crew was high school and college students and we partied every night after closing.

The restaurant building ceased being a Ho Jo's in the 1970's but is still there under a different name.

I'd kill for just one more Ho-Jo's clam roll.

Edited August 24, 2016 by dddave

[mamypoko]

9 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

One of my favorite jobs was working at a Howard Johnson's hotel in San Francisco. It did not have the orange roof or restaurant though. It was a Ho Jo's in name only.

I made really good money and had lots of fun. The manager was a big drug user and drinker and the staff loved him. He liked to share and he let us stay in the rooms for free. I wish I could find a job like that now.

Ho Jo's East Bay! Many fond memories, as well.

[SOTIRIOS]

...wow...full circle....

 

...fond memories....clam chowder.....pie a la mode.....

[jgm005]

Peppermint Ice Cream and Fried Clams.  I remember the one in San Francisco very well

[Dustdevil]

Howard Johnson's was featured in "Mad Men" as the wave of the future in 1962 or so, cheerful, colorful, best food for road warriors; the 28 flavors were something new and fun; Don Draper and wife ate there so it must be cool. There are still HoJo budget motels, right? But I think they're not particularly highly ranked. I stayed in one in Abu Dhabi of all places back in 2004. Pretty bad, obviously locally run and overrun with pushy Chinese ho's.

[radiochaser]

I believe there was a Howard Johnson's motel and restaurant in Udon Thanii back in the 1970's.  They had a bowling alley in there too.  Several of the ladies that I dated like to go there.