And then there was one...

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
08/09/2017 at 15:50 • Filed to: None

I read today that there is just !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in America. What had been a cultural icon of the 60s and 70s with its orange roof and homemade ice cream has been reduced to a single second-rate, overpriced diner.

I photographed this sad Ho-Jos on Afton Mountain in Virginia a few years ago. This particular restaurant opened in 1948 and closed in 1998.

DISCUSSION (35)

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 15:53

You know what else I miss? Walgreens’ casual dining establishment called “Wag’s” — hard to find anything on it, but basically it was like a Denny’s/Shoney’s competitor and never quite hit its stride. Meanwhile the rest of the company soldiers on like a juggernaut.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 15:56

The last time I ate at HoJo’s was in Ithaca (I think?) over 25 years ago. As a place to stay, nope. But for their ice cream, I have fond memories. The rest of the food was pretty meh.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove
08/09/2017 at 15:58

I think you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody of our generation who never stayed in a Ho Jos, or at least ate at one. As a kid, I remember trips on the PA Turnpike where Ho Jos was the only restaurant at the TPK oases. Little mini Ho Jos built out of PA granite with the iconic cupola on top.

http://weburbanist.com/2013/12/29/hojos-lost-mojo-10-abandoned-howard-johnsons/2/

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:00

Never heard of Wags, but I certainly remember the drug store lunch counter. I can’t figure out how Walgreen’s and CVS can stay in business when they build stores across the corner from each other. And they build so. damned. many. of them.

interstate366, now In The Industry > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:03

My town had a Walgreens built across from a CVS, and it didn’t last long. There’s another Walgreens across town that has always been much more successful. It’s right across from a Rite Aid, which always looks like a ghost town.

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:05

We still have one independent drugstore with a full, old-school (vinyl and linoleum) diner inside. They make a crazy good cheeseburger. I sometimes think that — plus personalized service — is the only thing keeping them around amid all these generic drugstores everywhere.

On a sidenote, I’ll never forget walking around downtown San Francisco several months ago — Walgreen’s is like THE grocery store there. Some of them are really freaking nice, too. Fresh produce, the whole nine yards.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:06

Tried to stay at one once. Got there and found our reservation gone. We found a Holiday Inn. Kinda of what went wrong HoJo in a capsule, I guess.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:06

Wag’s was the high school hangout back when I was a teenager!! Loved that place at the time - -wasn’t it basically a midwest-only chain?

benjrblant > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:07

My college dorm was an old Howard Johnson motel.

ttyymmnn > benjrblant
08/09/2017 at 16:07

Did you go to James Madison?

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW
08/09/2017 at 16:08

I was in FL (this was elementary school) but I think they did several test markets. You can’t go wrong wherever old people want dinner at 5pm.

fhrblig > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:08

YESSSS. When I was growing up in Colorado Springs my mom would take me to the one inside the Citadel Mall. They had great patty melts.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:09

The only HO-JO I know of is in Helena MT and it has a relatively locally well known bar. The hotel is old, small and run-down. It’s not recommended to stay there.

benjrblant > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:10

Negative, I went to SCAD.

Street view.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:11

I grew up 15 minutes from their headquarters, so there were a few of them around us. We would go there later at night, usually somewhat drunk. After 10:30 or so on a weekend night, most of the crowd would be people I was in HS with.

fhrblig > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:12

I never got to go to one, myself. I don’t know if there were any where we lived. I don’t remember seeing them.

ttyymmnn > benjrblant
08/09/2017 at 16:12

There was a Ho Jos at JMU that was used as a dorm. They called it Ho Jos, not surprisingly. My understanding was that it wasn’t a very nice place to live, as it was across the interstate from the campus and not in very good shape. Actually, I’m sure it’s gone now. I graduated in 1989.

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW
08/09/2017 at 16:15

For us, that was usually Hardee’s, or sometimes Kenny Rogers Roasters (where I worked in HS; the thought being that if the cops rolled up, I could run inside — drunk — and go in the back, pretending to be going to work). Speaking of that restaurant, they apparently got bought out by an Asian firm, all the US locations are long since closed, and there are a handful left in the Pacific Rim, mainly SE Asia/Singapore. Weird story.

interstate366, now In The Industry > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:25

To my knowledge, I never ate at a Howard Johnson’s as a child (born 1986), nor have I stayed in one.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:27

I have never even heard of this place

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:30

Is that Wag’s or Kenny Rogers that got bought out? Presumably the latter- - ? That is an odd story—

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW
08/09/2017 at 16:33

Kenny. Wag’s just got quietly shut down by its parent. Looking around online, it’s almost like all record of it was erased :D

Kenny Rogers is a weird situation — I’m internally amused by the idea of a bunch of Indonesian people eating rotisserie chicken and cornbread to “Islands in the Stream.” I mean, your celebrity appeal can only go so far...or so I thought.

ttyymmnn > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/09/2017 at 16:37

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Johnson%27s

ttyymmnn > interstate366, now In The Industry
08/09/2017 at 16:38

1986 was pretty late for Ho Jos (I graduated college in 1989). It was huge back in the 50s-70s. They were everywhere, and it was more or less the standard place to stop on a road trip.

interstate366, now In The Industry > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:43

Yeah, I was a bit surprised about the existence of the restaurants when I found out about them around 2000. Also, my friend who lives in Waynesboro says the Afton one closed due to fire.

lone_liberal > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:43

The saddest part is that people no longer get the Howard Johnson jokes in Blazing Saddles.

Nothing > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 16:43

Wow. I’ve probably been to that one in Lake George, too.

ttyymmnn > lone_liberal
08/09/2017 at 16:45

I had that same thought earlier. This is such an awesome movie.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:46

Sometimes being an American joint is enough to attract a few people, I guess? Speaking of which - remember Chi-Chi’s? I was in Luxembourg last fall, and there was a Chi-Chi’s right across the square from my hotel.

According to Wikipedia, Chi-Chi’s now operates in China, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UAE, and Kuwait. Now that’s a weird mix of countries - for a ‘Mexican’ restaurant!

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW
08/09/2017 at 16:49

Wow...the last Chi-Chi’s I remember was in central PA about 20 years ago. I can hardly think of a Mexican chain anymore, but I just chalk that up to so much immigration in recent decades (no matter what people immigrate here for, they will always bring restaurants. Cool with me!). I can think of about 20 Mexican places here in Birmingham, but none has more than 2 locations. And all are good.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:53

Apparently they gave a bunch of people Hep A, and it drove the chain to bankruptcy - funny, but I don’t remember any of that.

And hell yeah on the local Mexican joints! The good ones are always 10x better than any big chain will ever be. I live around Chicago, which has lots of great Mexican - there’s a tiny taco joint right by my house that always has 20-25 kinds of homemade salsa and awesome tacos - dirt cheap, too!!

Edit - yeah, as you said, my comment above applies to any other kind of food, too!

Spridget > Ash78, voting early and often
08/09/2017 at 16:57

They’re expanding those too- the Walgreens near me has a small cafe, and another one has a full produce deal.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 17:02

Hmm, ok then

ttyymmnn > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/09/2017 at 17:41

It is (was) an American institution, a became an important part of American post-war motoring culture.

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn
08/09/2017 at 20:33

I moved away from New York right before the Lake George one reopened, had been watching it for months. Really wanted to have their fried clams one more time. Oh, well.

This is a really good lesson of how to totally and completely murder a great brand, for no apparent reason. See also Oldsmobile, Woolworths, Sears, Winston, and way too many more.

Howard Johnson Hotels apparently had a plan to revive the restaurants at one point, and was going to start serving some of the ice cream flavors in their lobbies, but that idea clearly died.