Who here remembers Howard Johnson restaurants?(I bet no one)?

Question

Howard Johnson restaurants were way before the hotel chain, by twenty years......You probably lived out east if you remember them as they were off all the original eastern turnpikes.

http://autoage.org/
Only four remain. See the above link. So sad, in a route 66 way...

You would really get a kick out of the old restaurants that were
everywhere when we went on vacation in the 50's and 60's..
we are talking a major piece of americana...they absolutely
oozed with personality, and even the lettering was cool...
it was like a combination Diner/fast food restaurant.....it was really unique.......the links have lots of fun historical stuff about it

http://www.slamtrak.com/hojo2003/

They eventually built a motor lodge to compete with holiday inn,
and were really humming in the 50's and 60's....

now, just the hotel chain is left, and it has nothing of the nostagic,
slightly tacker diner feel or look to it anymore

http://www.roadsidefans.com/hojo.html

Almost forgot.....the famous orange roof!

i have to laugh at sonita's comment!
LOL! I take it little Sonita lives out west
AND is under 18. That would explain her utter bafflement at this question!

lee's sword is wrong(and needs to take anger management classes and stop fighting the civil war!). It was not a grand scheme to build motels that inspired HOJO
to start an ice cream shop. After the restaurants were a huge success off the eastern turnpike(s), motels opened next to
the restaurants to gleam business from the travellers. After awhile, HOJO decided
to get into the motel business with "if you can't beat 'em, join em" logic. Not any grand scheme at all. AND, HOJO's is very
much an eastern seaboard thing, though
there were some sprinkled here and there.
HOJOs got its start by getting commissions to serve the eastern tollroads. The south always had its own insular diners, and didn't erally join the franchise thing till the 60's. The south
did pioneer Shoney's big boy, which was
EXTREMELY similar to HOJOS, along with
Stucky's.

http://stuckeys.reachlocal.com/

http://www.shoneys.com/home.html

Our family has great memories of
both places on our travels south!

I stand corrected(sort of).....shoney's stood alone till the 60's, after which it joined with Big Boy restaurants of glendale california.
Big Boy itself is evidentally still around,
and shoney and big boy are seperate now.
hard to believe they are both still around, isn;t it?

http://www.bigboy.com/

If you want to waste 15 minutes on the
web, I could think of worse than clikcing on this link of the history of big boy restaurants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Boy_(restaurant)

evidentally there are big boy groupies, as this a little TOO informative but quite
hilarious site shows...admit it, was there ever a stranger looking mascot than the "big boy"?

http://members.aol.com/Pugwm/bobs.html

anyone want to buy a famous Stucky's
pecan role on the web?
Has to be one of the great items of americana, which there are very few leaft, sad to say.........some truckers live on the "logs"....LOL

Stucky's pecan role link here.........
order a four-pack!

http://stuckeys.reachlocal.com/coupon/?scid=142760&cid=35758&tc=06091913424941432&dynamic_proxy=0&primary_serv=stuckeys

Thanks for all the responses and memories
here! This is prob the main reason I love the web, when people can pool together
collective memories!
And remember, never eat at Mcdonalds-type major franchises....If you want comfort-food, go to the local gerasy spoon....and need your business a lot more! And we need them!

Answer 1

I only associate Howard Johnson restaurants with the hotels that are usually attached to them. But I have eaten in them many times, as I grew up in the east. The have obnoxious orange roofs, right?

Answer 2

I think one of the things I remember most were the hot dogs. Remember the squarish bun (with butter) or how about the fried clams dinner.
I grew up in PA and traveled the Turnpike many times with the parents and HoJo's had all the restaurants on the pike. Always informal and probably average fare, but when you were the only game in town.........
I think the hotel switch is what did them in. Back in the day or the evolving motel scene Holiday Inn appeared and more or less crushed the competition. There are still a few places left, but who knows for how long.
The last time I was in Bradford, PA HoJo's was the happening place as well as about the only "modern" hotel in town.
Ah nostalgia............

Answer 3

I used to eat and stay at a HoJo's diner/hotel in Boston when I went to school up there. Right next to I-93 at Exit 15 before all that was blown up for the Central Artery project. I miss that location.

There's also a HoJo's hotel on I-81 South near Lexington, VA.

Answer 4

You are a provincial damnyankee, I see. Howard Johnsons were on more than the "eastern turnpikes" as you so quaintly limit the world to your own experience of it.

Howard Johnsons were all over the nation, dudeyankee.

And they were an ice cream parlor chain before they were a restaurant chain and then a motel chain. Why? It was just a scheme to pay the land taxes while the traffic built up to justify the motels (second-rate, by the way).

The

Answer 5

My grandfather used to take me there about every other Saturday for a dish of coffee ice cream. This was in Perry, Florida. Oh, the good ole days. There's a big hotel in the spot now, don't recall if the diner remains.

Answer 6

Only four left? That is so hard for me to believe. Come to think of it, I haven't seen one for years, but have seen lots of the orange-roofed buildings converted to something else.
I always used to look forward to stopping at the HoJo and 28 flavors of ice cream at all times.
They always tried to hire the prettiest waitresses. HMMM, maybe it wasn't the ice cream after all.
Aaaah, Memories.

Answer 7

HJ sodas presented to recommendations right this moment ice cream sodas. i take advantage of to love to order a vanilla soda with mint chocolate chip ice cream. I also undergo in recommendations each and every of the Howard Johnson's on the Jersey Turnpike.

Answer 8

I remember HoJo's! That is the only restaurant I wanted to go to on my birthday because they gave me balloons and sang to me, which ALL restaurants do now. It's sad they're not around anymore.

Answer 9

I remember HoJo restaurants and hotels. I also remember the baseball player.

Answer 10

Howard Johnson's with the gross waitresses and Great food ??? sure !!! We used to go to one on rt 59 in Spring Valley NY...best diner food....especially after a night out drinking !!!