Anyone else miss Howard Johnson's?

[PCIntern]

I often get wistful at the turn of the year, and today I was thinking about the nearly completely missing HoJo's, with the Tendersweet Fried Clams, the HoJo 3D Burger which predated the Big Mac, and those delicious sodas over the shaved ice with a glass of water, also over the shaved ice...Yummy!

So I found a HoJo site and was reading about it after I'd done my perusal of Wiki...very interesting...There were three styles of restaurants, the ones I knew almost completely were the Nims style, named after the architect. also the Mansard design of the Gate building of each of the Motor Lodges. Wow! somewhere, I have a menu which I pilfered from one of the guest rooms when I stayed there oh so many years ago. I recall one morning awakening, going outside and lo and behold! the Weinermobile was parked right next to our car. WOW!

It's hard getting old...the memories are clear, but there are so few people, relatively speaking, who recall those days.

One funny story; I loved Crispettes, the HoJo candy which cost 15 cents at the counter, the three chocolate chip cookies cost the same, but it was years until I found out that Crispettes were the same as Butterfingers - which I avoided b/c of the name and the bright yellow wrapper. Weird...

I was a weird kid...

Nothing's changed....

[notadmblnd]

1. I think there's still one in Sandusky Ohio

The imploded the one across the street from where I worked in Detroit, years ago.

[Ken Burch]

2. According to Wikipedia, there are THREE remaining HoJo's(if you mean restaurants)

Lake George and Lake Placid, New York, and Bangor, Maine.

You could make have a somewhat fattening New England HoJo's weekend.

[PCIntern]

5. The central place for making the food

must be closed by now...wonder how they do it...

Horn and Hardart's keeps getting revived here in Philly, but they keep screwing it up...badly. I count 3 times and they don't know THE recipes...

soon, all who went there will be gone and it'll just be rumor as to how good it was...

[virgogal]

3. The grilled frank on the grilled {in butter )roll. God they were good.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

22. I worked the grill at Woolworths while in high school

They made a hotdog on the grill with this buttered kind of square bun. I still get a craving for those
along with the hot fudge sundaes.

[virgogal]

27. I worked at a Woolworth's in high school too=====many,many years ago.

There was a great lunch counter there also. (This was in Boston)

I miss the old "five and ten".

[EmeraldCityGrl]

30. I was in Chicago.

Remember the smocks we wore? Those were good days. ;-)

[virgogal]

31. They were fun,weren't they?

[Big Blue Marble]

41. Oh how I loved those hot fudge sundaes

and the cherry cokes from the fountain.

[Bluebear]

4. Yes, I do.

So many places from our ute...now just memories!

[The empressof all]

6. I was crazy in love with their Peppermint Ice Cream

It even had those little cracked peppermint candies in it. The Best! (Especially with Hot Fudge Sauce)

[Bluebear]

10. oh yessss....

MmMmMm

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Argh! My all time favorite ice cream flavor

Typically only can find it around here at the holidays.

http://www.edys.com/brand/grand/flavor.asp?b=134&f=1650&le=1

[Big Blue Marble]

42. It was the very best.

Peppermint ice cream is my favorite. It is
very hard to get. I miss HoJo's for that
reason and the fried clams. Yum!

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. They still exist.

Not sure about the menu though.

http://www.hojo.com

[pipi_k]

8. HoJo mac and cheese....

Pure Nirvana....

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Name the 28 flavors.

[PCIntern]

14. I think there were 22 constants and 6 rotated...

I think that's what I counted about 51 years ago...

As we say in dentistry...we have FIXED and we have REMOVABLE...on the mirrored area behind the counter was the ice cream menu....

[TheCowsCameHome]

Ah, memories..........

[femmocrat]

12. The ones on the PA turnpike were the best.

They were in beautiful stone buildings that looked like historic houses.



The buildings are still there but are full of fast-food joints now.

[Berry Cool]

23. I love those stone buildings, though.

They really do look like historic houses.

[boston bean]

13. Howard Johnsons started in MA.

Here is a link to many Howard Johnsons that use to be in MA (great pics and history). I think there still might be one on the pike in southbridge or sturbridge.

http://www.highwayhost.org/Stategateways/massachusetts.html

[snagglepuss]

38. That's a terrific site. I adore mid-century architecture.

Thanks for posting.

[elfin]

15. Fried Clams!!!! eom

[PCIntern]

16. Platter AND Roll!!!!

With "Tartare Sauce"

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. I grew up with HoJo's. We always stopped there driving from DC to NYC.

Hot dogs. Fried clams. Chowder. Loved it.

There are still a few, aren't there?

I was just watching "Dog Day Afternoon" for the first time the other night, a more compelling evocation of early 70's NYC you will not see. There's a phone conversation between Sonny (bank robber holding hostages) and his lover, Leon. Sonny tells Leon he's going to take the hostages to Algeria. Leon asks "why are you going to Algeria"?

Sonny (who's bullshitting and doesn't have a good reason) says "I heard there's a Howard Johnson's there, so I'm going." :rofl:

[Ikonoklast]

18. That's funny, I was just telling my kids about HoJo's last week.

How they were the place to go when out traveling, and how good the fried clams were.

[FarLeftRage]

19. No, there's a HoJo's 21 miles from where I live.

I can go there anytime I want... and yes, they have all of the stuff - ice cream, candy pies and other desserts.
And just about all the food they always had on their menus.

[PCIntern]

20. Tell me:

do they have the 3-D burger still???

If they do I'm on my way...

[FarLeftRage]

33. I don't know if they still do or not...

They do have a 3 for the price of 1 burger special on Tuesdays.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. Soon no one's going to get the Blazing Saddles reference to...

...to "Howard Johnson's 1 flavor ice cream parlor."

[Kahuna]

24. I do. There used to be one a few blocks from where I lived. I'd go there often

for meals.

[enigmatic]

25. we've got a Howard Johnson's Hotel down the road from me

But alas, it doesn't have a Howard Johnson's restuarant. Man, I miss those fried clams..

[femmocrat]

29. We have a HoJo motel nearby, too.

The restaurant closed a number of years ago, though. My neighbor owned it and employed a lot of local kids there. My son worked there summers while in high school and college.

Sorry it's gone.

[Berry Cool]

45. OK, thanks for reminding me of that book "The Clam Plate Orgy"

by that nutjob Wilson Bryan Key who thought subliminal images were worked into all advertising to help sell the products, and that the fried clams at HoJo's were photographed specifically so they'd look like a mass of writhing bodies having sex.

You'll never look at that image the same way again, will you?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

26. Anyone else remember HoJo's salt water taffy?

Somewhere in some junk yard there's at least one 1970 Ford Country Squire wagon with gooey taffy gunk in the corners of the back deck.

[snagglepuss]

37. Great image.

:thumbsup:

[Big Blue Marble]

43. I do.

It was great.

[supernova]

28. There's one near Winchester, VA

I couldn't believe it. There hasn't been one in Durham/Raleigh area for 20+ years.

My SO and I want up there the last week of October for a meetup with other home theatre enthusiasts. We got up there pretty late.

I couldn't believe that I was seeing that crazy orange roof in the middle of the night.

We used to go to the one here in Durham all the time to eat out and for late night ice cream runs. My Mom loved Swiss Chocolate and my Dad loved Pistachio. I think I often got orange sherbet as well as swiss chocolate. ;-)

[struggle4progress]

39. Are you certain? I've only been in the area for twenty years, and for part of that time

I thought for sure there was an orange roof at I-85 and Hillandale, closed about fifteen years ago and replaced by another eatery in the same place

[shadowknows69]

32. Hell yes. Damn you for the memories of appetites I can no longer sate.

I miss HoJo.

[Bobbie Jo]

34. Shirley Temple :)

My folks used to hook me up with a kiddie cocktail. Good times...good times. :)

[Kingofalldems]

35. I also miss Hot Shoppes--the DC area.

I would love a Mighty Mo right now.

[shadesofgray]

36. God, me too, I always considered Howard Johnson's the poor man's version of

the Hot Shoppes.

I did like it, though (their hot dog buns have never been equalled). But I LOVED the Hot Shoppes.

I have a book of their recipess for everything from the chicken noodle soup (with the little round noodles) to the Mighty Mo and onion rings to their orange freeze - but I can't cook worth a damn.

[autorank]

40. Hot turkey sandwich, clam plate

HoJo's - damn, these were good dishes.

Oh, yeah, Wednesday night fish fry;)

[Golden Raisin]

44. Wow! Blast from the past!

I used to love their chicken croquettes (with cream gravy), which used to be available in frozen form in supermarkets but seem to have disappeared. Back in the late 1960's/1970's there used to be a HoJo's on Broadway, just a few blocks south of Lincoln Center. A bunch of us used to go there after the Opera for a midnight meal/snack.