In a few weeks, one of two remaining Howard Johnson restaurants will close down, which means that there will only be one remaining to serve up fried clam strips and other favorites of customers past.
After Sept. 6, the HoJo in Bangor, ME, will be closed, the Associated Press reports. It’s the only place one waitress has worked since she started working at the restaurant in 1966, but she’s prepared for the end.
“It’s bittersweet, but it’s nothing to be sad about,” she told the AP. “I’ve been here for 50 years — and it’s time.”
In its heyday, the franchise chain — known as Howard Johnson or Howard Johnson’s — boasted more than orange-roofed 800 locations in the U.S. And lest there be any confusion, the restaurants came before Howard Johnson hotels, though they were often paired together. The restaurants served as an easy spot for travelers who could park the car with the family, have a meal, and spend the night.
The husband and wife owners of the Bangor JoJo say they had kept the place going by scaling back to just serving breakfast and lunch in the last four years, but it was just getting too hard.
“It’s not worth it to keep it open. We tried for four years. “We felt bad to close it,” one of the owners said Tuesday. The hotel side of their business is still healthy, however, and won’t be affected by the restaurant’s closure.
The one remaining HoJo restaurant will be in Lake George, NY (as seen in the photo above) which is nowhere close to closing, according to the owner.
“We’re doing great,” he told the AP. “We’re going to do some renovations this winter. Spruce it up, keep it going.”
Howard Johnson’s restaurant to close, leaving only 1 more [Associated Press]
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