And then there was one… Last Hojo Standing – IOTW Report

And then there was one… Last Hojo Standing

There was a Howard Johnson’s in my hometown of Yonkers, NY.

We went there often after a night of just cruising around town, burning up about three dollars worth of gas.

My friend would always get the tuna melt.

I never had one. I wish I did.

He’s gone, the HOJO’s is gone, and I’ll have to go to Lake George, NY in order to get one.

After the penultimate restaurant closes on September 6th, in Bangor, Maine, the Lake George franchise will be the last one standing. Luckily they are going strong.

Nothing says Lake George like a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant.

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Then, in Lake George.

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Now.

HT/ illustr8r

27 Comments on And then there was one… Last Hojo Standing

  1. The one I deeply miss is Lums. Oh, for an Ollieburger, or their clam strips and fries! What once was a nationwide chain is down to a single unit in Bellevue, Nebraska, but sadly the word is that it does not serve the original menu.

  2. I waitressed at a Ho Jo’s in NH. Made great money.
    In Maine, as a kid, we always stopped for ice cream on the way home from the beach at the Ho Jo’s in South Portland. The restaurant is a Chicago Dogs but the hotel is still Howard Johnson’s.
    I miss them.
    I miss A & W too.

  3. Our family would go to both. One summer Lake George vacation had all five of us kids with Mom and Dad sitting against the window. I had a view of the the drive-in across the street (where the water park is now, I think.) Somewhere in the middle of dinner the drive in started playing a nudist film and this young 12 year old was mesmerized. When she started on the trampoline, my Mom noticed my eyes going up and down. We switched seats. Split and fried hot dogs on those rectangular buns. Hmmm.

  4. Weren’t a lot of these connected to a Howard Johnson’s motel? I ask because I remember staying at a converted motel that use to be Howard Johnson’s in CT and there was still an operating Ho Jo’s restaurant right across the parking lot.

    Based on what I’m seeing, it’s closed or been converted to something else now.

    I remember the motel had some kind of strange phone system that must have at one time been connected to a central switch board. I guess when they updated the phone system they had to leave the old phones and lines in place, even if they didn’t work anymore.

  5. @Dr. Tar

    Many of them did have a motel attached. The one in my hometown had an indoor pool where you could have a birthday party.

    When we were kids, my parents took us there overnight for a birthday party and to use the pool while work was being done at our home.

  6. Stayed at the one in Bangor a couple of years ago.
    Went in to have a drink at the lounge and was just settling in when I started looking around.
    Three Amazon sized women walked in and started dancing together.
    Trannies, gays, and lbjqtmsnbcs were everywhere.
    Pissed me off to have to leave a $9 double whiskey, but I had no choice as there were two very strange looking ?dudes? stalking me.

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