The last Howard Johnson's restaurant
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- A few decades ago the orange roofs of Howard Johnson's restaurants were a welcome sight to hungry families looking for a fun and inexpensive meal. By the 1980s Hojo's era was beginning to fade, and today there is just one free-standing Howard Johnson's restaurant left. Correspondent Kristine Johnson travels to scenic Lake George, New York, to recall a bygone era.
My parents would always stop at Howard Johnson's when I was a kid. We stayed at the Motor Lodge and eat at the Restaurant. I liked eating breakfast and dinner their. I miss it!
Hotel Traveler me too! I miss it as well
William Stonehocker I've been to a few of them that were actually nice.
Loved HOJO's especially when took road trips with the family down south when I was 10 in 74
You liked eating breakfast and dinner THEY'RE.
Me 2, I'm 40 and remember the commercials with the news anchor guy[can't remember his name] and when my mother said Howard Johnson's was dead when I was like 13 I had a recurring dream in which the news anchor was melting into the parking lot.
The power of nostalgia. Looks like a fun place to go.
Thanks for the video!
It was!
@@karenstrycharz1499 What did you eat there?
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end......Oh yes, I'm so glad that I was at an age to enjoy all the Wonderful things from the 40's thru the 70's and up to the present time......Drive-In Movies, Roller-skating Rinks, Car-Hop restaurants, Local movie- theaters, 5 cent fares on buses and subways, (1945).... HA..... and 28 flavors (?) of Howard Johnson's Ice-cream.....I'M sorry to say that those days are gone forever but the memories will last a lifetime.....Enjoy life everyone.....It's precious.......
You are right! The best memories ever!
Now you gotta settle for 32 flavors at Baskin Robbins
I cried when our local one closed another chapter in my childhood gone forever..
The man is a saint in many ways. I remember pool parties at Howard Johnson's and they had really good hamburgers
The man is no saint. Google.
@@Arturo-sm1tb So it's true what someone else in this discussion said?
@@MisterMikeTexas HoJo was infamous for its Racial Discrimination and Segregation. That’s why they’re defunct.
As a child in the 1970s and 1980s, my parents would pile my brother, sister and I into the van for vacations in Maine, Michigan and Illinois to visit relatives. Dining at Howard Johnson Restaurants was always a part of those road trips. Thanks for the memories.
I loved the Howard Johnson's in Miami Shores, Florida. It was fantastic. Then there were Howard Johnson restaurants and lodges when traveling by car in the 1960 and 1970's. Great memories.
Love it, I pretty much grew up at Howard Johnson in Ohio. I used to love it. Please leave the light on for me. : )
"We'll leave the light on" was from another chain I think. There are still HoJo's motels... this was just the last free-standing restaurant.
@@robertlaw4073 Yes... You are right, Robert, that quote was recited for the “Motel 6” chain. WE’LL LEAVE THE LIGHT IN FOR YOU” is their well known quote( you are right & so cute) but I used to kiddingly tell my guests on my executive floors( I was Executive Concierge for two floors) at both Sheraton West Hotel( long gone too, in West Spfld., Ma) as well as the Holyoke Holiday Inn Holidome in Holyoke, Ma( torn down, too) I used to tease my guests when they left with that familiar, well known quote! So sad all these places are long gone!
...and now this one has closed as well as of June 2022. That's a real shame, I'll miss them.
Worked at Howard Johnson s iin Wetherfield Connecticut 1960-1962!!!
I wore that blue-green checkered uniform, with that white apron, and hair bow. LOL I worked the fountain during high school. Great memories....and all that ICE CREAM!
From 1956-59 we lived within walking distance of a HoJo and though I was in first through 4th grade, I remembered it as a fun place to eat.
Reminds me of the 70s....just built a time machine, who wants to go
🙋🏽♂️
just pick me up on the way
@@TJV64 you got it!
It was most definitely the 1960’s too. 😁We would say “Meet you at Ho-Jo’s!” ( restaurant)! It was so popular in the 60’s & 70’s. Sad to not see the familiar bright Orange 🍊 roofs everywhere!
Count me in.
Howard Johnson's was a great American restaurant chain which is now reduced to only one building located in Lake George, New York state.Hopefully Howard Johnson's revive strongly enough to compete with KFCs, Mc Donalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Star Bucks,etc. again. It would be an honor to see this iconic orange roof top restaurant being opened beyond USA.
I used to go to this place in Lake George NY, during the 80s and 90s, and at one time Rachel Ray’s family managed this place
Miss these places, also loved staying in the hotels with the green and orange colored rooms.
As a kid I loved the breaded clam fries and breakfasts there were made extra special with Orange Marmalade on English Muffins it was always a treat.
Their fried clams are unequalled anywhere to this day! I still long for their fried clam roll!
There is a original recipe posted from Howard Johnson’s in comments in one of the ones just over this post, so check! Person was so nice to do that! Good luck!
PS I checked for you & is is under the
“Baritonebynight”’ comment where someone gave us the “original recipe!”
I ate at the Lake George location, back in the summer of 1980. I remember a newspaper machine out front with a headline about the democratic primary and Ted Kennedy's run for the nomination against Carter!
now less than 50 years later, Jimmy is no longer the worst U.S. president, EVER
Great family memories! As a kid, eating at the Fairfield, CT location on the Post Rd. I was introduced to 2 VERY different things, that I still love; fried clams and "Indian Pudding"served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. These days the only Indian Pudding (baked corn meal, molasses, milk, cinnamon, etc) I've had, is made by me!
My grandmother loved Indian pudding & used to make it up. I forgot all about it until I read your post. My mom loved “Mince Pie”( my brother-in-law used to pick it up for her in Ct when she got old & didn’t feel like making it( sadly passed away on Oct. 27th, 2018) anymore. I remember that Howard Johnson’s on the Old Post Road in Fairfield, Ct( that route runs right through Springfield, Ma ( I live in area) & there used to be a Howard Johnson’s on the Old Boston Post Road in Spfld., Ma( still remains but no restaurant attached). Thanks So Much for your recipe & your memories!♥️
@@karenstrycharz1499 Glad my memories brought back some good ones for you too - thanks!
I still miss eating at Howard Johnson’s ❤️
I was 10 in 1975 and HJs were on the PATurnpike I loved the wintergreen candies and bathroom vending machines with small games in them.
After my mother died, my father and I frequented a local HoJo's. After a few years they got rid of the old furniture and replaced it with some kind of wicker design. Along with the change in decor, came a change in service and quality. And not for the better.
We eventually started going to Denny's. Better experience all around.
How I wish I could taste the fried clams again....
www.splendidtable.org/recipes/howard-johnsons-fried-clams
baritonebynight They were the best! My Dad and I loved them!
Poetcomic1, thank-you sincerely for the recipe!
How my mom loved those clam strips, too!
@@poetcomic1 it would take me to another App, I’m to afraid to go there. STOLEN PROPERTY THEFT & INSURANCE POLICY THEFT
Fried clams, frankfurters and ice cream sundaes. My fondest memories!
How my mom loved their clam strips! Their food & ice cream was good too. Remember going on a “date to one ”( we stopped for ice cream after dinner)! Best memories!
You saw these everywhere & what a great trip down memory lane. There was one left by entrance to the Massachusetts turnpike in Westfield, Massachusetts ( closed yrs ago!) but Orange 🍊 roof remained. They just completely renovated the two bldgs( another hotel there) but you can still tell by the roof’s shape, from those of us who remember, that it originally was a Howard Johnson’s hotel & restaurant really got next door. Sad to see them all gone!
I remember the Howard Johnson's across the street from the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. It was still hanging on in the late 80s, but it's long gone now.
It was a great place to eat and drink in the 80’s.
Right through the 60’s through the 80’s, it seems! Miss them so much!
I just read that the last Howard Johnson's has closed.
My parents used to take us to Howard Johnson's for breakfast in the 1960s and early 1970s. We loved it.
They used to have a desert called Frosty-ice cream or something similar. Bring them back.
i miss the food i ate there every morning for breakfast pancakes were very good when i work at the lodge next door
The greatest hamburgers in the world. I remember them when i was kid. The hotels were so comfy to..loved these places when i was a kd.
Have to give them credit for trying!
I'm the Oldest of three Boys. My family moved from New York when I was five and my Middle Brother was two and my baby brother was born in Cincinnati Ohio. Howard Johnson sent a Free Birthday Dinner and Birthday Cake Cupon to All three boys. My Birthday in August, Mitchell Birthday in March and Rodney in December and he got Two! One for Rodney and one for Quadney! Yep. He was Rodney going to New York to visit my Grandparents Aunts and Uncle and Cousins and he was Quadney on the way Back. My mom always got the Pistachio Ice cream for dessert and me and my Dad always got the Deep Fried Clams with the Cocktail Sauce! Mmmm Good and Hot. They had the Best New England Clam Chowder in the Winter time too! I miss Howard Johnson. They also had a Motel that we stayed at too! They were the best for families traveling!
💖💖💖💖💖❤❤❤💖💖💖💖Loved Howard Johnson's!!
Howard Johnson's was a staple of the Illinois Tollway when I was a kid and there used to be a restaurant above the tollway at an oasis. There was the motor lodge on highway 25 in Elgin next to the tollway; now it's the Lexington Inn & Suites.
I will always remember Howard Johnson's with memories of the Fish and Fried Clam fry on Friday nights. I would drive 25 miles one way every Friday night in to go to the Howard Johnson's for the fish and Clam fry. That Fish and those Clams were world Class.
I don't remember my parents and I ever staying or dining at a Howard Johnson's. In the chain's heyday, it must have been a great experience. So sorry the chain was allowed to tank.
Wikipedia says the land this restaurant is on is for sale, that the menu isn't the same as the classic HoJos thanks mostly to supplier issues, the hours of operation are very limited, and the owner did six months jail time for sexual assault. Well then.
Mad magazine did a brilliant spoof in the late 60s where a crazed father (pre-Vacation movie) has a quest to stop at "Johnson Howard's", "only 300 more miles!" though his family is starving. Once there, young Billy sarcastically orders Jack-the-Ripper jello, only to be scolded for not having the proper Johnson Howard's attitude.
Hey... that’s great Steven! Thanks for sharing that with us all! 🤣Loved it! ♥️
I miss HoJo's hot dogs the most. All beef, served in a buttery, lightly toasted lobster roll. Heaven on the cheap.
I remember them too, for some reason the exact same way with the buttery roll! I seldom eat hot dogs( love the imported with natural casing, if I do eat one but by husband loves any hot dog all, although he, like me prefers the natural casing too, ha!) but fir some reason, I too remember their delicious hot dogs . I always ordered the grilled hot dogs too!
I to miss Ho-Jo!
Never ate there. But we ate at places like Sambos, Denny's, Bob's big boy; growing up. Amazingly, Denny's still survives and is even open 24hours!
Miss the two Big Boy Restaurants that used me in West Springfield, Ma (torn down in Rt 5 & now a parking lot to a Dairy next door) & one in Westfield, Ma( turned into a 24 hr dr care office)!!! I took our kids to Sambo’s in the 80’s in West Spfld with my mom , but they closed that too, turning it into a Friendly’s ( one of only ones in area still open) many yrs ago. You are so right! So many places sadly closed! There are a few Denny’s open in this area although honestly, I never frequented them. Only been there once or twice my whole life through but I really miss A & W Rootbeer ( one left I know of on Cape Cod in Bass River area i think on Rt 128( scenic) right across the street from outdoor, in-ground trampolines we took our kids to ever summer & fall on vacations! I now return with grandkids & sons family! So much fun & the memories.... kids go on the trampolines & then after we stop at A & W right across the street for root beer floats, Hamburg, hotdogs & fries. Fun, inexpensive but unique( seldom see trampolines outside!) day!
Heard that he got into some trouble as posted below. I remember this one and the one in lake placid. Ho Jo's in Lake Placid was awesome when ole Mr. Butler was running the show.
Bring them back. please and started in the state of Georgia.
A+ video!
LOVE IT! Would love to go to a Howard Johnson's!
I have two restaurants with 10 miles of me that serve liver and onions. I love it but don't cook it so order at least once a month. We also have a Big Boy restaurant in my town and they offer the clam strip dinner. Still possible to get those old time favorites.
My first HoJos memory is being about six years old and traveling with my mom and a public health nurse to Ann Arbor, Michigan from about 250 miles north. I was to have tests on my kidneys the next day at the U of M Hospital so we stayed at the motel and ate at the restaurant. I very clearly remember getting spaghetti and a big scoop of ice cream for dessert. What flavor was the hardesr decision of my then 6 year old life. lol
In the1960s, my parents took me, my sister and my grandmothers to Lake George every summer and we ate at this HoJos almost every night. From those large pane windows we saw lightning strikes and famous people, like Larry Storch. It is so good to know it's still there.
+BirdMan Do you intend to return to this restaurant?
I miss my grandmother ( Nana) too but still love Lake George! What great memories you must have! Thanks for sharing them all with us!
Excellent...Treasures of the Heart..
Goodbye to family restaurants and stores amazon is taking over everything it’s very depressing
Don't be shocked when Amazon metastasizes into CADRE from "The Running Man".
Sad part is we are doing it to ourselves. We could stop Amazon but Jeff Bezos knew how to play into convenience and then others followed. That is the demise of Sears, KMart, Macy's, Toys R Us and so many more brick and mortar stores. People have become lazy and reclusive.
Now it’s official (June 2022)
I’ve gone to Lake George every summer since I was 6 weeks old (23 now) & the Howard Johnson diner is still there as last July!
How great it is still there & what great memories you must have, going there every yr since a baby. I so love Lake George but haven’t been there in yrs! ( Went there with a girlfriend at 18 on vacation & then we took our sins there when they were teenagers! Loved Lake George & I have to return!
@@karenstrycharz1499 Yes! I still haven’t missed a year and now have daughters of my own that I bring! Carrying on the tradition, never gets old!!
you were even named after the place
@@natalliaf6387 hahaha exactly!!!!
Howard Johnsons began its decline in the mid-1970's, when high gas prices served to discourage interstate travel, which was a vital part of its clientele. Also, fast food chains gained favor with travelers, as they were cheaper and more kid-friendly.
Fast food chains have caught up! It's easy to spend over $12 for a combo meal at DQ.
@@MisterMikeTexas How right you are! I tell our grandsons that I rather take them to a good restaurant, than a fast food restaurant ( take food home) for prices are now comparable!
My family never went out to eat at a restaurant ever. Not one single time. It would have been great fun! I made up for it with my kids. They took it for granted i think.
Awwww that’s to bad “T mo.” I imagine it was tough not once to get that treat to eat out. So good you did with your own children though, as I did too, ironically enough. My parents really never took us out too, remember once or twice ( they did do fast food, to bring home only, when we got older but probably because I worked at a Burger Chef at 16, getting discounts 🤣) because there was 6 of us( mom & stepdad probably did eat out, in reflection ) but then as a teenager I ate out all the time(after I got a job). I did go with my girlfriend’s family, eating out occasionally , when I spent the night & my great aunt & uncle took me for breakfast to Bickford’s or Little Joe’s when I spent the night! They were good to me too as were my best friend’s parents. My beloved “Nana” too, took me to Friendly’s, Woolworth’s & Kresgee’s five & dime store lunch counters all the time. She was so good to me! I, like you took our three boys out all the time & grandsons too!
My mother cooked breakfast lunch and dinner every single day for her husband and five children. But every year we went away for a week and we did eat in restaurants while on vacation. And in the 1960s and early 70s we did eat breakfast at Howard Johnsons.
@@jeffhampton2767 You are blessed. I am also blessed but it would have been even better if we could have gone on a single vacation.
All the service plazas along the Pennsylvania Turnpike started off exclusively as HoJos . Way before my time.
Wish I could go there. Unfortunately health issues put me on disability. I actually grew up IN Howard Johnson's. My dad was in Management-they moved him all over Texas to fix failing Restaurants-I averaged two schools a year, sometimes three until my Sophmore year. Closed down oneof the last HoJo's in Texas about '84. Dishwasher, Prep, Waiter, Bussboy-started at age 8 or 9.. Still have a few of the original Plates with the Pieman logo on them.
My first job was at a Howard Johnson"s. Like the man in the video I was also a dish washer and later a line cook.
This one sadly is NO MORE since the owner was arrested recently. So Howard Johnson’s is basically defunct.
Jo Cox arrested? For what if I may ask.
Brian Munoz
Sexually abusing female employees
Dafuq?????
My reaction indeed
Jo Cox I was not expecting something so serious.
I miss it.
I have eaten great food here in the 90.s when I worked next door at the Northland lodge as a desk clerk and groundskeeper I miss this place
This HoJo's closed in late 2017.
.....That is to bad it closed!
things just seemed better back then! sure hope he and it are a smashing success==part of america--my prayers are with him
Best breakfast. Best Hot Dogs grilled in butter and the bun too.
I loved their hot dogs & seldom eat hot dogs but loved their hotdogs grilled in butter( black spots just like cooking outside on the grill!) & buttery roll! You are so right!
What really destroyed Howard Johnson's was not so much the competition as American corporate profit raiding. At the end of its existence those running Howard Johnson's merely milked and wrung out whatever remaining dollars of it they could with the least expense or investment in the business possible, regardless of how that affected the brand's quality of the corporation's long-term viability.
Like many businesses that had been run well and profitably for decades, Howard Johnson's became a victim of the 80s, in which the management philosophy was to extract as much profit as possible as quickly as possible, then carve it up and sell off the assets to the highest bidders, destroying the business (and tens of thousands of jobs) in the process.
So many companies have suffered that fate, like K Mart and Sears also.
@@Scott__C , yes, the Reagan economic model we’ve been following for roughly the last 40 years has made a small number of people huge amounts of money and exponentially less money as you work your way down the ladder. The middle class, to do spine of economy is in chronically very difficult straits, and the working class poor are permanently in desperate straits. The operative word in “trickle down economics” is “trickle,” and a very, very thin trickle it is - on a hot arid day - so there is nothing left for anyone on the bottom.
@@inkyguy Very true.
I wish we had one here in Oklahoma. Looks good
We have braums
@@kaoswarrior00 yeah we have a Braum's to my daughter works there, I wish we had a cafe like it was in those days .
i remember the one in times square, i thought wow the mets 3b man has his own restaurant
@Delightfully Charming 🍧Thanks for the info for I was “just trying to remember their🥛 sign”, trying to picture exactly how many🍦 flavors were 🍨advertised on it!🤣I was wondering if it was 21 🍨Flavors but that didn’t sound “right” to me & when I saw your post of “28 Flavors”, I immediately🧁 realized.... “that is it! Ha! 28 🍧Flavors!!! Thanks for your 🍧post!🍦
ahhhh'...the childhood memories, from an innocent time. 😔
How true!
Worked at HoJos in 1968
Anyone remember the HJ in Rego Park section of Queens NY? Was so large that they even did catering.
I heard on the news as of 10/31/2018 the owner is in jail accused of fondling female employees. I’m just saying
Lol. Damn.
Being on TV went to his head. “When you’re a star, you can do anything. Grab ‘em by the...”
I don't ever remember ever eating at a Howard Johnson resturant, but in Houston, Texas used to be a Howard Johnson motel, but operated by Asians off of I-45.
Love lake George
Me too! Beautiful place to vacation or go even for a day trip! So much to see & do there too!
they had damn good sausage and bacon eggs were great too
I liked the Howard Johnson's at US 218 & Cedar Heights Drive, Cedar Falls, IA
The problem is that it wasn't really a HoJos in the years leading up to it's closure. The owner was also arrested for SA as well. Wyndham owns a Howard Johnson in Lake George. There is no reason why they couldn't open a proper HOJo restaurant attached to the hotel.
All you can ear clam strips was the best
Someone posted their original recipe for clam strips in above comments. I tried it &i it came out scrumptious!!!! You lived the clam strips then you got to try it! Guaranteed you will love it! Tastes the same!
I was there last year.
Please don't ever go away, sole Howard Johnson's. I want some fried clams and pistachio ice cream.
In St. Louis in high school we guys would go on the night they had 'all the fried clams you can eat' and it seems... we put them out of business.
By the end of 2021, the last Howard Johnson's restaurant in Lake George closed for good.
The very last one i ever saw open was in 1991 in Ohio along the turnpike. What i remember of it wasn't that great. Leaky roof, water stains, mediocre food, seagulls on the hotel roof that crapped everywhere, and ho hum service.. Surprisingly the building and structure still exists as a motel 6!!!
best french toast ever...
I also remember the one in Rock Creek when it was just one flavor.
They took this from you
That clam fry though… ❤️
Does anyone know how they are doing during covid? Sure hope they survive
Howard Johnsons got killed by the late 1970s because they has the turnpikes locked up solid, and the service there was AWFUL. People thought of them as a place you stopped at because you had to, not because you wanted to. So when they had a choice off turnpike they chose somewhere else
Is it still open?
Sadly, no.
So sad all these iconic places are gone out of business and what do we have now nothing but crappy places to eat, what the heck happen? These good old fashion places are were America.
Sh3 said they were all but gone by 1990, but i went to one in Milford, CT in 1996 or 1997 and it got robbed, so everyone at for free! Once the word was put, everyone stared at each other for second, then everyone ran out with no delay! The hotel part is still there to this day.
i love howard johnsons
I ate breakfast in that place a lot of times in 80s, trivia fact, Rachel Rays family worked there, wonder if this guy owned it then, anyway Summer time place was packed, shame it's over
I loved working at HoJo’s. Loved having a dish of ice cream for my dinner break. Pistachio and Swiss Chocolate Almond. And the Frosty (can’t remember the real name) that we used to make milkshakes with was Yum-oh!! Clam Roll and a cup of coffee. It’s where I first learned to enjoy a good cup of java. Oh yeah and their New England clam chowder. I wish it would be the original and not that “no water (or milk) needed stuff. That’s just nasty!!
Ohhhhh! I forgot about that flavor “Swiss Chocolate Almond” that used to be my favorite that I ate there “back in the day” & ate it with my hot fudge banana split & real whipped cream! Yum! Yum! I paid extra to have pecans sprinkled on it!
@@karenstrycharz1499 whew! You are a serious chocolate lover! I liked their pistachio and swiss chocolate!!
Farewell, Howard Johnson's. Your food will certainly be missed. 😢
Always had the fried clams !
Wish there were a White Castle and a Howard Johnson's in the Texas area.
+John Hintergardt you are not missing out on white castle believe me those burgers will....... i will keep it at that lol
That bad? If you come to Texas you should try Whataburger they are AWESOME!
John Hintergardt
i hear its amazing. and yeah white castle burgers get me so sick lolol they remind me of spam
Yes, Whataburger is great here in San Antonio, but we did have Howard Johnson, also a fun family stop was Stuckey's.
Salt water taffy. So good.
The “WHITE HUT” here in West Springfield, Ma are renowned for their burgers! Tiny place from wayyyy back & all they do is hamburgers, hotdogs, fried onions & fries( best breakfast ever!) but the hamburgers & cheeseburgers 🍔 there are best ever!
The 18 dislikes are probably from the local competition thinking they were finally over and finished, only to find out that one still survives.
I remember going to HoJo's fairly often on family vacations when my little brother and I were very young, None of this froofy vacations where you fly from PGH to TN in two hours. or FLA in three hours. Nope, We packed a few suitcases, the four of us piled into Dad's Ford Falcon van with carpeting all up on the walls, so at least it wasn't too uncomfortable. No seats meant nowhere to si but on the floor or one of the wheel arches. Before that, we had a GMC windowless panel truck. When we had that one, we were still able to be in a playpen, so that's how we rode when that was our road trip car. After that, we had a few VW Beetles, so we rode in that tiny little area behind the rear seat, which as I recall was fun scaring Mum into believing that we had been taken or left behind somewhere.
In the 1960s HoJo had the franchise on the Jersey Turnpike. My mom always wanted to eat the chocolate ice cream. I wanted the hamburger.
If Howard Johnson would Change their name to Howard Jones. They would still will be in business today.
Is this the one that was torn down recently?