Does anyone have fond memories of Howard Johnson's?

You know, the restaurant/motor lodge?

Being I youngun, I am kind of fascinated by the concept. I've been reading about the chain (the original chain, not so much the more recent incarnations) and can't help but feel that I missed out on a particular piece of Americana.

There are only 4 HoJo's restaurants left in the United States: 2 in New York, 1 in Connecticut, and 1 in Maine.

Anyone have memories, good or bad, of this fading roadside staple?

:hi:

wow, they used to be everywhere. I didnt even notice.

All you can eat on Fridays. Man those were great. And their coconut ice cream witht hot fudge sauce!

you are lucky,you can buy a box of salt water taffy in the lobby.

The greatest traffic buster when I was a kid. My parents would stop there for clam rolls all around.

and in this part of the country, that is sacrilege.

East Coast style fried clams are nasty!

as a kid in Massachusetts I always loved going to HoJo's...It was a special treat, especially their fried clams!

When I was pregnant with my son, we drove to Disney for a convention for my husband's work. I made him stop at every single one so I could have Peppermint Stick Ice cream. Nothing like it on the planet.


Then, there was the time my dad took my mom to HoJo's for dinner and when the bill came, he looked at her and said 'we need to stay out of these high priced joints'. He was a great guy.

:bounce:

You are a genius! That is still my all time most favorite, deliciously cooling treat in the wide world. My parents used to stop off at Howard Johnson's (though we always called it Johnson's Howard) on the way home from visiting my sick grandmother when I was a kid. It was always a really nice end to a tough trip.

We loved those places because you could sit down and have a real meal for cheap (kids were dirt cheap, sometimes free, with adult meal purchase). The fried clams were really good for a long time, but eventually they turned into crap. It was a great concept.

God! Is that all left? WTF happened? Even when I was in college (80's) they were still around.

and getting a big greasy plate of i don't feel good.

They were already over the hill when Ho Jo's arrived here in California. I guess most of what I know about Howards Johnson's was learned in that fine film by Mel brooks, "Blazing Saddles".

and get some onion rings with my allowance money.

A good place to stay for the family with young children. Its big competitor was the Holiday Inn. The food wasn't always spectacular. At least that's what I remember when I stayed at the Washington DC HoJo (it was across the street from the Watergate!). After a couple of days the food all seemed to taste the same - I called it soylent green!

I also remember HJ's had a motel outside of Ann Arbor. The "rooms" were miniature houses with a bedroom, bath and living room. They were built with red brick and looked just like small houses.

Sometimes I'll keep a window open (on the desktop) of the Times Square streaming webcam (with wonderful NY street sounds!). One sequence has the camera aimed at the last NYC HJ restaurant. It closed last summer.

I was at a scifi convention (geek that I am). My (now ex) wife couldn't be bothered with it.

But we met up at HoJo's. She was waiting in the booth. When I sat down, she rubbed the fabric of the seat and said " Naugahide, made from real Naugas" (Old joke,yes)

"Oh those poor Naugas! Haven't they discovered vinyl yet?"

Then we snogged like crazy.

The food was freakin' unbelievably awful, the service made me wish I was packing an Uzi.... but it was a good memory.

And it's an American tradition!


Khash.

I stayed in one in Hattiesburg, MS, that had a jacuzzi in the room. When I turned on the jets, dead gray skin particles spurted out, turning the water into a cloudy, slimey mess. Silly me to assume that the cleaning staff would actually clean the tub on occasion. Oh, and the toilet didn't flush, either.

I demanded a refund (and had to fight for it!) and moved next door to hotel that I should have booked to begin with.

I remember waffles and syrup and ham. Also Cowsills on the jukebox.

There was one across from the Watergate in DC up through the early 90s. I used to go to breakfast there sometimes with my girlfriend. The last time we went to breakfast there, my girlfriend went in to use the bathroom and came out immediately. Apparently some infant's feces episode had rendered the entire bathroom unusable.

It's actually a pretty classy place. My family stayed there one time when visiting me. It used to be a Quality Inn, but was bought out by HoJo's and renovated further and made really classy.

I'm from a typical mid-western, middle class family, so you know that our 70s vacations included HoJo's.

My favorite as a kid was their hot dog. It was served on a toasted split roll instead of the normal bun. I also loved their mint chocolate ice cream. I can remember that the scoop was pointy and there was a little sugar cookie on the side.

Very good memories! :)

circa 1968 with a family on vacation or something, and the kids begging to stop to eat. They passed all these places because mom 'n' dad were hell-bent on getting to a HoJo's.

"It's only 200 miles! Howard Johnson's! Howard Johnson's! Howard Johnson's! Howard Johnson's!"

Being a Kollyforniyan, I didn't really get the joke.

I grew up in Somerville, NJ. There was one HJ, out on Route 22. Back in those days folks didn't eat out all that much. There were some fancy restaurants I guess but we never went there. We went to HoJo's maybe once a month..probaby payday. And it was a BIG DEAL! I usually got the fried clams. My husband tells me he always used to get the turkey (we grew up in the same town.) I think I got hamburgers a lot, too. And Coke! We NEVER had Coke at home. And of course, an ice cream for dessert. It had a real soda fountain. Think 1950's neon retro and you have the picture. I can't remember if there were individual juke box stations on the tables or if that was a diner nearby. When I got into high school, HoJo's was THE place to go after ballgames, dances, etc. It was a great place.

Oh...and clam chowder. With crumbled saltines. And waitresses wore little green hats and matching aprons.

Is the building now a steak house, across from the mall? I recall a weigh station in that vicinity.

but it was definitely on the island between the east and west bound lanes. You parked on either side. You could get there from both sides. I lived about a mile away.

and my in laws are in S Plainfield so I travel that section of 22 quite a bit. I remember Gene Shepherd made fun of 22 and all its diners. And the Gaston Ave Bakery - yum yum. haven't been there much since the original owners sold out several years ago.

and my father in law is still there, so it is regular. They still use all the old recipes and I can't see anything that has changed. The crum buns are exactly the same. I jokingly tell people I want my ashes strewn over the Gaston Ave Bakery. It's hard to get a good bakery here in FL. They don't use real butter..they use lard or something. Everything looks great and tastes like grease.

I learned to drive on Route 22. Maybe it is why I don't drive anymore! I love to watch the Sopranos just to get a glimpse of NJ.

Is the HoJo building still standing, do you think?

Not anymore as I'm on a no fat diet. Glad to hear the recipes are unchanged. I'll have to stop by to pickup goodies to take to work. They had a cherry cheese coffee cake (don't remember what they called it) that was my favorite. Saturday mornings were the best time except for the lines.

The HoJo building is still there, minus the orange roof. It's been remodeled and it's now a steakhouse (never been there). Parking on both sides of 22 just as you said.

If you learned to drive on 22, you can drive anywhere!

I just learned it about her today.

HEY KITCHENWITCH! TELL ME ABOUT IT!

We were discussing salt water taffy and frozen custard earlier today.

We moved to Minnesota when I was four.

I was born in Somerset Hospital. I'm fourth generation NJ and my kids are fifth. But we moved to FL and this generation was born here.

Of course, I'm only 17 and it's probably been gone for a couple decades, so I have no idea of knowing.

You can write me PM if you don't want to go public!

I have many fond memories of HoJo's, they were well established on the Mass. Turnpike and having taken many trips to Boston in my early childhood (early 1960's), HoJo's was always a stop.

I still go to one of the HoJo's in New York state for a Sunday brunch, Friday fish fry or a Saturday all-you-can eat Prime Rib/Seafood Newburgh(sp?)meal at least once or twice a month.

The elevator would sometimes stop between floors. :scared:

What a ride. :)

My mom and dad and I ate at one near Portland, when my parents were driving me back there from Eugene. It ended up being the last meal I ever ate with my dad, and the last day I ever saw him. He died several weeks later, from cancer. :-(

:hug::(

:hug:

Oh, you mean Howard Johnson's...

:hide:

:popcorn:

that were paper models of Howard Johnson's restaurants. (I'm really dating myself here)

Oh, and hot fudge sundaes with pistachio ice cream. :9

"Ho-Jo workin' on me"

From the great NRBQ.

(Ho-Jo was what they used to call their cola soda, BTW)

but I also remember that my parents had a really negative opinion of them (early 80s), and we never stopped at one.

I think there's still one in downtown Chicago...

Even worse than Friendly's.

Redstone

:spray: :rofl:

No story here, just a big YES!!

Flavors: 1.

:D

"Oh, blow it out your ass, Howard."

Starting with the HoJo in Breezewood, PA where we wouls ALWAYS get ice cream on our way from DC out West. There was a HoJo across the street from the Watergate in DC where my best friend and I would get picked up by his Mom after we went to events at the Kennedy Center (we are musicians). And, most fondly, there was a 24 hour HoJo between the Knox College Campus and the Apartment I shared with my Best College Friend and we ate breakfast after many many nights of partying hard. Great Breakfasts.....

Of course, they were all over--especially on the turnpikes. (This was around 1960.)

The Houston Howard Johnsons's was a good stop for those exotic fried clams. And the wonderful choice of ice cream....

Our little ritual.

It was better because the restaurants were better. They had the best chocolate chip ice cream-Baskin Robbins' version is pretty close to theirs.

when I was a kid ... loooong ago ...

robbed the place of about $3000 bucks. For some reason, I knew he was going to do it (?) and told the cops he'd gone north when he went south.

Okay that was 30 years ago. Now... why would I have known he was going to do it and WHY would I cover up his crime?

Hmmm.... there are some missing pieces to this memory.

And yeah, LOVE the fried clams.

We made out in the stairwell for a couple hours. I nearly had her undressed before her sense of modesty kicked in. Damn, she's fun.

I somehow feel left out. :shrug:

But I also feel like I missed out on experiencing the unbridled racism of Sambo's. :shrug:

My dad took me to one on the way back from a boat christening in Everett. There used to be one on Aurora (naturally). The food was horrid. x(

:o

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s

Too bad you never ate there! Or rather, good thing you didn't! :D

:D

by the time I came around. Their mascot was a tiger. :D

:D

:cry:

So don't cry.


TAG!!!!!!!

:cry: weren't?



ok, then...





:) tag

Oh, was that ever delicious! Wish I had a recipe for it . . . :)

trailer park in Oklahoma City. Back in the day.

That's what I think of when I think of my old grandmother; HoJo's and trailer-park kitsch.

Oh well, the pool was fun and they had good ice cream. B-)

There was one on the outskirts of town and my parents would take us there for dinner every once in a while. The cool thing was that the kid's menu was a pre-cut, folding cardboard model of a Howard Johnson's restaurant. In my twenties, when I worked the evening shift, I went there with my fellow co-workers on Wednesday's for the all-you-can-eat fish and clam fry. We thought the all-you-can-eat policy was a great deal even though nobody ever ordered seconds.

....we could only get reservations at the HoJo's in Thibodeaux, La...as all the other affordable hotels had been booked up in and around New Orleans because LSU and Alabama played that Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Saints beat the 49'ers that day and went on to the playoffs that year...sigh...ahh the memories. :hi:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g40459-d89196-Reviews-Howard_Johnson_Hotel_Thibodaux-Thibodaux_Louisiana.html