Minute Kitchen, Missoula, MT.
The Escape Restaurant, Berwyn, IL.
Boots & Saddle Smogarsboard and Alpine Dining Room, Coeur d’Alene, ID.
Ogles Restaurant, Dexter City, OH.
Baroni’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge, Naples, FL.
Skyline Restaurant, Ft. Marlboro, VT.
Islander Motel And Restaurant, Stevensville, MD.
Doyle’s Motel and Restaurant, Cave City, KY.
Spiller’s Restaurant and Take-Out, York Beach, ME.
Neil’s Restaurant, West Franklin, NH.
Gulf Sands Court & Restaurant, Port St. Joe, FL.
Golden Bell Restaurant and Tim the Handshaking Pony, Cypress Gardens, FL.
Steak And Shake, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
The Anchor, Newport, OR.
What the hell is broasted chicken?? There was a brand of gas station chicken called “Broasters” that I drove by every day about 10 years ago before I moved to the other side of town. Never tried it, that gas station was SKETCH and NOT CLEAN.
Love all the midcentury mod signage. The buildings didnt age well(built cheap and not maintained) But the signs are so much more fun and whimsical to look at compared to how boring/conformist everything is now
Broasting is a combination of broiling and roasting – it was popularized in the mid 1950s when commercial broasting ovens became available. I think they were a form of pressure cookers.
Yep. The same company that invented the “Broaster” pressure cooker is still in business today and sells the equipment to restaurants:
https://genuinebroasterchicken.com/our-story/
“SKETCH”?
Broasted Chicken is fried in a pressure cooker, instead of in a deep fat fryer. The result is a crisp outside, but juicier meat. Eric’s correct that the heyday (such as it was) began in the mid-50s. We had a broasted chicken restaurant in Bishop, California when I was growing up.
It kind of fell off the radar in the 70s, but the proliferation of chicken places in the last decade (including Hot and Korean chicken) has seen a few new attempts at broasted chicken.
The company started by the guy who invented the “Broaster Pressure Fryer” is still in business today and sells the equipment directly to restaurants:
https://genuinebroasterchicken.com/our-story/
Wow, it’s 59 Plymouth day! The Islander Motel looks like it has a sideline selling 59 Plymouths, then there is the white convertible at the Gulf Sands Court.
….with matching light-blue wagons
Here’s a postcard of the roadside restaurant my Dad leased from 1966 to 1970. When I-95 bypassed Bennettsville SC around 1967, traffic on US 15/401 dropped off. The new owners struggled and the motel and restaurant closed and fell apart around 1985.
So many restaurants and hotels/motels fell victim to being bypassed by the interstates
I’d love to drive a 58 Plymouth to Golden Bell for a Western Steak. Wrong time, wrong side of the Atlantic. 😞
Note easy to see, but the single tone black with red interior 1962 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan behind the “Hand shaking” donkey is the standout car for me! It’s in the Golden Bell Restaurant photo.
You rarely see these ‘62 Impala four door hardtops in 2025, and the black exterior / red interior combination has to be the choice colour combination.
Love the Country Squire wagon parked in front of the Spiller’s.
Wasn’t America much more interesting when we were not so homogenized?
Used to be a restaurant along “Wisconsin Ave”, in “Bethesda MD”; looked a lot like the “Anchor”.
Next time I go that way, got to look see if the building is still there. H’mm.
plus the Anchor Inn in nearby Wheaton, MD. The iconic sign is still there, but the restaurant is gone.
And don’t forget the Anchorage Motel across the river in Fairfax, VA!
In front of the Anchor is a 1961 Cadillac “Town.Coupe” Kind of an odball, it was about a foot shorter than a normal Deville, all of it taken from the rear overhang. Rare car, they only sold a couple thousand each year(forget the year range, it was early 1960s)
These are wonderful .
Not only all the great vehicles parked outside but the businesses proper .
I still always look for local diners or places with city / tradesman trucks parked when I want to eat .
-Nate
A little googling found the Dexter City location. The restaurant building and the house to the left haven’t changed much. It looks like the restaurant building was used as a residence then abandoned.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.6500914,-81.4732249,3a,75y,273.24h,84t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVPnFJVt7idvOeMEfgzDB4A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D5.9964951820620485%26panoid%3DVPnFJVt7idvOeMEfgzDB4A%26yaw%3D273.2395006487445!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDMxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
I’ve actually eaten at Spillers! It was my grandmother’s favorite restaurant and she always got the lobster dinner. But I was a fussy little shaver and would only eat the free oyster crackers. This would have been in 1967 or 1968. The family ride was a 1961 Country Squire in Mars black with red vinyl interior. Good times!
Roadside restaurants are a treasure. Thanks for showing these. I hope that we all have memories of them. When we go on day trips or for a road trip, we look for these. Chain restaurants do not have the flavors of food that are unique, nor do they have the downhome ambiance. Thanks for the great photos of nostalgia. Nostalgia will not die if we continue to patronize these places.