Round-Up Drive-In, Las Vegas, NV.
Dutch Mill Farm Restaurant, Annapolis, MD.
The Flame & Adams Restaurant, Rawlin, WY.
Paradise Restaurant, Sylvania, GA.
Joe Mackie’s Star Broiler and Red Bull Chuck Wagon, Winnemucca, NV.
Candy Land Restaurant, McDonough, GA.
Mrs. Rogers Restaurant, Claxton, GA.
Huck Finn’s Restaurant, Flagstaff, AZ.
Tony’s Place, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
These are all great, but Mrs. Rogers’ and Huck Finn’s are the kind of places that, if located here in Chicago, I’d be hopping on a bus to eat a meal at whatever is now occupying those buildings. Love that yellow ’73 Capri at the latter.
In the first pic, between the Caddy, Tbird and the Imperial out front, probably not a cheap burger joint!
Popular with tourists, and travellers of broader economic means, these style of family restaurants, simply could not compete over time with fast food chains. Some managed to remain in business many years, through hard working ownership and staff, good food and prices, plus a dedicated local customer base. As the pandemic did in, many lasting survivors.
Parking lots of these restaurants, were great for car spotting. Such a mix of people, ate in these places. Unique trailers, and motor homes too. Sad as a little kid, in the mid to late ’70s into the ’80s, when most of these eateries died en masse.
Excellent air conditioning, waiting to be seated, kid’s menus, milkshakes. Crowded eating areas. Hurried staff. Many memories of these style of restaurants, as a kid.
The Dutch Farm Mill restaurant (photo #2) building is still standing and it has some interesting history. I recall going there several times as a little kid growing up at that time in Baltimore, Maryland. It sits right on Route 50 which was (and is) the primary highway leading leading from Baltimore/Washington to Maryland’s eastern shore (ultimately, Ocean City, Rehoboth, etc.). My family actually favored going to Sandy Point State Park/Beach which sat right in the shadow of the Bay Bridge on the Western Shore of the Bay and was therefore an easier destination than braving many (many) more hours of bumper-to-bumper summer traffic to get all the way to Ocean City in the constantly overheating Plymouth or the pretty small (after containing a family of 4 for 5 or 6 hours) Simca. Anyhow, you’d drive right by the Dutch Mill Restaurant and perhaps sit in traffic for a while starring at it. Sometimes we’d stop. It was a landmark saying that we were almost to the beach; Sandy Point, at least.
Here’s some more reading about the place: http://delmarhistoricalandartsociety.blogspot.com/2020/11/sunday-dinner-at-dutch-mill-farm.html It apparently had some interesting history in the 1980s…and was ultimately turned into a BBQ place by (famous) Republican consultant Lee Atwater … which is what it remains today.
https://redhotandblue.com/annapolis-md/
This is one restaurant in the photos I mentally tagged as not still being around, or at best still there but used by another restaurant or another business entirely, with the turret and windmill gone. Nice to see Red Hot & Blue kept it even though it’s not part of their normal look. I’ve eaten at several RH&Bs but not this one. Had no idea Lee Atwater had anything to do with it.
I also had no idea that Lee Atwater founded Red Hot & Blue. Coincidentally, I was just talking about Red Hot & Blue yesterday, because the one near me closed, and the guy I was talking to said it surprised him because the place was always busy, and you never think of one of those restaurants closing.
I recognized it immediately also; our beach journeys on Route 50 began in 1979 when we first moved to the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Even though we now reside in Charlottesville, VA, we still travel up and around DC and onto Route 50 to get to Rehoboth Beach.
I didn’t know about the Lee Atwater connection either.
You old enough to remember the construction, opening of the “second span”, of the bridge? (opened in early “70’s”.) I was about “12-13”.
Yes. 1973. And you must be the same age as me, JT. I was 13 when it opened.
WAY late too the party here, but as soon as I saw that picture, it took me back.
We usually went up and around, as Rehoboth, rather than O.C. was our usual destination when going “Downy Ocean, Hon”. (You folks from this region should get this reference).
While working in Rockville in the nineties however, I’d sometimes meet my (now-ex) wife and her son in O.C., but drove there from work. This meant passing that landmark on US-50 on the way to the beach. While Red Hot & Blue was a favorite lunchtime destination while I worked in Rockville, I never stopped at the Annapolis location. In fact, when I was a kid, I don’t think we ever stopped at the Dutch Mill either.
Wonder what’s up with the red Mustang in front of the Red Bull? Did someone turn it into a 50 cent bronco ride?
Looks like it’s a contest prize. Zooming in, we can read the sign on the Mustang: “REGISTER FREE INSIDE / GRAND PRIZE”
The Tony’s Place cow lives!! Though I fear it may be put out to pasture soon. As of the 2021 StreetView image below, the cow was still there, however the restaurant closed last year, so I suspect a new tenant may remove the cow.
Perhaps. But our cows (from the Rt. 1 iconic Hilltop Steakhouse) – remarkably similar to Tony’s Place…probably because like Muffler Men, plastic cows are the same wherever they appear (see image that I took in Arizona of other repurposed fiberglass steers. We never quite figured out what this implied.)… and have proven remarkably resilient.
https://rock929rocks.com/2023/06/27/running-into-my-old-friends-the-hilltop-cows/
That’s a great picture! So great, I had to look it up. The sign belongs to an establishment called Pete’s Place Gentleman’s Club, which appears to be, well… an adult cabaret. However, the original Pete’s Place opened in the 1960s, and was a western-style steakhouse, hence the cow. Somewhere along the way the business either sold, or Pete decided to enter a new endeavor, but either way the name and the cow remained.
Interesting there was a “twelve”, or so, year old “Dart” in that “Canada pic”. Must a had garage for a fair bit of it’s life.
Got to look up “Winnemucca MN”! One I’ve never , ever heard of.
Oops! “NV”, not “MN”.
Not a Man in Black fan??
I remember many Dutch restaurants and businesses growing up in South Chicago suburbs of Roseland, South Holland, Lansing and Munster Indiana. You really don’t see them around anymore. So it was a pleasant surprise to see the windmill restaurant photoed above. We had a strong post WW-II Dutch migration to these suburbs, but their kids have assimilated and the communities have died out, replaced by Black Chicagoans escaping crime five miles north in the City.
Neat postcards. My grandchildren would likely say, ‘what’s a postcard?’. This is enough to make me hungry for the foods I no longer eat.
#1 Roundup Cafe, where the food is fine but the coffee is only good. Left to right ’54 Cadillac Series 60 Special, white over black ’58 Impala, black ’51 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, sharp red ’59 Thunderbird, the nose of a black ’59 Chevrolet, blue ’56 Chevrolet Task Force pickup, ’57/8 Imperial 4 door Southampton, custom purple ’56 or ’57 Corvette, and a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet under the roof.
#2 Dutch Hill Farm Restaurant. Left to right ’51 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Sedan, ’55 Mercury Monterey 4 door sedan, ’52-’54 Ford Country Sedan, ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe convertible, ’53 Chevrolet 4 door sedan, not sure of the two on the end.
#3 The Flame and Adams Restaurant. Left to right the right rear corner of a ’56 Chevrolet, ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan, ’56 Chrysler Windsor Six Passenger Sedan, ’52 Ford Mainline or Customline Tudor Sedan, ’55 Pontiac Chieftain 860 4 door sedan, ’55 to ’60 Dodge D100 Job Rated pickup, ’57 Dodge Custom Royal 4 door sedan, ’57 Chevrolet Two-Ten 4 door sedan.
#4 Paradise Restaurant. Left to right ’61 Impala Sport Sedan, ’59 Plymouth Suburban wagon, ’59 Cadillac, ’60 Pontiac Catalina Safari wagon.
#5 Winnemucca restaurants/casinos. Left to right a ’59 Ford Fairlane Galaxie Sunliner turning the corner, down the street a ’61 Cadillac, ’61 Oldsmobile Dynamic or Super 88 Fiesta wagon, the Red Bull is giving away a red pony, a ’66 Mustang Hardtop, the cab of a red and white ’65 or ’66 Ford F-series, ’66 Cadillac deVille convertible.
#6 Candy Land. Left to right a maroon ’65 Ford Fairlane 500 4 door sedan, ’65 Dodge Custom 880 wagon with a load, ’67 Chevrolet Bel Air, ’68 Buick Electra 225 4 door hardtop, ’68 Pontiac 4 door sedan, ’68 Impala Sport Coupe, ’61 Buick LeSabre 4 door hardtop.
#7 Mrs. Rogers Broasted Chicken and fruit cakes for sale as well. Left to right a ’71 Dodge Polara Custom 4 door hardtop, ’68 Lincoln Continental sedan, white ’59 Ford, red one may be a ’64 or ’65 Ford Falcon.
#8 Huck Finn’s, I did not know he and Becky floated all the way to Flagstaff. Left to right a post ’71 Chevrolet or GMC G-van short wheelbase, ’73 Mercury Capri, ’69 Mustang Sportsroof, ’73 or ’74 Ford LTD 4 door Pillared Hardtop, the left fender or a gold ’71 or ’72 full size Chevrolet.
#9 Tony’s Place. Left to right a ’70 or ’71 Mercury Montego MX Brougham 2 door hardtop, ’74-’78 Toyota Corona sedan, ’65 Plymouth Valiant 100 2 door sedan, a beat up ’67 Buick Wildcat 2 door hardtop, ’76 Oldsmobile Starfire GT, red and white ’73-’77 Pontiac Grand Prix Colonnade hardtop.
Thanks for the postcard. A slice of life from days gone by.
#8: Huck Finn’s Restaurant, Flagstaff, AZ.
That Capri!! My brother-in-law had one with the V6 and 4 speed. That was a car to admire. Just the right size and engine with Euro handling. Have not seen a live example in many, many years.
There’s a Dutch Mill in Shelburne VT as well, excellent breakfasts, we had many there when we lived nearby in Charlotte.
The Roundup was the Western terminus of the teens cruising circuit. We would cruise down Charleston to the Blue Onion and back up Fremont through downtown where we would sometimes park and watch the people walk! Cheap entertainment! It was easy to tell who lost😄
I miss those postcards ~ in many places if you filled one out they’d mail it for you the next day .
-Nate
All these excellent car id’s, and not one single mention of the obviously (purple?) C2 corvette sitting in plain site, with matching cove color in the first Vegas postcard.?!?
Come on, Robert, apparently you did not read mine close enough:). No worries, that purple did jump out when l looked over the photo, although I called it a ’56 or ’57 which is a C1.
Patrick: Good catch on the 55 Monterey sedan, my car exactly! But mine is on the wrong coast….
Thanks, Tom. That’s a sharp looking ride and a nice color combo as well!
Anyone have pictures and or info of the Frontier cafe in Garden city, Colorado where my parents met in 1950 ? Thank you been searching for years and no luck.
These are all great, but the ‘Varsity ‘ Dine In , Atlanta Ga. was the ultimate place.
Upon first glance I thought that was the Bevo Mill in St Louis – I guess every city has something similar….
https://live.staticflickr.com/7846/46595604675_7f0de5cae0_b.jpg
Towns on the major highways, that were close enough to the Interstates, still have these types of places, at least in Texas. Just off I-10, in Sealy there’s Tony’s Family Restaurant, and a little bit further west in Columbus, there’s Schobel’s Family Restaurant. The latter has a buffet for lunch and dinner (or did the last time my family ate there). Columbus is halfway between Austin and Houston, so it’s a popular meeting place for extended families to meet and eat. Run by a big German family, with several of the sons playing football and even a couple of them making the NFL.
There used to be restaurants in Bastrop and Rosenberg called Texas Grill, and several cities in Texas had a K-Bob’s Steak House. They had a full size wagon in the restaurant that had been made into the salad bar! The last K-Bob’s I remember seeing was in Brenham, but not sure if it’s still there. Another great place to eat on I-45 was Sam’s in Fairfield; they also had a great lunch buffet the last time we stopped.
I think the rise of fast food helped kill these places off, as did the pandemic and before that, high gas prices. The closest thing now, at least in Texas, will be a BBQ place, a Mexican restaurant, or a seafood restaurant, or a Cracker Barrel.
Two great spots you missed, one was the Legendary Hill Top steak house in Saugus , Mass and the leaning tower of Pizza in Revere, Mass. Both places are great Mid Century KITCH in an area of the country where KITCH is rare and frowned upon by local zoning boards!
Welcome to the breeding grounds of obesity, diabetes, and sclerosis.