Twilight for a roadside icon…and the man who's keeping the light alive
Above: What may end up being the last HoJo's on the planet, the Butler's Lake Placid, NY.
(Lake Placid, NY) Ronald Butler is a man on a mission. He's just spied something wrong with the salad bar — his salad bar — at the Lake Placid (N.Y.) Howard Johnson's restaurant. The items in the buffet table haven't been changed recently enough for a man who's been ensuring freshness in his beloved eatery since 1956. Yet on this particular day, Howard Johnson's is busy as usual, and there aren't any members of the waitstaff available to replenish the supplies. So the longtime restaurant co-owner does what he does on so many days: dons some plastic gloves, rolls up his sleeves, grabs a gigantic vat of lettuce and goes to work. Before long, every tray in the salad bar has been refilled, every item from applesauce to water chestnuts fresh as fresh can be. Finally, Butler leans back from the long, food-laden table and smiles. Mission accomplished. CLICK HERE to read the entire article.
Story and article below photos by Benjamin Pomerance - From All Points North Magazine
Special to HoJoLand.com
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HoJology: Times Square
HoJo's 1959 Opening "Welcome" Letter Unearthed !
(June 14, 2009) The "grand lady" of all HoJo's, the former Times Square (46th Street) location, closed in 2005. Soon, apparel retailer American Eagle, will open it's flagship store in the former location. And while cosrtuction crews have unearthed lots of old brick from the former 100 year old-plus building that housed HoJo's, HoJoLand.com has unearther a 1959 letter from the Howard Johnson Company to the Rubenstein family, congratulating them on the recent opening of their HoJo's unit at 46th Street. Click on the photo to the right to see a larger version.
HoJoLand FlashBack;
Former HJ Ice Cream Shop Caparra, Puerto Rico
HoJoLand Flashback
New Gino's Keeps Growing, Another Reason Why Now Is The Time For HoJo's
The familiar, red-roofed Gino's Restaurants that dotted the American landscape during the 1970's.
(Jan. 20, 2012) The re-launch of the Gino's chain seems to be a huge success, as the chain already has three new locations operating with more on the way. The current locations are in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Towson, Maryland; and Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Gino's is also stating that they have twenty-three other locations scheduled to open including Perryhall, Maryland, Coatesville,
Thanks To John Maimone
Pensylvania and the newest location to be announced is a unit at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles. The chain seems to be doing "all the right things," including use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, to spread the word about the chains re-birth. The positive results shown so far by the Gino's re-launch is further evidence that old chains can come back. Hopefully the folks at Wyndham Wordlwide are listening, and will put forth extra effort to realize a relaunch of the HoJo food and beverage (f&b) brand, as an f&b relaunch could certainly benefit the HoJo lodging operations.
This page is in no way connected to or represented in any way by Wyndham Worldwide, owner of the "Howard Johnson" brand.
Goodbye Lake Placid: Orange Fading To Black As Property Is Listed For Sale
(May 7, 2013) The bright orange roof of the Howard Johnson's Restaurant in Lake Placid, opened in 1956, is about disappear from the Lake Placid landscape. The restaurant, owned by the Butler family since 1958, is now listed for sale HERE at a cost of $1,495.00 for the 7,500 square foot building on Saranac Avenue and the.two acres it sits on in Lake Placid, New York.
According to the restaurant's WEBSITE,, the location was opened in 1956 on the site of the former Lamb Lumber Mill, by Frances and Lousie Brewster, who later sold the restaurant to Ronald Butler in 1958. Since then, it has been a family-run business, serving delicious food and the signature 28 flavor of Howard Johnson's ice cream to generations of locals and road-weary travelers, as well as during the 1980 winter olympics in Lake Placid, in which Mike Eruzione and the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team won the gold medal. Even to this day, the restaurant has always been marketing-savvy, selling HoJo t-shirts and other memorabilia. Though the end is near for the Lake Placid HoJo, it is not known how long it will remain open. Long thought to end up as the sole remaining HoJo's, when this location closes, it will leave the Bangor, Maine HoJo's with that distinction.
The Lake Placid, NYHoJo's is for sale, and thus, its days are numbered.
