This page is in no way connected to or represented in any way by La Mancha Group, LLC, licensee of the trademarked "Howard Johnson's" name in terms of food and beverage, or Wyndham Worldwide, owner of the "Howard Johnson" Hotel, Motel, Inn and Motor Lodge System as well as the "HoJo" and "Howard Johnson" name.
Down Memory Lane: Mini-Spotlight on Former Burlington, Vermont
HoJo's Restaurant
Photos and Facts Courtesy Pete Chagnon
(Burlington, VT)
By Pete Chagnon
I worked at a HoJo's In Burlington, Vt in 1967, just before I went into the navy. It was owned by the Grace family, who were very nice people. This weekend (May, 2007), I stopped by the location on Shelburne Rd, ( store 308, I believe) and took these pictures. The building was sold to a Vietnamese partnership. One partner shot the other one and that guy's wife to death on premises.
It has been abandoned since ( 1997 or so). It is up for sale or lease, however, as you can see, it will need extensive repair. I have many fond memories, not only of working there but hanging out there while in high school. I was pretty sweet on one of the girls who worked the counter. At the time you could get a cup of coffee for a dime with free refills. I spent many a evening there, drinking a whole pot of coffee hoping the girl would go out with me. She never did.
I went in the navy and lost track of her. That was 40 years ago.
Burlington, Vermont, where once there was a gleaming orange roof, a beacon for hungry travelers, now sits a dilapidated, green-roofed building awaiting its ultimate fate.
Photo: Pete Chagnon
Rear of the former HoJo's in Burlington, Vermont. Imagine the giant HoJo trucks unloading all kinds of goodies to this once-thriving oranged-roofed restaurant!