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We tried to buy a menu off them, they wouldn't let us. When the restaurant closes, it will be demolished and a parking lot will take it's place until such time that they find a new restaurant for the premises, which will be build far back up to the woods.I will agree that is better since the parking configuration is tight in there. When asked by Jack why they couldn't stay, Amber replied "because the hotel doesn't want us here." She was very knowledgeable about the situation, it is apparent that the entire staff must receive regular updates from George. So, if this is the official end of franchise associates, who owns the rights? The door had a paper with handwritten hours 8-9 su-th, 8-10 fri and sat, and a sign "we apologize we can no longer allow restaurant checks to be charged to hotel rooms" or something of the like. On display they had a stack of papers covering the story. She indicated that the New York city newspapers were all there upon the announcement of the close, since it is truly the last "real" Howard Johnson's (owned Howard Johnson's) left in the world. Here is one from their local paper she let me take a pic of: CLICK HERE to view.

(Springfield, Vermont) What started out as a quick day-trip to visit the last remaining Howard Johnson's in Vermont, and the last Howard Johnson's Restaurant in New England (Bangor, Maine still has one-for now-though it's orange roof is gone), ended as a bittersweet trip to reality. As we headed up I-91, we passed by the former Brattleboro, Vermont Howard Johnson's Restaurant (still with a cupola, but painted in Bickford's themed-colors of white and red stripes). What a sad sight. On we went, until, on the left side of I-91, we saw a gleaming orange roof, the orange just as bright as when the building was built decades ago. As we pulled in, we noticed the Simple Simon and the Pieman weathervane missing from the cupola (as was documented on Rich Kummerlowe's AutoAge.org website). Then, we noticed something else missing: someone had removed the Simple Simon & The Pieman sign from its place, mounted on the stone wall near the front door to the restaurant. Apparently, someone not only stole the weathervane, but the sign as well. It was the desecration of a landmark.

We went inside the restaurant, and being 3PM on a Saturday afternoon, its was quiet. We proceeded to take in the atmosphere: we knew we were in a legendary place that had only weeks to live. A place branded by a name-Howard Johnson's-that had played host for eighty years to countless travelers looking for a place dependable in quality and affordable in price, where they could stop from the long trip to enjoy some good food and comfort. Knowing that is all about to disappear was indeed sad. As was all the staff at the restaurant, our waitress was very pleasant---so pleasant and unlike a lot of restaurant waitstaff today, that it made us feel like we were back at a HoJo's when HoJo's ruled the road, when times were different. While waiting for our entrees, we enjoyed salad and delicious New England Clam Chowder, while perhaps not the original HoJo's chowder, it still brought us warm memories on this rainy day in Vermont. Looking around, there were a few customers dining, such as the man sitting alone in the booth at the front of the restaurant, reading the newspaper and probably unaware that he was eating one of his last meals at this orange roof relic. The food was great, and the ice cream (original HoJo's) was awesome. Though some areas of the restaurant looked aged, without a doubt, Al Coonradt and his assistant, Joanne, have done a great job at maintaining the Howard Johnson's tradition at this restaurant. They had several HoJo's toy trucks on display above the "World of 28 Flavors" sign, as well as some classic black & white pictures of long-gone Howard Johnson's Restaurants placed on the wall. While it was not only sad that we knew that the HoJo's name is about to disappear in Vermont, it was even more sad knowing this tremendous staff were all about to lose their jobs. It is indeed a shame that people such as the property owner of this location, and FAI, the owners of this restaurant, were not able to reach a deal to not only save the orange roof icon from extinction, but the jobs of these longtime, loyal employees, some of which have been employed there for over 17 years. A bittersweet day indeed...we wish only the best for these terriffic employees, and that HoJo's loss of these employees is another restaurant's gain of these outstanding employees. And, we can only hope that someday, the orange roof can again brighten the smiles of weary travelers in Vermont, and across the U.S.

My wife and I are from Chicago, and we wanted to fit a trip to a couple of restaurants in to our trip, so we naturally decided to go to the Springfield Hojo's as it will soon be gone. My wife and I flew into Boston and drove to Providence, RI. On the way, I spotted the Bickford's that once was the HJ restaurant at Boston-Southeast. It was clear that it once was a HoJo's, although my wife was initially skeptical until I explained to her the HoJo/Bickford's relationship. On Saturday we drove to Waterbury, CT to eat. Since I had heard they didn't have authentic HJ food, I opted to skip the friend clams and go for something else. We wound up having the wings n' things appetizer, which was pretty good, and then we both had stuffed French toast, which was good but a bit pricey. Atmosphere wise, it was nice to see that the neon sign was still in place, along with the Simple Simon and Pieman placard out front. The cupola was still present, if a little worse for wear, as was the rectangular HJ restaurant sign. Also, the restaurant looked a bit dirty, but it was serviceable inside and had quite the crowd. I noticed inside that they were displaying a number of newspaper articles about the closure of other HJ restaurants, and they still had the old HJ mirrored backdrop, although the Simple Simon logo was covered by a news article. On Sunday we went to Springfield, and on the way, quite by accident, we got off at an exit and turned

right into the former Greenfield, MA motor lodge! It even still has the Greenfield Inn banner out front. However, the weathervane and cupola that are in the website pics on orangeroof.org are no longer there, which is not surprising as I think they were the ones auctioned on ebay not too long ago. As this was a surprise stop we didn't stay long, but I did manage to snap a few pics. At Springfield, Vermont, I noticed that the weather vane was missing from the cupola, but I didn't know that it was recently still there. The Simple Simon placard was still there, though, so it must have been removed after 4/17 when I visited and before 4/23 when you visited. The weather vane was definitely gone, though. The restaurant was doing good business and looked very nicely authentic inside, complete with the picture of Howard Johnson on the wall. I can't recall specifics without seeing my pictures, but I do know that the old Restrooms sign was still there as well as the World of 28 Flavors sign and the copper hood. While we were there, I was confused about what to get, as I wanted to taste the clams, the hot dog and the macaroni. Happily I noticed they offered the clams as an appetizer, so I figured I'd get them then a hot dog and macaroni for lunch. I placed my order, but unfortunately the waitress came back and told me they were out of clams! Needless to say, I was quite disappointed, and jokingly told the waitress that I came all the way from Chicago for them. She told me the restaurant was closing soon, but that they'd be getting more clams on Tuesday, which was a bit late for me. I ordered a different appetizer and was chatting with my wife about going to New York to have clams at the Times Square location when the waitress came back with a plate full of clams! She told me they found one more batch...I was pretty happy with this, and was soon regretting the fact that there were no more as the clams were excellent, some of the best I've ever had. The hot dogs were also good, served on a buttered, toasted bun, and the macaroni was quite good, if a bit pricey. We also had to have some dessert, and I noticed on the menu that they had 14 flavors of ice cream. The waitress thought it was hilarious to tease me about being out of other things, and she kept up the joke for a while, but did tell me that they did have all of the ice cream flavors, so I ordered butter crunch and black raspberry...very good. On the way out I asked if I could take some pics of the inside, so I was snapping away close to an old couple sitting at the counter. We got to talking and I found out that they took a trip from New Jersey to visit the Springfield location as they heard it was closing. They reminisced about the times they spent eating at HJ restaurants, and how you could once find them everywhere. Also, they told me they had been to the Lake George location and that it wouldn't be opening until May 1...I'm not sure on that, though. In all, it was quite a nice experience, and my wife also expressed regret that we'd no longer be able to experience authentic HJ foods. Overall, I'd have to say that Springfield won out for both atmosphere and food. Waterbury had a good "feel" to it, but did seem rather generic in terms of food. It's too bad that someone can't restart the HJ empire.

We drove to Springfield April 16th, 2005; 110 miles from our apartment to the HJ. Immediately noticed the Simple Simon and Pie man weathervane gone from the roof. More on that later. Upon entering the restaurant, I was brought back to my childhood and teen years. I don't think that much has changed in that HJ in years. The wood veneer on the doors, the turquoise restroom sign; man, I felt like I was transported into a heavenly time warp. There was even a black and white photo of an original HJ opening. We drove all of those miles with the intention of fried Clams. Our waitress (Wanda) was very nice, and we told her that we drove 110 miles for lunch. She replied that people were driving from all over to eat there because they heard about its closing. She then said that there were so many people there on Friday night, that they ran out of clams. My heart sunk. There would be no clams for lunch! But I ordered another long time staple; the Mac and Cheese. It was "as good as I remembered". My wife Jan ordered Chicken Pot pie (Chicken and Biscuits), which was also excellent. After we ordered, a family of about 8 people came in and sat down across the Dining Room. I heard them talking about ordering clams. You should have heard the collective GROAAAAN from 8 people when Wanda told them that there was none left! I went over to talk to them, and told them that I drove 110 miles to eat here. They actually drove from Framingham MA, 113 miles to eat there. Well, our food came, and the Manager of the restaurant was sitting and talking to some guy in the booth near us. I heard him say that the Motel owner has put several millions into the renovation of the Holiday Inn, and that he is looking to replace the HJ with a big restaurant, something like Appleby's, Bennigans, etc. When the Manager was done, I called him over and told him about our trek to eat here. He (Al) had been with the Springfield HJ for about 20 years. Last week he heard this strange noise up on the roof. So he goes outside to see the Holiday Inn's "henchmen" actually sawing the SS and P weathervane off it's base. They claim that since they "own" the restaurant, or at least since they "own" the lease, that they can do what they want. Al calls his folks (FAI), and they insist that FAI owns the restaurant, and also the SS and P logo, so the weathervane belongs to FAI. So the restaurant closes after May 15th. An auction will come about within a week or so after, and then sometime after that, the wrecking ball comes in and destroys one last piece of Americana. I couldn't figure what will happen to FAI, since they have no more restaurants to run, but what I was told by AL (and I didn't realize), that FAI gets royalties from the food products in the stores (Toastees, Mac and

Cheese, Clams), and that even the privately owned HJ's like Lake Placid and Lake George still pay royalties for the use of the HJ name. I thanked Al for his time and we wished him the best in his future. He said that the pleasure was all his, to meet people who drove THAT far to eat at his place. I swear, I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye when he said that. With temps of around 70 all day, it was a great drive, a great lunch, and a great dinner. A day for the memories for sure.

(Springfield, Vermont) It started out as a company owned by franchisees of Howard Johnson's Restaurants & Ice Cream Shops, .whose purpose was to not only help keep the remaining 100+ HoJo Restaurants thriving, but to help foster renewed growth of the brand. That company, Franchise Associates, Inc. (or "FAI" as it is more commonly known) once owned many HJ Restaurants itself, from Vermont to Florida, and westerly to Pennsylvania. Even a new "prototype" restaurant in Canton, Massachusetts. Now, sadly, FAI has just one unit left, in Springfield, Vermont. However, the lease was not renewed, and this restaurant will close permanently on May 15, 2005. The restaurant is located off Exit 7 of I-91, and did exceptional business, including a highly profitable adjoining bar called "The Black Bear Pub." The unit retains its trademark orange roof and cupola, sells original HJ ice cream and in addition to loyal local clientele, does very well with travelers headed to the Green Mountain State. Below are scans of flyers found in a highway tourist center, touting the fact that the Springfield unit is the last Howard Johnson's Restaurant in Vermont. Though truthful, and perhaps triggering people to visit the unit,.its unfortunate that the restaurant ended up pointing out that what is in essence a painful fact, though HJ restaurants have come to learn that since there are few, its may be a good idea to point that out. In fact, the Waterbury, CT Howard Johnson's Restaurant points out that it's the last HoJo Restaurant in Connecticut. Next time you're heading to Vermont, make sure to stop by this classic HoJo's Restaurant and Black Bear Pub, and take advantage of what has become a hard-to-find roadside attraction, Howard Johnson's Restaurant-but hurry, it closes May 15, 2005..