Celebrating Restaurants

Customers enjoy the Triple XXX diner.
6/20/2009 dwm photo

 It's Iconic American Restaurants Day.

 The site I use when I'm curious what "day" it is, references Howard Johnson's as perhaps the most iconic with restaurants attached to hotels across the country and their trademark orange roof.

 The closest Ho-Jo to us was in Rockford.  I enjoyed the kids menu and a wide variety of ice cream treats.

 COVID-19 was tough on restaurants from our favorite greasy spoon to the place with fine china and white tablecloths.

I'm here to celebrate the drive-ins, diners, and places that not only fill me up, but leave me feeling good.

I want to start with the most interesting name, the Triple XXX Family Restaurant in West Lafayette, Indiana.  They bottle their own root beer and maintain a friendly down-home atmosphere.  I ate there a couple times before or after Wisconsin games at Purdue and with my good friend when we made special trips from Indianapolis to Lafayette for lunch.

The Norske Nook in DeForest, WI. 
2/20/2016 dwm photo

I became acquainted with the Norske Nook while we lived ten miles from Osseo in Augusta.  Their newest location is north of Madison in DeForest.  While famous for pie, they serve an excellent menu that features a lot of comfort food.  Who doesn't need comfort these days?

An iconic restaurant that's been honored for its hamburgers is Wedl's in Jefferson.

The hamburger stand is the size of our dining room with enough room for 3 or 4 workers to take orders and run the massive grill.

Wedl's in downtown
Jefferson. 7/3/2015 (dwm)

 It helps that across the sidewalk from Wedl's is a normal size building with an ice cream shop.  There are a few seats indoors; several picnic tables; and a bench along the building where you can eat while smelling the aroma wafting from the grill.

 A favorite place in Des Moines is the Spaghetti Works in an old factory downtown.  It was the go-to place for our family when they visited during college and for my then girlfriend, now wife, when we were dating and while living in Iowa after getting married.

The Old Spaghetti Factory
in Carmel, IN. 5/26/19 (dwm)

That restaurant is the only Iowa location with two others in Nebraska.  No relation, but one with a similar name, is the Old Spaghetti Factory which has a place in Indianapolis and 39 other locations around the country.  It isn't quite the Spaghetti Works, but if you love various toppings or noodles when hankering for pasta, it is more than adequate.

There is only one Mickie's Dairy Bar.  It's close enough to hear the cheers during a Badger football game from its location across from Camp Randall.

Mickie's is a breakfast and lunch spot which is so popular you'll see people lined up on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Even if you don't live in Madison, you may have heard of it because whatever TV network is broadcasting the Wisconsin game will frequently feature the large portions fitting a hungry fan or an aspiring lineman.

Ella's Deli was a landmark
on East Washington Street.
9/2/2017 dwm photo

 Ella's Deli lives only in our memory now as it closed in January 2018 after 42 years.  In its place a mixed-use apartment building with some retail space is going up.  It's name?  Ella's.

 Ella's had a lot of things going on in its dining room.  There were moving pieces hanging from the ceiling and on the wall.  One featured a number of animals playing in a band; another showed a toy monkey going back and forth on a tightrope as a a wheel lifted the rope up and down.

 It was a great place to take children of any age as your eyes were drawn across the room to keep up with all the movement.  Outside there was a big mover, a carousel with horses and other creatures to ride as the calliope played.  

  It's a good day to recognize the men and women who operate and make things go at the places we love to eat.  Pleasing the public isn't an easy way to make a living, but when the owner and their staff throw their heart and soul into their work that those diners and drive-ins become iconic.