The Last Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in New England
At one time, Howard Johnson’s was the largest restaurant chain in the country. In 2015, we visited the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in New England. It has since closed for good.
By Aimee Tucker|Jul 26 2022|
To the right, retro stools line the counter.
Photo Credit: Aimee Seavey
Update: We are sad to report that the Bangor Howard Johnson’s restaurant closed its doors in September 2016. The following is a look back at our 2015 visit.
At one time, New England-born Howard Johnson’s was the largest restaurant chain in the country, with more than 1,000 locations. In the summer of 2015, however, the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in New England, and one of just two left in the country, was operating on borrowed time in Bangor, Maine. Unable to resist experiencing this cultural icon for myself, I decided to make the drive to Bangor last week for lunch. Here’s a recap of my visit, with an update on the restaurant’s fate at the bottom of the post.
The Last Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in New England in Bangor, Maine Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Like so many other good things, Howard Johnson’s restaurant got its start right here in New England. They even advertised in Yankee Magazine during the 1940s.
A Howard Johnson’s ad from a 1940 issue of Yankee Magazine boasted “Made by a Yankee for Discriminating Yankees”. Do you remember all 28 delicious flavors?
So how did it all begin? In 1925, Howard Deering Johnson started his first soda fountain in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, with a focus on making superior ice cream. He had two stores when the stock market crashed in 1929, but he managed to hang onto them, and even added his name and products to a dairy bar on Cape Cod, which became very popular. By the 1930’s he had introduced the “Simple Simon and the Pieman” logo, and by 1935, there were 25 Howard Johnson’s ice cream stands in Massachusetts, with more expansion in the works.
Quality and homemade taste were important to Johnson, and no doubt contributed to the brand’s steady success. In the automobile-fueled post-war years, Johnson was poised and ready to deliver friendly service to an American public that was desperate for a little fun and adventure. This included expanding to new states, opening restaurants on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, and adding hotels.
The 1960s and 1970s were a golden age for Howard Johnson’s, the restaurant/hotel with the orange roof, but by the end of the 1970s, competition from fast food chains like McDonald’s and climbing oil prices, which cut back on the old-fashioned American family road trip, would signal the beginning of the end. In the mid-1980s, the company underwent a series of changes, buyouts, and downsizing, and the restaurants and hotels were split into separate franchises. Today, the Wyndham Hotel Group has rights to the Howard Johnson name that’s still emblazoned on more than 400 Howard Johnson hotels. The restaurants, as I’ve said, are another story. Bangor is one of two left. The other is a freestanding restaurant in Lake George, NY. A third in Lake Placid, NY, closed in March, 2015.
But let’s get back to Bangor, shall we?
The Bangor HoJo’s first opened in 1966, located immediately off Route 95 in Bangor, about 130 miles north of Portland. Today it’s both a Howard Johnson Inn and a restaurant (and lounge).
The Last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in New England is located behind the Howard Johnson Inn in Bangor, Maine. The shape is familiar, but the former chain’s signature orange roof and turquoise cupola are gone. Photo Credit : Aimee SeaveyThe restaurant and lounge are located in the rear of the building. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
A mid-century cultural institution, the Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain in particular has a special spot in the memories of many Baby Boomers. My mother remembers going to a HoJo’s for the first time in the early 60’s. It was the end of the school year, she was with her Brownie troop, and was excited to sit at the counter and order an ice cream. She chose pistachio. “I’d never had it before” she told me. “I think I ordered it because it was such a pretty color.”
My boss, editor Mel Allen, also has a strong Howard Johnson’s memory. I’ll let him tell it:
It was the summer after my freshman year in college. I worked the night shift, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., at Milprint, a plant that, among other things, produced the packaging for Marlboro cigarettes. On a Friday evening just a few days before I turned 19, two friends and I drove to HoJo’s at Villanova, just off Philadelphia’s Main Line. It was where young people often gathered. I saw a pretty blond girl with two of her girlfriends and they were standing around with their ice cream cones. I went up to her and asked what flavor it was. She replied “butter brickle.” I was not usually so bold but maybe it was the summer night, maybe it was because I was sort of taken with her, but I asked if I could have a taste. She consented. Four years later she became my wife.
Can you beat that?!
A classic Ho Jo interior — windows, carpet, and brick walls. Photo Credit : Aimee SeaveyWelcome to the Bangor Howard Johnson’s restaurant! Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Inside the Bangor HoJo’s restaurant, which is tucked behind the renovated hotel and is only open during select hours, it’s quiet, even though it’s lunchtime, but I guess that’s to be expected when you’re located off the highway instead of downtown, and don’t offer drive-though. The deep red vinyl booths, wood paneling, patterned carpet, and the unmistakable whiff of restaurant/lounge mixed with fried food is a powerful combination. I’m instantly reminded of childhood “treat visits” to restaurants like the Ground Round and Friendly’s, where I’d color on my placemat and, if I was lucky, get dessert (always a Cone Head Sundae) before dinner.
Classic booths line the walls on the left hand side of the restaurant. Photo Credit : Aimee SeaveyTo the right, retro stools line the counter. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
There’s only one occupied table when I enter, a party of four, but they leave as soon as I sit down.
Sitting in the corner, I had a view of the dining room and the counter. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
My friendly waitress, Julie, brought over a menu (“We’re busiest on Sunday mornings for breakfast” she told me when I mentioned the reason for my visit), but I already knew what I wanted to order. While Howard Johnson’s Restaurant was famous for its “28 flavors” of ice cream (plus its colorful sherbets) and “frankforts,” the restaurant was also credited with delivering two New England staples to the masses, albeit in a form most native Yankees consider a slight abomination.
Now what to order? Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
I am, of course, referring to fried clams. HoJo’s is still remembered (especially during Lent) for its Friday “All You Can Eat Fish Fry,” but I had another fried clam dish in mind — the fried clam roll in a buttered and grilled New England-style hot dog roll. These were the first mass-market fried clams in the country, so that’s what I ordered.
The story of the clams goes something like this… Johnson had a contract dating back to the early 1930s with four brothers (the Soffron Brothers of Ipswich, Massachusetts) to supply the soft-shell clams to his restaurants. The fried clams were quite popular, and as demand increased, it grew harder and harder for the brothers to keep up. Then, in the early 1950s, they discovered that by using the Atlantic Sea Clam (also known as the hen clam), they could cut the large muscle into strips and discard the bellies. The resulting strips were sweeter, but also deemed more “attractive”. The brothers called them “tendersweet” fried clams, and in the coming decades, the country couldn’t get enough of them.
The strips get a lot of flak here in New England (“Real New Englanders eat the bellies!” we always hear), but judging by the fact that, even as a local, I could name several fellow natives that won’t touch the plump bellies, Johnson was probably smart to serve up a “cleaner” version to the mass market. Also, I suspect the hen clams were cheaper.
A classic Howard Johnson’s fried clam roll. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
And what about the roll itself? According to a 2013 Boston Globe article, because HoJo’s was based in New England, it used local bread supplier J.J. Nissen of Maine. Johnson asked J.J. Nissen to develop a special bun for its fried clam roll — something top-sliced that would stand upright and be easier to fill and serve. They complied, and thus, the New England hot dog bun was born.
Today, the fried clam roll at HoJo’s comes pretty close to what I imagined. A buttered and grilled bun sits in a cardboard sleeve, filled with a layer of lettuce, and then a heaping pile of “tendersweet” fried clam strips. On the side? French fries, pickle slices, and a container of tartar sauce. It arrives quickly, piping hot, and is served with a smile. What more could I ask for after a long morning of driving?
The Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain is often credited with bringing both the clam strip and the New England-style hot dog bun to all of America. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
It’s hard not to feel a little sad looking around the Bangor Howard Johnson’s restaurant dining room. You want to wave a magic wand and restore it to its 1960s heydey, packed with families and teenagers on dates, but it seems the world has already moved on. Fast food keeps getting faster, and now there’s even a McDonald’s lobster roll. Already on limited hours, it’s rumored the restaurant will close soon unless someone decides to lease it.
So, while you can (and sooner rather than later), if you’re passing through Bangor, get off the highway and stop in for a bite. Say hello to Julie, order a plate of fried clams, and enjoy a fleeting, tendersweet moment of pure American nostalgia.
Do you have fond memories of eating at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant? Share your story in the comments — we’d love to read them.
This post was first published in 2015 and has been updated.
Great piece, Amy! I stayed at that HoJo’s in Bangor a couple of months ago, and I was very impressed. Probably the best budget motel I’ve experienced in the past several years. I looked in on the restaurant but didn’t have time to grab a bite. Wish I had. The motel and restaurant were both straight out of a “Mad Men” episode, and in a very good way. I left feeling really good about the place and hope I can return some day. I’ll save my “first HoJo’s experience” (it occurred in suburban Chicago in the mid-1960s) for another post some day!
There was a Howard Johnson’s in Wells Maine when I was growing up. My family would go there once, twice a week. I remember having their “johnny cake” and rolls on the table. The johnny cake was like coffee cake, smooth, buttery, and covered with cinnamon sugar. And their cole slaw. Creamy, cold and never duplicated! I miss it. And I never ate clam strips!!! I was told the right way was belly and all!!!
I remember Wells Ho-Jo well! And for exactly the same reasons! I also remember the Howard Johnson’s on the Maine Turnpike in Kennebunk. It had a tunnel that took you from one side of the highway to the other! Great memories!
I remember HoJo’s!!! We used to go three times a week…. Mondays were the turkey dinner, Wednesdays were the frankforts, and Fridays were the clam rolls. Each visit always ended with a flavor of ice cream; Dad kept track on a small index card with our name at the top, and every time you had to try the next flavor that wasn’t checked. That way we got to try all of the flavors! So sad to see them all disappearing one by one… I will be getting up and calling the HoJo’s in Bangor and visiting soon, they’re only 90 minutes away!!!
I agree with the previous comment. My family stayed at the Bangor HoJo’s in April during a visit to UMaine Orono and we thought it was a great value and also offers pet-friendly rooms. I would certainly stay and dine there again if I were in the area.
Thank you for this article. I’m a frequent Bangor Hojo’s guest, and a former Hojo’s employee. (30 years ago as a dishwasher). It’s so nice to read an article that’s been throughly researched and edited for accuracy. Lately, I’ve read a number of Howard Johnson articles in magazines, papers and the internet. You got it right! excellent fact checking. Not a single error! Thank you for doing such a professional job.
I remember the local Howard Johnson’s very well. My mother loved the Friday night All you can eat fish fry, my father would get a steak, and for me it was either a hot dog or hamburger, although I am quite sure my first taste of clams came from here. Growing up in Vermont, HoJo’s clams and fried fish fillets were about the only seafood we saw in restaurants. (I lived in Maine for a year and converted to whole clams then, but still eat a clam roll when nostalgic.)
Our local HoJo closed in the late 70s, became a Lums (another chain I miss!) and then changed hands several times until it was torn down just last year to make way for a CVS. Miss seeing that classic look of the building. Thanks for reminding us of a time when simple food prepared well could always be found under the orange roof.
If I could, I would have eaten the photo of the clam roll, that’s how good it looks! Living out here in Illinois, neither fried clams nor NE-style hot dog rolls are easy to find. I’ve stayed at and eaten at I don’t know how many HoJos, and remember them fondly. I didn’t know the one I ate at some thirty years ago here in Springfield IL would almost certainly turn out to be my last. A true American classic!
I remember Stopping at the one in Port Huron Michigan. My Family would get the clam chowder And us kids got an hamburger and a ice cream cone. I really wish these places could have an comeback. I believe they would be very busy today.
People are starting to quite going to fastfoods places and taking the time to eat real food. And the motels were always very clean and a treat for us as kids to stay in. I think there used to be alot on the Ohio turnpike Also. As well Has the Penn. One. 🙂 Hope to get to eat at and Hojo’s soon.
My mom, who lived to be 100, went to Hojo’s almost every week with her good friends, until not long before those ladies were gradually unable to do that anymore. Not that many years ago, actually. When I went back ‘home’ to visit her, it was so wonderful to join them for breakfast, and see how they all enjoyed that place, and their fave waitress. Like extended family for them. Food always good; comfy familiar atmosphere; a real treasure. Sorry to know it may soon be gone. Thanks for the great memories, Hojo’s!
Every Friday my family would go to All You Can Eat Fish Fry for dinner! Of corse I would have a cup of creamy vanilla ice cream for dessert! I now always equate Friday Fish Day, it’s not just for Lent! I also loved their red jello with sweet whipped cream! I loved HoJo’s, we always went to the one in Needham, MA
Our Father owned a couple of Howard Johnsons in Rhode Island. We were blessed to be Hojo brats……meaning good sweet kids but whatever we ever wanted we had relating to food !
It was a wonderful and beautiful time as children growing up and Howard Johnsons being a big part of our world ! Magical !
There was a Howard Johnson restaurant on Jefferson Blvd., in Warwick, Rhode Island.
My Mom, brothers and I ate there. Daddy sat out in the car because he could not eat the food.
My father drove us there and carried my brothers inside the restaurant because they could not walk.
Mom and Dad tried very hard to give quality of life to my brothers for their short lives.
Hi Kathleen. You’re right! I mentioned the Lake George, NY restaurant in the story (and the Lake Placid, NY one that just closed), but since New York is not a New England state, the one is Bangor truly is “the last in New England” — thanks for your comment!
Thanks so much for your comment, Frank! You made my day! I had a lot of fun researching HoJo’s history for this story, and was proud to visit New England’s last restaurant. Wish I could have visited back when business was booming and the roof was still orange! 🙂
Very nice article Aimee. I also worked here as a dishwasher 43 years ago but moved to northern New York 33 years ago and have only visited the restaurant a few times since. This brought back some good memories of that time. I use to go to the third last Ho Jo in Lake Placid before they closed earlier this year. According to franchise rules, if they sell the restaurant, it will cease to be a Howard Johnson’s so hope they can keep it open or lease it to someone that will promote it and keep it a Ho Jo’s.
There was once a Howard Johnson’s in my hometown of Guilford, CT and we liked eating there of course but what strikes my memory the most was if my dad bought me a chocolate lollipop at the cash register …. I recall this display of white/milk chocolate round lollipops that were actually detailed dipictions of trolley cars and such and they were really good … would love to find one of those today!
I am a Hojo’s girl!! My Dad owned 2 franchises one in East Providence, RI on Route 1-A next to Naragansett Racetrack from about 1955-1970’s and one in Johnston, RI in the 60’s and 70’s.
We would go to dinner every week, Mom, Dad and my 3 brothers, sit in a long tourquoise booth and we could order whatever we wanted!! It was fabulous, Shirley Temples, shrimp cocktails, clams, fried chicken, and for dessert ice cream Sundays or the ice cream cake roll- devil’s food cake rolled like a jelly roll with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, delicious.
It was a great family place, we all worked there ( not my mom), I can still recite the breakfast menu.
Food I miss is the clams, cole slaw, Indian pudding, brown bread, and of course the ice cream, my fave, butter pecan, my mom’s rum raisin or peppermint stick, sooooo good and such warm fuzzy memories
Ha
Forgot to ad, my first job at 15 was Fish Fry girl at Jefferson Blvd, Warwick. Had a little tourquoise apron with a fish on it and a beret, my cart would have fish, cole slaw French fries and corn bread. Just roll around the dining room making people happy!!!
We had a Howard Johnson’s near us on Rte. 129 in Wakefield, MA, near Lake Quannapowitt, when I as growing up . It was the spot we were always taken for “rewards” (good grades, etc.) for a frappe (coffee being my favorite!!) Our family also made Ho-Jo’s a “go to” place to eat out, and I remember how much Dad loved clams (with our without the bellies!) We always ordered their clam rolls!. Thirdly, we always stopped there for ice cream on Sunday afternoons, when Dad took us for a drive. I always chose Pistachio! I don’t know how that got started! But I just loved it, and to this day I look for that flavor! It’s hard to find! Many fond memories of Howard Johnson’s’ cheery orange roof and turquoise cupola! We watched for them on road trips. We knew the food would always be well prepared. Thanks for the memory!!
We travelled the PA turnpike often when l was a youngster, going to visit relatives in western PA. Howard Johnson’s was a must! It was always a treat to stop there; my folks loved it, too. For me, the peppermint stick ice cream was the absolute best. There was a HoJo’s in Harrisonburgn VA until not too long ago, & l have been known to buy a pint or two in my time! Really wish it would have a resurgence
My family used to travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike from the Ohio border to Harrisburg to visit my grandmother. Back then the concessions on the PA Turnpike was Ho-Jo and we loved stopping there for the clam sandwiches, hot dogs (with the New England buns!) and each of us had our favorite ice cream. Mine was peppermint stick. I have not had a better one.
Oh, one of my favorite places to dine and or stay. Not many left at all. We also had HoJo’s on the Mass Turnpike rest stops. Then they disappeared, but there was still one off of exit 3 in Westfield, Ma. I was working for the Turnpike then and I remember going on runs to HoJo’s for food. One of the more popular items was the Big or Little Apple a large (even the little one) fritter type of delight. Just filled with Apple and Cinamon in the dough. Yum!
After high school, Friday nights at the Howard Johnson’s in Racine WI, I’d gather with friends and someone at the table would always have the fried clams. That is the first time I had them, and had them fairly often. Of course, pie was my dessert of choice!
When I was a kid, we would go out to Howard Johnson’s for Sunday dinner. This meant that you kept your “church clothes” on and rode in the car for about 45-50 minutes, travelling from Chatham, N.Y. to Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany. Hojo’s had theme dinners for kids and I always got the “Little Tommy Tucker”, consisting of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and….PEAS. This is pretty-much how I learned to eat, and LIKE, vegetables. My mom told me to mix the peas in with the mashed potatoes and dunk that in the gravy and everything would be okay. As I’m doing this, my brother and sister, both older, are refusing to touch their vegetables and telling me that the peas will be awful. The peas were delightful; bright, green balls of flavor, mixing nicely with the potatoes and gravy. Soon, I was eating the peas on their own, but to this day, I am a big fan of “the perfect bite”. On Thanksgiving (“Little Tommy Tucker Day”) I’ll stab a piece of turkey, dunk it in some mashed potatoes or stuffing, roll that through the peas and get a little gravy on it and…..nirvana! Peas are still my favorite vegetable, I obviously love Thanksgiving more than most and my brother and sister STILL do not eat vegetables. So, thank you Howard Johnson’s, for being such a great part of my childhood, helping me learn to like vegetables and for that insanely-orange orange sherbet. It was totally worth wearing that stupid clip-on tie!
What a trip down memory lane! Great article! I spent my teen summers with my friends at Revere Beach, and we almost always stopped at the HoJo’s on the beach. We could run across the street in our bathing suits! The food was awesome! Also, my dad used to like to go on family drives to New Hampshire and Maine, and we almost always ended up at a HoJo’s, sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. I always had orange sherbet cones! The food was consistently great no matter the location. I loved the clam rolls, but actually preferred the clams with the bellies. My grandmother’s brother owned Woodman’s in Essex…his family still does. Chubby Woodman invented the fried clam! So we normally got our clams there, or sometimes at Kelly’s Roast Beef on Revere Beach, who also did a fab lobster roll, which I would order with a small box of clams on the side. Living in the Seattle area, I have no access to New England style hot dog buns, but I can get a box of them now and then from my cousin who still lives in MA. I might have to get one of those pans and make some rolls…there is NOTHING better than a delicious, toasted and buttered top loading roll filled with lobster or clams! Now I am SOOOOOOOOOOO hungry!!! Missing home and missing HoJo’s…what wonderful, sweet memories.
My farther was the night auditor on Saturday and Sunday nights for a long time. Sometimes on really hot days, he would let us swim in the pool, but that was rare. Not even once a year, maybe only 3 or 4 times total and he worked there for over 25 years. When I got married, I moved to Indianna because my husband was in grad school. Everytime we made the trip, we would stay at a Howard Johnson’s. Mass to Indianna and back. Always at HoJo. There was a Howard Johnson’s in the city where we lived and would eat there once in a while. One time my brother-in-law came for a visit. We ate at the local Howard Johnson’s and decided to end the meal with ice cream. My brother-in-law ordered his ” with jimmies” on his. The waitress asked him “jimmie’s what?” She didn’t know that is what we called sprinkles in New England, and he didn’t know they were called sprinkles. Is was really quite funny. Fond memories of Ho
JO.
Well…I have read all the comments hoping someone else would remember my favorite food from HoJo’s…the little square “muffins” called toaster pastries. (Waaay better than the current, nasty Pillsbury ones on the market today.) 🙂 My favorite flavor was the orange – it was different. You could get plain ol’ blueberry, corn, and even apple cinnamon regular muffins anywhere…but those orange toaster pastries were unique! I can still remember the taste and texture of them today. And…you could buy them in the supermarket! Aaahh…food memories from childhood…. Thanks for this great article, and a walk down memory lane.
Loved the Pewter Pot as a kid in Burlington. My sister, not so much. She got sick there after dinner one night and it’s moniker became “the puker pot” Lol. We still laugh about it 30 years later!
Outstanding hot dogs, oh the clam rolls and the ice cream. Lived in Dover NH and we did a weekly trip to the Portsmouth traffic circle HoJo’s. It was a marvelous time, how I miss those days.
Back in the late sixties I worked in Kenmore Square in Boston. There was a Howard Johnson Restaurant across the street. Every other Friday, payday, I would have my lunch in that restaurant. It consisted of the clam strip plate with fries. My drink was always a vanilla frappe. I could never find another restaurant were I could enjoy a meal like that.
We had a Howard Johnson’s in Chelmsford, Massachusetts where I grew up. I spent a lot of time with family and friends. I used to love the hot fudge sundaes as well as the clam rolls, hot dogs and cole slaw. You could always count on it to be good. Sometimes I would have a club sandwich or some kind of sandwich at the counter! Good memories!
Great article. Thanks for writing it. It brought back lots of good memories. I LOVED their brownie sunday with cherry brandy icecream a and hot fudge. : )
There was an Italian veal patty on the menu that I loved as a kid. It was about as far from authentic Italian as you could imagine, but I loved it! One of my fondest memories though was my great uncle filling out the suggestion card that was always at the table. He had ordered a burger “smothered in onions” Apparently his burger was still breathing. My favorite memory though was driving ing home to Massachusetts from UConn. I had fifty cents on me. But I stopped into HoJo’s for coffee where I spent my toll money so I had to take the back roads home!
Thanks for a great article on HoJo’s in Bangor Me. I need to add a bit about the staff at the Inn & restaurant. In 1996, my Dad stayed at HoJo’s Inn in Bangor, while receiving chemo treatments for cancer at Eastern Maine Medical. He stayed multiple weeks over that year, and the staff were extremely accommodating, and always looked out for him, and any special diet needs he required in the restaurant. They are a true example of “Downeast Hospitality”. I would really hate to see them close their doors!!
Thanks for writing this delightful piece! My 1st “memories” of H J restaurants, was as a kid, driving by them family vacations, across the MA turnpike (in the 50’s) and anywhere else we could find them across the country. As a special treat, we’d occasionally stop for ice cream cones. But the most fun was waitressing during hi school and home-from-college summers, in LaGrange Pk, Ill. (As of Dec. 2-015 there was still an empty space where the classic HoJo restaurant stood). My recollection was that the Fish Fry was Wednesday nite (all you can eat for 99cents)…and pushing the piled high cart of fried perch, fries, and cole slaw around). We were issued our uniform (“dress,” cap, and apron) at the beginning of summer, had to wash and iron ourselves, and wear the cap and hair net, or else! Best part was grabbing a spoon and sampling my way through the large containers of ice-cream as the summer progressed. Carmel fudge, butter pecan, peach…oh boy! On “meal break” we got to order whatever we wanted (no charge), that the cooks would make, except the T Bone steak .
The hired help had the benefit of a free choice of a lunch while I was working at the Howard Johnson’s on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, Mass. -except For the Fried Clams! I gladly paid the extra 50 cents so many times in that within the 4 month period of my summer job that I did not desire to order them (nor a 3-D hamburger either)for a long time thereafter. 10 years later in Springfield, Mass. after a Friday gym workout. I gladly resumed my love affair with the Fried Clams thanks tonthe HJ’s all-you-care-to-eat special!!
Did all the HJ’s make their desserts on premise? I remember climbing the winding stairs to the top of the restraunt’s tower to be surprised by the pastry chef’s room with flour everywhere!
Great piece of nostalgic blueberry pie. After delivering the Boston Globe for years got my 1st real job as Dishwasher at HoJo’s on Route 128 in Newton at Grove St. Promoted to short order cook soonafter. But the grease of Kentucky Fried Chicken tempted me to change jobs while I attended Brandeis U. Years later looking back all those garbage jobs fed my drive to strive. So I guess I have to thank Howard Johnsons for contributing to success I have today. Thanks for the great article as I look out over my pool and across the golf course from my Boca Raton Country Club home.
We had one here in Falmouth, Ma. and it was a great place to go. I had one of my daughter’s birthday parties there and it was just wonderful. One of the places I truly miss in my town.
I worked at Howard Johnson’s in Birmingham, Al. From 1956-1959. I worked on soda fountain. I loved it . On Sunday’s I would come in around noon, and would dip the ice cream cones constantly until about 8 PM. I loved waiting on the kids, they loved a show and I would dip the scoop in water then flip it in the air and catch it. The food we served was the best. Most of the customers would come in 3 times a week or more. I loved their 3D burgers , it was much better than the Big Mac at McDonalds.
Your article about brought me to tears because I miss HoJo so much! My first memory is of eating at the restaurant in Milford, I believe. It was after school clothes shopping in Manchester & we stopped on our way home to Rindge. I was eating a hotdog & spilled mustard on my dress & it stained all the way through to my slip! We moved to Florida in 1968 & I visited many HoJo’s there. I was glad to have been able to bring my son to eat there & his fav was the Mac & cheese. It is sad that they are all gone except 2. I wish I were close enough to visit one. There is nothing to compare to their hotdogs (ah, the toasted buns!) and their ice cream. Thanks for the memories!
I was brought up in Milton, MA and my first date with my (future) husband was at Howard Johnsons in Beverly (I think) MA on highway 128. This was in 1954 and we were married 3 years later, and then after 6 more years of school for my husband at Gordon College and Gordon Seminary, we pastored churches in NY and Buffalo, Wichita, KS and Indianapolis. Wish I had the count of how many times we ate at Howard Johnson’s.
Hi, Phyllis–Perhaps you know that Howard Johnson’s home town was Milton. He bought and renovated the old Hallowell mansion there, his children (we were contemporaries) grew up there, and he and his wife are buried in the Milton Cemetery. His offices were in Wollaston, where I lived, and his main food warehouses were in Quincy. Nobody misses HoJo’s more than I do.
I can remember the all you can eat fish fries with my family. The HoJo’s in Lake George isn’t the same (we live an hour away). It doesn’t have the panache it seems of Bangor. Another old staple was the dining room at Grants. Does anyone remember that?
Thanks for the memories! I grew up in Hull, Massachusetts, and during high school in the late 60’s worked at a free-standing HoJo’s across the street from Nantasket Beach. It was only open in the late spring through early fall as I recall, and essentially run by high school students with a few older bosses. We worked hard, but had a lot of fun. At least 2 long marriages came after those years at HoJo’s. What a great place to grow up!!!
We (my mom, husband and I) were in the New England area for the past few weeks. My mom worked at the Howard Johnson’s in Scarborough, Maine as a teenager (in the 1950s). She was searching for it on our travels down Rt 1, and couldn’t find it. I’ll have to let her know that the Bangor restaurant is the only one open now. 🙁 Our family stayed at a Howard Johnson motel in eastern Virginia when traveling from California to New England about 20+ years ago, when our kids where little. We loved it because of the spaciousness and the great lawn areas. Great memories!
It might interest readers to know that Jacques Pepin (the now famous French chef who was often seen side-by-side with Julia Child on PBS) was hired by Howard Johnson himself in the 1959 and worked for the HoJo’s for 10 years! http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/howard-johnsons-adieu.html?_r=0
Yes ,the great Pepin was hired to develop the frozen food line of Ho Jo’s retail division,and often visited their Brockton Ma.production facility,which was at the corner of Oak and Battles Streets in the City of Champions. Chicken Croquettes,anyone?
I grew up always loving Howard Johnson’s. When I was young, and my family lived near Buffalo, N.Y., my parents would take me to the “all you can eat” fish fries on Friday nights. My two, older sisters wouldn’t go a lot of the time, so I got to have a special “date night” with my parents! Later, my sisters and me all worked, at different times, at a HoJo’s on Sunrise Highway, in Lynbrook, N.Y. where Long Island starts. It put us all through college, with the money we earned Summers there, as waitresses! A funny story, when I was a waitress in the late 1970s, at HoJo’s, I came into work after a day at the beach, and did not have on my total, “required” uniform, and was yelled at by my manager. Later, Howard B. Johnson, the founder’s son, came into the restaurant on some kind of inspection tour of his restaurants, and after speaking and being served by me, told my manager, “this is the kind of waitress I want working here!” Think I won him over when I had told him how his picture, which was the truth, was hanging in the ladies’ bathroom! Will miss HoJo’s. And, loved your article Aimee!! Will pass it on to my sisters, and I hope to go to the Maine location before it closes! P.S. One of my sisters got to meet, and be asked out, by a young Jimmy Messina, the musician, at HoJo’s!
I have such fond memories of HoJo’s. My grandmother used to take me often to several different ones. The ones we visited most often were: Concord, MA, by the rotary on Route 2, and Portsmouth, NH at the Circle, where the RoundAbout now operates. I do remember the one with the tunnel on the Maine Turnpike. Also, there was one on Route 128, on the way to the Cape. I used to get lobster rolls there, and of course, ice cream afterward. My favorite was pistachio. I did not like the clam strips……..I am one New Englander that likes the WHOLE clam. Thank you for reminding me of those wonderful trips when my Nanny and I spent time together. I am 73 now, and she has been gone a long time. This was in the ’40s and ’50s, way before the motels were added………I do remember the Mass Pike, when it first opened, and for quite a few years, had HoJos at all the rest areas. The Mass Pike opened around 1956. Another one we used to visit, because our cousins lived there, was in East Hartford, CT. And, to this day, there is an old Howard Johnson restaurant building in Waterbury, CT. It has the orange roof and everything. It is a restaurant, run privately under another name, but, I heard the fellow who owns it has kept the HJ menu……..
I LOVED the tunnel under the Maine Turnpike at Mile 24 connecting the northbound and southbound HJ’s – only one of them had a sit down restaurant, but you could access it through the tunnel even if you were headed in the other direction!!!
So remember this Howard Johnson’s on the Maine turnpike! Depending on whether heading north or south, we would go to always go to the one with the sit-in restaurant so we got to go through that tunnel under the highway once per trip! Loved the clam rolls, the hot dogs, good kid-friendly macaroni and cheese, the club sandwich (burger and BLT built into one!), etc., etc.! Loved the advertisements for Howard Johnson’s . I think they were in the Saturday Evening Post at least!
I grew up in the York County area in Maine, and recall the times we used to go to Howard Johnson’s on the Portsmouth Traffic Circle. I also remember the trips from New Jersey to Maine each year with Howard Johnson’s all along the way. We always went to Grandma’s for The Holidays and the stops at the Howard Johnson’s Restaurants were the bright spots on our long tedious trips. I could always get a Maple Walnut Ice Cream Cone…nearly impossible to get in PA where I now live :~( Thanks for the memories!
I remember this HoJo’s fondly. Sometime in the late 80’s I was traveling for work and had spent the night at a small motel in Bangor. In the morning I awoke to a full on unannounced snow storm . Roads were closed and the place I was staying had no food . After a wonderful truck driver shoveled me out he said I could make it to the Howard Johnsons. I made it right before they closed the interstate and was greeted by a lovely woman explaining that I should order quickly incase they lost power. That day I met so many great people that were either staying at the hotel or like myself looking for a safe haven I ended up spending the night there but felt safe and protected. I wish I could return one last time to say farewell .
Oh, this article dredged up many happy memories from my childhood and youth! When I was 8 years old, my family moved to the Panama Canal Zone (my father worked for Chiquita bananas). Every summer we’d get on a refrigerated cargo ship and come home to NY and New England for six weeks. We traveled a lot by car, visiting all the relatives, and we LOVED to stay – and eat – at Howard Johnson’s. I had two favorite meals: hot turkey sandwich and fried clams. Once my turkey sandwich came and it was partially frozen. I didn’t understand why (although our waitress remedied the problem immediately) until many years later, when I first learned about microwave ovens, which were owned by restaurants only because they were so expensive after being invented. The countertop microwave was introduced in 1967 (I just looked that up) but I didn’t own one until the late 1980s. I loved everything about Hojo’s. The day of my brother’s wedding, when I was 12, was the first time I ever went to to the counter alone and ordered a Coca-Cola. I can still remember mentally calculating the 15% tip – I’m sure that was one of the many things I was exposed to at Hojo’s, instructions from my parents about how to treat wait staff, how to order and how to leave a tip. My father drilled into my head the mantra, “If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.” My mother’s maternal aunt, Jane Frances Moriarty, was the mother of Eugene Durgin, who was general counsel to Hojo’s for many years, so we always felt a little proprietary about the company! When I arrived at Boston College for my freshman year in 1975, my brother and his wife used to take me to a Hojo’s for the all you can eat buffet! What a great concept that was – I am sad to know that time has left Howard Johnson’s behind.
I worked for Howard Johnson’s…we never called it HoJo’s….from 1958 to 1971…and never ONCE did we use a microwave…..Some Howard Johnson’s cooks just threw the frozen chicken pies into a steam table. We never did that in North Conway either. Each meal was individually cooked with pots and pans and grill, etc.
I was watching Jacques Pepin on PBS this morning, and I told my husband that Pepin actually worked for Howard Johnson’s, in menu development. One of my husband’s first jobs was at the Howard Johnson’s in North Conway, and he speaks of it fondly. He said he loved the French Dip! I would love to find out which items Pepin was responsible for adding to the menu.
I read the story but not all of the comments, Since Ho Jo’s has closed in Bangor Me, you said there was another one in Lake George NY, well hate to burst your bubble but that one is gone also. So there are none left…Yes I have very fond memories of growing up in Allston/Brighton area of Boston and hanging out at HO JO’s in the 60’s .It is surely missed by all that know of it………..
Thanks for the update, David. The Lake George location received so much glowing press in recent years, I had no idea it was now for sale. The most recent news stories I could find from February, 2017, shows the property is for sale, but still operational. Let me know, readers, if you learn something different. Thanks!
It is still (barely) operational. The building/property is for sale (and apparently has been for some time, the most recent sign just being a new selling company posting one).
The restaurant has been leased to a man who has been running it for a couple years now – unfortunately he was on the news last year being accused of harassment of the employees. No more has come out on that case, and he is still around, but seems to only open occasionally, with little predictability on when that will be.
One of my first jobs was in 1963 behind the soda fountain at the HoJo’s on Route 3A in Scituate, MA. The fried clams, grilled franks, and 3D burger were all memorable. Years later while in the Air Force, HO Jo’s in Florida, Nebraska, and California were always welcome reminders of my youth in Massachusetts.
Aimee – Thank you for all the fond memories. In the 1950’s, after Sunday church, our family would go to the Howard Johnson’s in Pottstown, PA, for lunch. I would always order the same thing: fried clams (for $1.15 as I remember), and peppermint stick ice cream for dessert (they did not start serving mint chocolate chip until years later). I continued enjoying HoJo’s food traveling back and forth to college in Maine in the 1960’s, and later when I returned back to the Philadelphia area. Then my cousin took a summer job in the King of Prussia store, and I ate at HoJo’s even more often! Fond memories – so sorry to see them go!
The very first restaurant I ever went to was in Peabody, Mass (I think). I had never eaten at a restaurant, and I was bedazzled with the booths, the counter, and the wonderful service with women dressed in HoJo colors. It was the only place that my dad believed had good food at reasonable prices. It was the early 50s, we didn’t have much, and going to HoJo’s was like going to the Waldorf for us. Thanks to Aimee and all who responded for the wonderful, nostalgic trip back to Peabody.
Aimee! Loved your article. Miss H.J.’S terribly. Lucky enough to spend summers on the Cape and always hit the one at the rotary heading for Falmouth. While my younger sister and I indulged in ice cream, my parents always had a fresh cup of hot coffee. The smell of freshly brewed coffee still takes me back to those warm summer Cape Cod nights of the 70″s. My dad loved them so much he even painted the front door of our cottage turquoise blue! On a family trip this fall to Lake George I showed my boys the iconic sign as we drove by…sigh. Thanks for your article and the memories. Loved all the comments too. Bittersweet.
My mother, sister and I would eat at the HoJo at the Fresh Pond circle in Cambridge, Ma . This was during the 1950s and I’ll never forget the fried clams , the all you can eat fish fry and especially the ice cream sodas. Reading this story and all of the great comments made me both very happy and sad because of all the great memories. THANK YOU
In the 1960s my parents, brother & I would travel by car down to Florida to visit my aunt & uncle, & we always stayed at Howard Johnson motels along the way. We’d look for that orange roof…Richmond, VA, Savannah, GA, & an especially new, very modern one in Miami. My brother & I would head for the outdoor pool 1st thing, & I remember their hotcakes with whipped butter for breakfast. I loved their Simple Simon & the Pieman sign. It all brings back such wonderful memories of such an innocent time when everything seemed possible.
In the early 1960s I had to fly from California to the East Coast on business. Two of the people I worked with were from New England. On my way back to the airport I stopped at a Howard Johnson’s and picked up some fried clams. The next day I presented my gift to them. They heated them in a labatory oven and devoured them on the spot, thanking me over and over. A few years later Howard Johnson’s started showing up in California, but they told me it just wasn’t the same.
loved the fried clams! As a child often traveled from Attleboro Ma. to Manchester NH to visit close friends for the weekend, Always stopped at HJ coming or going. My Dad had 2 cousins who co-owned a HJ in Vermont, I think White River Junction. They always took us there for dinner, We were given the royal treatment by staff which made it special. Moved to Ca. in 62, but always went to the restruant when we came to N.E. to visit family.
Mel Allen’s wife story is cool as butter brickle. I remember HoJo’s at Fresh Pond Circle gave me a serious case of “red tide”. Man, the upchucks started about half-past midnight and went until dawn. I felt like rotten kelp. But, you know what, I still loved HoJo’s. Not quite as much, but I still loved it! Thanks for this great article.
Great article. As one reader commented, eating out was a big, big deal for our family of 5 kids. We went to the Tolland Tpke HJ’s in Manchester, CT. The Lenten all you could eat Fish, and more importantly the Fried Clams, were a wonderful treat. I believe they split off the all you could clam nights, and my Dad and I would put a huge dent in their supply those nights. Great memories, thank you!
Howard Johnsons was a big part of my childhood too. We lived in Squantum and would go to the Ho Jo’s on Wollaston Blvd. out of 28 flavors, my favorite is still chocolate chip! The fried clam roll was great too although I know prefer fried clams with bellies!, My grandfather worked as a commercial artist for them, hand painting all of the signs for their stores.(orange & turquoise, of course) He also wrote a little advertising jingle for them and my brothers and I would get a big kick out of hearing it on the radio!
Hey, Donna, I lived on Beach Street, just a block from the beach and the Wollaston stand. You have no idea what it’s like to live in New England (worse yet, New Orleans) and be allergic to all shellfish. I was considered a traitor to my country in both locations–no clams, no lobster, no oysters, and (most of all everywhere I’ve lived) no shrimp. Well, the “frankforts” were delicious–lots of butter. Of course we looked at Squantum every time we went swimming. I went to North Quincy High for 7th and 8th grade, then transferred to Thayer. Nice to read something from someone in the old neighborhood.
Donna, Forgot to mention the Howard Johnson’s original restaurant, in the Wollaston train station. On Fridays, the Baked Finnan Haddie there was so good, businessmen would take the train from Boston just to have lunch there. It was a famous meal all over the South Shore.
My grandmother lived across from the Howard Johnsons in Lenox MA. My grandmother loved ice cream so she would take us across the street for cones. I always got pistachio. Good memories.
When I was young we ate at Howard Johnson’s every Tuesday night. It was a tough time for our family, with my mother very ill and in and out of the hospital. HoJo’s was a bright spot during a hard time and as regulars we became friendly with the Tuesday night waitresses. I soon earned the moniker “Tuna Fish” as it was my sandwich of choice every week. Sadly, I was too young to have learned just how wonderful fried clams are…today, that would be my standing order! So sad that the world moved on and HoJo’s was left behind.
The following excerpt from my book, “My Life on Golden Pond,” is in Chapter 47 – “Rocket Maaaannnn:” One of my favorite traveling routines as a child was playing in the tunnel that ran under the Maine Turnpike at mile 24 between the northbound and southbound Howard Johnson’s. Only one side had a full service restaurant, but I could get my standard HoJo meal – a hamburger with mustard and relish followed by a pistachio ice cream cone with real embedded pistachio nuts – on either side. The tunnel allowed travelers headed in the direction that didn’t have the full service restaurant to still have a sit down dinner, plus it enabled the easy transfer of supplies between the two locations. But for me the tunnel was a dark and mysterious den of wonder, with echoes not found anywhere else on the planet.
From my earliest memories, the mile 24 Howard Johnson’s was the place that made our family feel we were really in Maine, and was what we competed with each other to see first as we drove north. “There it is! I see it!” we’d shout with excitement, and then a spirited argument would break out over who actually saw it first and said it first. But the pleasure of being that far into Maine suppressed any negative feelings that the arguing might have otherwise engendered.
That Howard Johnson’s was a landmark of monumental significance to me, and the fact that it’s now a mini food court with a Burger King and a Starbucks, and a couple of other bland chain stores doesn’t lessen the specialness of my memories. I know that serious Maine Magic exists there. Hidden below the roadway are ancient catacombs with unique and amazing sound qualities and mysterious powers yet to be discovered. And you, Gentle Reader, now know it also.
My first waitressing job at 17 years old was at a HoJos in Daytona Beach Florida in 1985. I was a year shy of being able to serve alcohol so I’d have to have someone else bring that to my tables if someone ordered it. Spring break was a big deal in Daytona in ’85 & the college kids would come in & order the “all you can eat” meals to make their dollar stretch farther. I went on to waitress for about 5 years, until 22, leaving HoJos after about 6 months for a higher end seafood restaurant but I’ll always remember them willing to train me when my only experience prior was McDonalds at 16.
My oldest brother flipped burgers at HoJo’s in Concord, MA for his first job. I have such special memories of going there for chicken croquettes (my favorite) and a coffee frappe while watching my brother behind the grill. We were a family who almost never ate out so Howard Johnson’s was doubly special to me.
They closed the Hojo in Kankakee IL, Olympia fields, IL, Nashville, TN, St Louis, MO, Indianapolis IN, … suddenly no chowder, fried clams. My quality of life continues to descend.
Our family was scattered around New England while we lived in New York. On one of our many trips each year, we always stopped at the Howard Johnson’s on 84 (hang a right after Hartford) in Connecticut. I always ordered the fried clams – dinner or roll. I rarely got to have the cone sundae as we took our ice cream to go. My favorite was the chocolate chip (because you got both the chocolate and vanilla flavors ????) in a sugar cone. To this day chocolate chip is still my go-to ice cream flavor! What great memories, and what a shame it’s gone now. ????
And that Route 84 exit between Hartford and New York would have been my hometown for many years, Southington! The old Ho-Jo was just off the exit and a mainstay for travelers as well as the locals. Crowded especially on Sunday mornings for early & late breakfast, and you were sure to see many friends there. Great memories – but as a native New Englander, I, too, prefer the whole-belly fried clams; so delicious.
My first job was at the Howard Johnsons in Muncie, Indiana (Middletown U.S.A.), in 1959. The restaurant I was sixteen and my first job at the restaurant was lot boy. I changed bulbs in the overhead parking lot lights, the old fashioned way, by shinnying the poles with my belt around me and the pole. Never came close to falling. In addition, I made sure the lot was always clean, trimmed the hedges, mowed the grass, and unloaded the Hojo trucks that came in pretty much daily. The refrigerated truck brought ice cream and pre-seared, frozen New York Strip Steaks and clams. We never ran short on ice cream … or the steaks, which were the most expensive item on the menu. Another truck brought in canned clam chowder and a couple of other soups. The chowder was in gallon containers and required another gallon of milk. I moved from lot boy to dishwasher and bus boy, then to the kitchen and finally to the soda fountain and assistant manager before joining the Army. Unlike these days, these jobs had actual career progression possibilities. What I learned from my manager about personal interactions came in handy in my military career, especially when handling troops. The old Muncie restaurant still exists … the building at least, although it’s had several additions, including a new façade. But it’s always been a restaurant. It’s now called Richard’s Restaurant on old highway 3 in Muncie, Indiana.
Although never having traveled to New England as a child (Baby Boomer) growing up in Tulsa Oklahoma we had a Howard Johnson’s just off of Route 66… as you mentioned for the travelers and adventurers who would stop in either heading west or east…. My grandmother who lived in Ft.Worth Texas would take the passenger train from Ft Worth to Oklahoma City and we would drive over to pick her up…. I have such vivid memories sitting in the booth at HoJo’s in Tulsa with my family and visiting Grandmother in the summers all of us enjoying The taste of New England sweet clam rolls and loving them from first bite!!!! It certainly was the heyday especially for Route 66 travelers and being on the “route” in Tulsa we were blessed to have one of the HoJo locations right in our little Oil town! Sad to see this part our our Boomer history disappear. Now I need a New England trip in my future! Craving clam rolls after my brother and I started discussing them which led to finding this article…. we want to know what else happened that fateful night when your boss sampled the pretty girl’s ice cream cone who later became his wife! We were caught up in that memory he shared sounded like a scene from American Grafitti!
I lived in Wollaston MA from 1943 to 1951 (and Hingham from 1934 to 1943) and ate regularly at the first three HoJo’s in the country: Wollaston, Quincy, and Dorchester. HoJo’s offices were next to the Wollaston train station, so I passed them almost every day. Their quality was something you could count on, wherever you traveled. I miss them very much, especially the little pots of baked beans, and their orange-pineapple ice cream, now very hard to find elsewhere. I knew his children, featured in their ice cream ads; we were about the same age. Sad to see HoJo’s gone.
Grew up in Bangor…had fish fries n grape nut ice cream. Then we went to Florida for a vacation n we stayed in HoJo Motels n had breakfast of Toasties…all the time.
Worked at the “Ho-Jo’s on the Highway” just north of Hartford, CT when I was 17. My first waitress job and when multiple buses poured in it was wild! I had Am shift and frequently was only waitress as others slept in. We were so busy one morning and I was alone I got left a 2 cent tip! My parents and I always had lunch at one on way to NH for vacation. Sad to see it go….
My first job was at the Howard Johnson in Boscowin, N.H. On Rt. 3 going to the Lakes region. I was 15 and started as a bus boy. It was only open during the summer months and was managed by a teacher and his wife. The second summer I was a soda jerk and once served an ice cream cone to Jimmy Piersol of the Boston Red Sox.
I was brought up in Milton, MA and my Mother told me that Howard Johnson had a home in Milton and one in FL. My first date with my husband was in 1954 and we went bowling and then he took me to Howard Johnson’s which was on 128 in Beverly, MA.
I worked at the Hojos at the circle in Chatham on Cape Cod one summer while attending UConn. My boyfriend worked at the Mobil station across the circle. I remember scooping ice cream after the ballgames and the band concerts until my forearms were black and blue. So many years ago. Next year my boyfriend and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. On Cape Cod of course.
Great article on Howard Johnson’ Restaurants and it brought back many memories of simpler times in our lives. I worked at a Howard Johnson Restaurant in Weirs Beach NH right across from Lake Winnepesaukee north of Laconia NH–I worked there in my teens from 1956 to 1960 this was a summer job and the restaurant was a franchise owner of which belong to my uncle and aunt Charles and Avis Baroody–The restaurant was a classic style restaurant with its orange roof and windows it was open only from April to Columbus day but the fond memories I had with my fellow workers are too numerous to mention—I did write an article about my experiences at this restaurant in the the Weirs Times Gazette publised in November 2008 and the headlines on the newspaper was Remembering My Summers Working At Howard Johnson’ in Weirs Beach. My closing paragraph was back in the fabulous 50’s there was no McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendys. Howard Johnson’s was the place to go. When you say Howard Johnson’s it is sort of like Apple Pie and Baseball in the summer. Maybe even like a Norman Rockwell Painting. The name is synonymous with a different decade and unfortunately end of an era.
I don’t know how I came across this site…but what a joy.. I use to work at Howard Johnson’s in Madison Heights, MI.. I started there in 1973 when I was 21 years old. I really enjoyed it. I still remember the Hostess, Mrs. Lauwers, she was such a nice woman. I remember the strict dress code.. clean wrinkle free turquoise and white uniform with a crisp white apron. We had to tie the apron in a perfect bow and loop one of the tie’s up and over to hide the knot in the back. No nail polish, unless it was clear.. we had a good looking bunch. My favorite item was the Corn Bread! I absolutely Loved that corn bread. Whenever I took a break, I would go for a piece of that. We had a Bar/Lounge attached, and I remember putting the fruit on the Swords that went into the drink.. I was waitress #2…lol I worked the Breakfast shift for a little while, the Corral and 2 Booths to the side.. I asked for afternoon shift because I had a child at home.. I made really good tips on afternoons.. I got the Banquet Room often, and wow..tips were great. Alot of good memories working there.. We moved away in 1975 so left the area. We were packed all the time. Felt bad when I heard they had troubles…sad.
Thanks for sharing all your memories, but, I have to mention(2) more Howard Johnson Restaurants one on Route 12 – West Boylston, MA where myself and several associates were “out at the top” for different meals of the day and a second location on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, MA a notable place to go after a visit with Spags department store.
My first “real” job (not babysitting) was at the Howard Johnson”s on Farmington Ave in West Hartford CT. It was the mid-sixties and some of my classmates also worked there. Ours was more of a local restaurant, many of our guests were from the neighborhood and we got to know them well. That summer was the busiest summer I ever spent, working Sunday mornings alone, covering the dining room but it was the most fun, families coming in after church for breakfast. This is where I learned to love clam chowder and fried clams and try a different ice cream flavor every night on my way out the door; I loved them all and even to this day I miss having HoJo’s when I travel.
Lived Somerset PA and both Somerset and Bedford PA had How Johnsons on both sides of the PA Pike and we would park behind the one near Somerset one and walk in the back door and eat all of the time That is where I grew to love the clams, etc Forget this I think Somerset had a tunnel underneath the Pike also between the two or maybe Bedford Had a family friend in Somerset who worked at the Esso gas on thePike knew everyone there
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! My mom, dad, & 2 younger sisters would always go to the Howard Johnson’s every Friday Night for the All You can Eat Fish & Clams. This Howard Johnson’s was located on Route 51 in West Mifflin (Pittsburgh), Pa. We would also go to the H.J. Restaurant on another evening when they had the All You Can Eat Baby Back Ribs with Cole Slaw & FF because my youngest sister liked their Baby Back Ribs!!! Remember those? After it closed, the restaurant became The Elephant Bar. But, it wasn’t the same so we didn’t go back. When I was younger & lived in Columbus, Ohio, there was a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant that my mom & dad took me to on 161 where my older sister Diane used to work as a waitress. Her waitress outfit was a brown & cream plaid dress. I always loved the fish, clams, french fries,coleslaw, & ice-cream! I remember the soda fountain on the right side of the restaurant when you walked in with the bar & chairs up to it. I remember that the restaurant part where you could sit and eat was on the left side of the soda fountain. I remember the Orange Roof and the Weather Vane with the Rooster that my mom loved. We miss Howard Johnson’s!!!
Not many are aware that Jacques Pepin, the famous French chef, worked for Howard Johnson and they were great friends. He helped Johnson with improving the mass production of his foods as the restaurant chain grew. I only know this because I just finished a book about Pepin’s life. What a surprise.
Oh, my gosh, I am so surprised to see this article and I loved it. I worked for HoJo’s in MA during my college years. I worked at the Canton store, as they referred to it, near the Blue Hills and also at the beautiful one, with the gorgeous sunporch in Orleans on the Cape. Great times!! Great fun!! In Canton we had a fabulous boss, Mr. Peter Toli. The president?? of the company, whose name I cannot recall, also had an office there, so I believe it was where many trained to be managers. I even still have a HoJo charm on my teenage charm bracelet.(This was in the mid 60’s) My older sister and brother had worked at the one in Chestnut Hill, at the shopping center and my sister also worked on the Cape at the one at the rotary and the one further down in Harwich. In fact, my sister met her to-be-husband at the HoJo’s in Harwich. I grew up in Dedham and we had a family tradition of meeting up with my mother’s family for breakfast after church at the one on Rte#1. So very many memories and all good. Love both their clams and the bellied ones elsewhere. Always enjoyed the work atmosphere and the way the company was run. Thanks for this great, fun for me, article.
My family lived on Snell Street in Brockton Massachusetts and at the bottom of the street was Rt 28 with a wonderful Howard Johnsons.. Grandparents took us there my favorite was Chicken Croquettes,and Peppermint stick ice cream. So many good memories. They also had later on a place off Oak Street Brockton Ma were they made the food for the freezer. Could smell it cooking yummy. If I’m not mistaken Papa Gino’s took over the Rt 28 Brockton Ma spot. HJ your missed
Oh, the memories of stopping at HoJo’s for a cone of ginger or frozen pudding ice cream. Try finding that flavor today!! The restaurant in No. Dartmouth, MA was a favorite place to meet friends. Junior prom post celebration offered an inexpensive meal while parent chaperone /driver sat in an adjoining booth. Those were the courting days back in the 50’s when you were accompanied by an”elder”. Grateful for the memories. Thanks!
I am Northern Maine, Houlton to be exact and have always gone back to Maine yearly while my Mother was alive. I always stayed at HOJO’s and enjoyed eating there every time. I will miss the facility when I return to visit other family members.
I remember about about age 5/6 on, my Grandmother Ware bringing me for lunch & ice cream to the Williamstown, MA Howard Johnsons’ where she personally knew the Brundidge Brothers who ran the place. She was a weekly customer & they always greeted her by name. It was a treat for me which we repeated many times. Co-incidently when we built a house over the border from MA in VT while a teen, I applied for a job in the Bennington, VT HoJo’s & was hired on the spot! They supplied the Aqua & White uniforms & had them laundred after every use. I loved working there & serving the locals who came (some nightly) for dinner &/or ice cream or Indian Pudding. Hard work but educating and FUN! Worked w a lot of respectable people & teens for a couple of years. Now I’m retired & living on the Gulf Coast of FL where there’s a Howard Johnson hotel nearby on St. Pete Beach. Great memories. ?
I worked at the Williamstown HoJo’s when I was 15 and in high school , my first real job.i worked for the Brundige Brothers Frank and Ernie .their niece Pam was the hostess . When I worked there so did my aunt , my cousin ,sister in law and a future sister in law.good ole days long ago. My favorites were of course the class and the Indian pudding with a little scoop of van. Ice cream . I’m retired now too and also live in Florida , Spring Hill
Nice article about HoJo’s. Growing up, we spent summers camping in Buzzards Bay, Ma and naturally loved ice cream. Our parents, plus others at the campground would give us money to go for ice cream in the afternoon. Off we’d all go hiking by the herring run and through the Ocean Spray cranberry bogs over to HoJo’s for our favorite ice cream. Great memories, great ice cream.
I grew up in Concord, Ma. We had a Ho Jo’s restaurant and motel on Rt. 2 in Concord. Started going there in the 60’s, sitting at the counter with my dad and older brother. English muffins with orange marmalade and an OJ. As I got older, the fare turned to clam strip dinners, or French toast and coffee for breakfast. It was also a local hangout in my high school years. What fantastic memories! Howard Johnson’s, the host of the highways!!!
Before Howard Johnson’s there was another chain that originated in Brockton. It was called Dutchland and they had their own dairy farm. Eventually Howard Johnson’s bought them out, and I believe this is where they acquired the orange roof along with the shade of blue and white they used. However, if i remember my reading, Howard Johnson could use the colors but were not allowed to use the Dutchland windmill. History is fascinating. I discovered Dutchland when I found, on a census record, that my grandma worked at one back in the 1930’s or 1940’s.
Fond memories of Howard Johnson dinners. No matter what I ate, I always had room for a hot fudge sundae for dessert! 71, so one of the first year of Baby Boomers!
I too have fond memories od HOJO. In the 60’s my fiancé and I would have their Fisherman’s Platter every Sunday. It was so good. This was in Rochester, NY. Of course it is gone now. I will cherish those times forever.
Ah, the Fisherman’s Platter. As a Brit, I consider this the US version of our great Fish and Chips. We got hooked (excuse the pun!) when we holidayed with the kids in Florida. The last time I remember enjoying it was at the HJs on 7th Avenue in NYC. Often think of trying to recreate it at home! Anyone know where there’s a picture?
Wow..this article brought back great memories! My Mom worked at the Howard Johnson’s in Brattleboro, Vt. for her entire career…and the Corkins, who owned the restaurant. My sister worked there also..and I wanted to so badly that I wouldn’t let up .. eventually…Mrs Corkins hired me at 15 as a bus girl! I was soooo happy!! Graduated to behind the counter to serve 10 cent coffee..and other wonderful delights..this was 1960!! Graduated to cashier and ice cream server and then on to waitress for several more wonderful years..until graduation from high school. Saved enough money to buy my horse…and car….great experience working for wonderful people…and..having my favorite ice cream from time to time.. chocolate chip..with “gigantic” chips!!! Thanks for the memories!!!! 🙂
My family also ate at the Brattleboro, Vt location from 1958 until it closed. Every night from Riverside cabins we would go back and eat ice cream! Ate there every night and fond memories. My parents ate in all HoJo’s wherever they travelled. Miss those fried clams! Thanks for the memories!
Raised in New England, Hojo’s was a big part of our family trips. Their pistachio ice cream was my favorite and still the best of that flavor I’ve ever had. It makes me really sad to see this important icon of another time disappear. Farewell old friend. ;(
In the summer of 1959, between high school graduation and the beginning of nursing school, I worked at the Howard Johnson in Springfield, PA. It was my first real adult job, and I loved working there. Mr. Marks, the manager was great, and the cooks and waitresses were a joy to work with. Although I loved the ice cream, bits and pieces of which I frequently “wore” home on my uniform, my absolute favorite was french fries covered in turkey gravy. It was my “go to snack”, especially when I worked a double shift. Great memories. . .great introduction to the world of work. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Several HoJo experiences: (1) my hometown Springfield, Pa. had a HoJo’s where Alfred Hitchcock filmed a scene from the 60’s movie “Marine” with Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. (2). One of my first jobs in 1969 was as a busboy in HoJo’s in Media, Pa. (3) I went to a HoJo’s in Times Square during several trips to New York over the years. (4) I really enjoyed the episode from Mad Men where they re-created a HoJo on the New York Thruway complete with the bright orange angled roof. Thanks for the memories (and great milk shakes) Howard Johnson’s.
I may have introduced South Americans to Boston baked beans. In 1962, while traveling from Bedford, MA to New York City, I stopped for dinner at a HJ on Connecticut Route 85 near Tolland. Sitting at the counter I ordered a pot of baked beans and a couple of hot dogs. As I waited for my order the seats next to me became occupied by three traveling South American diplomats who expressed huge interest in my baked bean order when the pot arrived. I offered tastes and they dug into the pot eagerly with spoons from their counter settings.
It was obvious to me that they became hooked on Boston baked beans forever.
When I was in High School–mid 50’s-Our family went on a vacation to Cape Cod. On the way home, we stopped for supper at a HoJo’s on the Cape, which we practically never did. Dad chose Howard Johnson’s because, as he said, “You always knew what you were getting.” We girls ordered fried clams, probably the first we had ever had. We ordered the whole ones. I loved them, but afterwards my sister declared, “I liked them, except for the necks and the bellies!” We had a very cordial waitress, but when she refilled my Dad’s water glass, she got it so full that it rounded at the top. My father, who was never fresh, but had a good sense of spontaneous humor, looked at her and said, “Why didn’t you fill it full?” That has been a family joke ever since!
After dancing to Big Band music (like you’ll hear when ya do a YouTube search for ‘Moonlight Serenade Glenn Miller’ – click the one with a blue hue) at the Totem Pole (do a Google Images search using ‘totem pole norumbega park), we’d stop in to the HJ on 128 before heading back “up” to Lowell. How could we afford gas, admission, and then Lobstaah Rolls with Coffee Frappes as highschool kids back then? Well, as Mary sang a few years later…(do a YouTube search for ‘Mary Hopkins Those’)
[Sorry. New England Mag wont let me insert the links for convenience. Hope Y’all can take the time for some really great pics of the Totem Pole…click them to enlarge. Also, do the same using ‘commodore ballroom lowell’ for before it became a rock n roll, stand and watch “venue”…LOL]
I come from Franklin , NH and when I worked in Milwaukee, Wi a co-worker would ask were I wanted to go to lunch. I would always say it is up to you and we would end up at HoJo’s for a fried clam lunch. loved it and miss it. Also missed my friend. God Bless.
I grew up in Wollaston, MA. My mother was the papergirl for Howard Johnson when he opened the original store on Beale St. The block where it was located is gone and there is a “T” train station across the street. I believe there is a plaque of somekind in the area. The orange roof so emblematic of HoJo’s was put on by my mother’s uncle who owned Pemberton Roofing Co. When I was in college I worked at Pemberton and among my duties I had to clean the ceramic orange tiles.
Just wanted to add to the dialogue.
Ken Thomas
Very informative. I heard he started across from Wollaston beach. I remember the restaurant in Quincy Square. Can still pick out his home in Milton/Hyde Park. Thrilled to have found a place near Concord. NH, that serves very similar fried clams.
We had a Howard Johnson’s in Chelmsford. When I was a little boy, they had a chopper pad in the back. I remember my Dad used it to go to Logan in less than 20 minutes. We always stopped at Ho Jo’s when visiting relatives in CT. It’s sad because now the Friendly’s in Chelmsford that was there since 1968 (50 years) is also closing. I guess it’s a new wo
rld now and it’s the next generations turn
I feel a kinship with all the lovers of HJ, we have a nostalgic love for the food and those days. Mine was ginger ice cream and clam strips at HJ in Weymouth, but Sunday drives with Dad and Mom were not complete with out a stop for ice cream. Ninety now and lots of great memories, buying our German Shepherd pistachio ice cream at aHJ near Swanzey NH, their hot dogs were an acquired taste. It was part of our childhood.
Many memories of going to Howard Johnson’s. As a child, shopping in Uniontown, PA and stopping in Hopwood, PA for hamburgers on those buttery buns and butter pecan ice cream. And, in Camp Hill, PA for Wednesday night all you can eat Fish And French Fries. Then with my daughter for Clam Strips on those delicious New England buttery hot dog buns, French fries and Clam Chowder … it was so yummy. And, a first date to eat out … yep, HoJo’s.
When I was four or five (1944-1945) one of my earliest memories was being in my parent’s 1930’s vintage Chevy on our way to my aunt’s from our home in Massapequa on Long Island, N.Y. All I remember was being on a fast parkway and seeing the Howard Johnson’s orange roof as we sped by. It was an exciting sign to see and I’ve always remembered it.
I grew up in Sherborn in the ’70s and have such fond memories of HoJo. It feels like we must have stopped there every time we took a trip to one of the neighboring New England states. I wish we could have them back.
Have just finished reading all the “memory” comments about Howard Johnson restaurants. My mouth waters still for the quart of bellied fried clams I used to buy at the Chestnut Hill, Mass. H.J. on Rte. 9, across from the new recently built Chestnut Hill stores in the late 40s. The quart of clams cost 90 cents and I ate them all myself! I just loved them. I hated to see that H.J. close but by that time, I no longer lived at home.
Enjoyed reading some of the 55 pages of nostalgic remenicences about HoJo’s. Surprised I didn’t see any mention of the higher-end version called Red Coach Grill.
Boston, Hingham Ma. etc had one, others I can’t recall the location of. Not a teenage hang out as was it “parent”. Not bad but no where full of the HOJO’s memories for me.
Red Coach Grill was awesome. We’d go to the one in Wayland on Sundays where kids ate FREE! Anyone remember the clown sundaes. They had a nice one in Cambridge too. Great family memories.
Our family came from “away”. spending most of our family vacations in New England. Howard Johnson’s served the first clam strips I’d ever eaten and, loving them, ordered fried clams at a Rye, NH establishment. Biting into my first one, I got a mouthful of—–belly. Imagine the face on a 7-yr-old not knowing what to do with a mouthful of goosh. Lesson learned—only order fried clams from HoJo’s.
P.S. Anyone remember the milk and white chocolate lollipops that had a picture, PRINTED IN MILK CHOCOLATE, on the white chocolate face?
Yes, I totally remember the choclate pops with white chocolate pictures- my sister and I would spend too much time in line deciding which one we destroy in 5 seconds. ANd the milk chocolate was the best. I’m glad you remember too!
Loved the article about the clams – which for years were the best, although I’d graduated to more traditional with bellies. Still craving the HoJo’s clams, though, I stopped at one of the few remaining restaurants sometime in the 90’s (?) and ordered the clam strips. Unfortunately, my last experience with HoJo’s clam strips was the worst food I’d been served in my life. They were literally gray! I tried eating one but couldn’t get any further, and left the rest uneaten. So many years of those great clam rolls and sometimes dinners, marred by the disappointing experience. I remember driving by the same restaurant a few years later. It was no longer HoJo’s, and I remember thinking, small wonder. But now they are all history. The times and tastes have changed so much, but HoJo’s was an institution to be remembered. Like one of the posters said, you always knew what you’d get. (well, except for that last one). Had a similar experience with another iconic New England Restaurant chain – Friendly’s – after passing restaurant after restaurant whose lots were filled with cars, (I always would check the parking lot, a full one usually meant you’d get good food) my partner pulled into a Friendly’s, saying you can always rely on Friendly for good food. We entered, and found a disheveled establishment, that must have been terribly short staffed, with food and knapkins strewn all around the floor under the booths, and at least three of the items we tried to order not available (they had run out), food we did manage to order was decent, though, but, we still remark whenever we’d see a Friendly’s — “there’s old reliable” – and even those may be gone, I’ve seen nearly every one in NY that I know of closed in the past 10 years or so. maybe I’ll do a search, perhaps New England Today had an article on them as well. Memories!!
I used to go to the one in Weymouth until it closed. The last HOJOs I ever went to was the one on I95 in Waterville,Maine. I was hitchhiking up the coast in the early 1970’s and I was trying to get a ride when I got caught in a downpour. I ran down to HoJos to get out of the rain but had the last burger and fries that I would ever eat at this great institution.
Re the piece of writing about Howard Johnson restaurants:
Anyone who ate an English muffin at Hojo’s ate a Mrs. Kavanagh’s English muffin. My Uncle Frank Kavanagh was a close friend of Howard Johnson when Johnson opened his first restaurant. The only English muffin that was sold at a Hojo’s from then on, at least till my Uncles Frank and Charlie sold the company in the 60’s, was a Mrs. Kavanagh’s English muffin. They were very popular, and I can attest to the fact that they were very good. In my opinion, better than the big- name ones today.
These two Kavanagh brothers established their business in 1905, using a family recipe from Ireland. They were later joined in the business by a third of my uncles, George, who was the inventor of their large “fork splitting” machine, used in the bakery production that was in Dorchester, MA.
There were ultimately hundreds of Howard Johnson’s restaurants and they were very popular. Mrs. Kavanagh’s basically had no other serious competition until much later in the 20th century.
When we drove from Milwaukee and Chicago to Sarasota, Florida we would stop at a Howard Johnson’s. On ski trips out West, we would do the same. It was pretty much Howard Johnson’s or Holiday Inn. The restaurants were a child’s fantasy…. the ice cream, the gum, hot dogs in a sleeve, the Howard Johnson’s toy trucks, the orange and blue colors, and everything had the HJ name on it. As a kid, I had some procedures performed at the Northwest hospital in Arlington Heights , Illinois that involved fasting. My mom told me if I did it, I would be rewarded with lunch at my choice of a restaurant… of course, I picked the Howard Johnson’s near Arlington Park Racetrack
Enjoyed the story which to me back to my very first restaurant job. It was the summer of 1969 and I worked at HoJos in Battle Creek, Michigan bussing tables and washing dishes until school started in the fall. Miss those blueberry corn toasties
Howard Johnson’s was always my favorite. We stayed in a Howard Johnson in Illinois on our wedding night in 1967. We had a dinner of fried clams–my very favorite. Only in Boston while visiting my son have I had better fried clams.
I always remember Ho Jo’s growing up in CT and then later when living in Maine. Fried Clam Strip night was looked forward to each week as we went for them often. First restaurant took my children too as so family orientated and appreciated. My one daughter always got their spaghetti and the other a grilled cheese and eventually, when older, the friend clam dinner too. Ice cream after was the treat of the visit to top it off! We went to the one in Milford, CT just over the Sikorsky Bridge and also on Route 1 in Milford and/or the one on Post Road in Fairfield. No matter where we were HJ’s frequent customers. When in Maine, the Bangor Howard Johnson’s was are go to restaurant! Shall miss the touch of America and memories of a really good home town restaurant. When friends and family came to visit they often stayed at the motel.
worked the counter for my college years at the hojo on rte 128 in newton. unfortunately just remember the rude customers, small tips and mean hostess, mrs vallis. ate the ice cream though, the best memory of my stay there. paul
I like Andy frequented the Chelmsford, Ma HOJO’s…..On one occasion I went after seeing Emerson, Lake, and Powell with two of my buds……Yes… No Carl Palmer…..but still a great show at the Wang Theater in Boston, MA. A VERY SMALL venue so a great place to see them….Mind you this is the mid 80’s. Remember a Small Venue!!!! So we head home to the Chumsdale Area and go to HoJo’s…..we all decided we were starving to death at this later time at night. So we get there and order all this food and chocolate Frappe’s and we are devouring all this food and downing the awesome Hojo Frappe’s. Then we all look at each other and just start laughing hysterically………The Wang theater was very smoke filled that evening and not cigarette smoke!!!! We did not partake but unfortunately we did not have a choice……We partook!!!!!! (Secondary High) We could not stop laughing once we realized and of course eating!!!!!! Hojo’s was never so good and desired!!!!!! Miss the old Hojo’s and my 10 yr. old self (70’s not 80’s) loved the buttered Hot Dog Roll Hot Dogs with the cool card board sleeve (only found at Hojo’s or Brigham’s (Burl. Mall) back then) with Chocolate milk…..Two Thumbs UP!!!! Also loved the one off of 128 in Newton because that meant I was with my Grams and we were most likely heading to the Cape. I also remember the Garage next to that Hojo’s and the Midget (Sorry for the NON PC 70’s terminology here) mechanic that fixed Our 75 Chevelle Malibu Classic Estate Wagon on the way to the cape. I Remember he showed us his car with extended pedals. What a super nice guy he was!!! Thanks Howard Johnson’s for the great memories!!!
Bonus: Someone mentioned the Chocolate (Milk&White) Lollipops ….I remember them but I will add the Entermann’s type rectangular box filled with lollipops that had the green and orange lettering and a believe a picture off a Hojo’s restaurant on it. They were always up high on a shelf if I remember right. Great candy selection as well and I will add the cool triangle game with the white Tee like pegs that you would remove one and then try to jump them until you could try to get to one left on the Triangle board (6″) and the place mats for the kids that you could connect the dots or color. Howard thought about the kids so they were not always saying they were bored. Good times!!!
Worked at Ho Jo’s in Westbrook, Ct (right off I95) ‘83-‘84. Waitresses for Friday Fish Fry and Sunday breakfast. Liked the atmosphere and staff, but hated the tips. Travelers along 95 figured they would never see you again so why bother tipping. In 84 moved to their sister restaurant Ground Round in Groton, Ct. closer to home, much better tips.
I just came across this article, I was googling to find a picture of the uniform I wore in the early 1960’s. I hope it’s not to late to publish “my HowardJohnson” memories. And I never called it HoJo, I thought that was rather demeaning!
I first worked at a HJ down in Homestead Fla from 60 to probably 63. Very good training for waitresses – not like now, no wonder the servers are so bad. Best experience there was when we received notice that a “Dame from England” was coming in. Finally after finding out more info, a lady who we never really did know her name, had cone to the US to help PresKennedy promote physical fitness. She was WALKING from Massachusetts (probably Boston?) to Key West! I hadn’t been on the floor but probably 2months. And of course the Head Waitress decided to give her to me as no one else had courage to wait in her. They all were Asked – I was Assigned!! Where did the out her – of course at a deuce facing the hallway to the bathrooms! I was mortified. In those days I hadn’t been around the English Accents much. After serving her, we got to talking and had a great time. Much to the Head Waitress dismay. The other memory from Homestead was I was now an old pro of probably 6 months. We had hired a new girl from “up North.” We pooled our tips in those days, something I grew to vehemently dislike!! This Waitress was SO lazy. If she took a table in her station she usually only got the order – WE had to do the rest. Don’t forget she was getting her share of OUR tips and not doing anything! Finally after a few weeks, HWaitress called a meeting and said no more pooling on Tips, we were all responsible for our own stations and money. Then she turns and says you have 2 stations every day this week. Hers and yours! I don’t know how to this day I managed but I did it. Money was great too. By the end of the week, she was gone!
My husband was in the AF stationed at Homestead AFB. We left there and was sent to
Hi Winnie, I am really surprise to see someone who remembers the Howard Johnson’s in Homestead, FL on US. 1 My Mom used to work there as a Cook, later to transfer to the Kendall store and became the Head waitress. She retired from the University Store after 40 yrs. I was raised eating the 3-D’s, Fried Fish Fri, Brownies, corn muffins, all the Ice cream I can imagine. etc. It will always be the best resturant in my book. I will share this with you, I hold one piece of treasure from the good old days. The Green apron with the log, three pockets.. That was my first job as a Kid… Those were home made products without all the preservatives, maybe. I just think because people back then were not couch potatoes, therefore could really enjoy the food. Thanks for sharing a moment on one of my best memories.
Even though there was a Howard Johnson’s in Brunswick, Maine, near where I grew up, we never went there. My first HJ experience was in 1977 (or so) when I was in the Coast Guard. Our ship was stationed in Portland, but was in Boston for repairs. Several of us had apartments in Portland, so if we had weekend liberty we’d drive back to Portland Friday night, returning to Boston early Monday morning. In those days there was a Howard Johnson’s on the Maine Turnpike near Kennebunk. We’d always stop for coffee and a piece of pie before finishing our trip. Not exactly the most healthy breakfast but the pie and coffee hit the spot for an early morning treat!
I am from Maine. In the 70s and 80s my family drove to and from Massachusetts a lot to visit family. I don’t recall a HJ on the Maine Turnpike, but I do remember there was one right over the state line at the Portsmouth, NH rotary. I stayed there with my mom after our car broke down on the evening of December 8, 1980. I was secretly pleased because that meant I would be able to watch the second half of the Patriots game on MNF. That was the same night that Howard Cosell informed much of the nation that John Lennon had been shot and killed.
I remember eating at a HoJo’s on our first wedding anniversary. My hubby (now of 58 years) was in Officer’s School at Quantico, VA. I remember being ill…bad cold & felt miserable. Still we wanted to celebrate in some fashion & and then share the topping of our wedding cake. We didn’t have a lot of extra money but knew we’d get a nice meal at reasonable price at HoJo’s. I believe our closest restaurant was in Manasses, VA so off we went. We enjoyed our meal (but wish I had felt better). Ahh, young love ❤️
As a teenager I lived just a 5-minute walk from my local Howard Johnson restaurant. I loved the clam roll and ordered them very often (of course, that was before I had ever experienced such a thing as a whole belly clam, which changed my life). I was glad to see someone mention the 3D burger, which was my favorite burger ever. I am convinced to this day that McDonald’s ripped off the 3D burger and called it the Big Mac. In any event, I really miss Howard Johnson’s and was incredibly sad to see them go out of business.
We spent vacation in Rainbow Lake near Saranac Lake.on Friday night we would ride to Lake Placid (a short ride) and order the fish fry. Our two young sons couldn’t get enough mac and cheese. If we were lucky, we got a table at the back window and watched the waterfall. The boys loved the old Ho Jo car that was parked in front of the restaurant. We were very sad when it closed.
Yes….in fact, we knew Howard Johnson personally. Before moving to Cape Cod, my father had his own business in Wollaston/Quincy, MA. Howard‘s first restaurant was a couple of blocks away. We used to go there for ice cream and knowing my dad, I’m sure he would go there during the day for a coffee break. Howard was so impressed with my dad…he wanted him to come and work for him as his business manager. My dad turned down the offer. He wanted his own business and be his own boss. Shortly after that we moved to Cape Cod where he had a very successful business….Ray’s Auto Electric Service. We continued eating at Howard Johnson restaurants for years. In fact, that’s where David and I had our first meal together as a married couple on Aug, 1st, 1970…50 years ago….at Howard Johnsons on the Mass Pike in Springfield. I had the meat loaf dinner. The last standing Howard Johnson is in Lake George….about 45 miles north of us. Hmmm…wonder where we would be if Dad had taken the job….the road not taken.
My grandmother worked for Howard Johnson for 35 years – the man, as well as the company. She started as his bookkeeper, and eventually was in charge of the payroll department. Every day, she would walk from her home on Newbury Ave. in North Quincy to the offices in Wollaston. I imagine sometimes my grandfather drove her, or she got a ride with a friend. HoJo’s was always a mark of quality, whether it was the ice cream, the delicious clam rolls, or the motels with the orange roof and the swimming pool. It was an essential part of my childhood. I’ll miss it.
My father retired as purchasing manager for Howard Johnson. He started out as Mr. Johnson’s paper boy when dad lived on Pine Street in Walleston around the corner from Mr. Johnson. After WW11 dad came to Pa to open up the Pennsylvania turnpike. His first office was upstairs at Midway. My mother came from Sommerset to train the waitresses and soooo. Years and years of life around Howard Johnson’s. His last position was one of the four buyers for H.J.. in Braintree, Mass. The stories and history I know.
I got married to my High School sweetheart the day before I was supposed to leave for Camp Pendleton, CA, and on to Vietnam from there. My soon to be in-laws drove us from Worcester, MA to Weldon, NC for the impromptu occasion. Five hours after arriving in NC, the 3-day waiting period had been waived, blood samples analyzed, physicals performed, and the nuptials were completed by Chief Magistrate L.C. Barrow, a legless man in a wheelchair. His daughter bore witness to the event, and in ten minutes we were on our way back to New England. While still in NC, my new Father-in-law pulled into a HoJo’s on side of I-95, and ordered four spaghetti and meatball dinners. I had never cared for spaghetti, but that was our sole wedding day meal.
I later got to like spaghetti, served in the mess halls during my 6 years in the Marine Corps.
My most memorable experiences of Howard Johnson’s was truly stopping …en route from upstate New York, a family of 5, driving to Daytona Beach Florida – comfortably crammed into a tan Fairlane 500 …somewhere in South Carolina…and getting a Pecan Roll as a treat for the long ride ahead. Highways were 2 lanes back then…thinking, 1963-64…
It was a familiar face back in the day but sadly we all grew up and have health problems from these foods, I for one cannot eat what they serve as fast food today, as I am but a statistic of 1 out of 3 babyboomer’s with diabetes.
My family, with the exception of me, were born and raised in Maine. My dad was relocated to North Louisiana in 1940, with Advance Bag & Paper Company. Most every summer, after I got a little older, we would make a trip back up “home”. I remember stopping at many Howard Johnson’s Restaurants on our way up and back home. The restaurants were always so busy and had great ice cream. If I am remembering correctly, the restaurants along the Pennsylvania Turnpike were in the middle, between the lanes of traffic. That was so neat!
My last memory of dining at a HoJo’s restaurant has a bittersweet memory attached. My step-mother had died in 1993 and my wife and I flew from OH to Boston to go to NH and attend the funeral. We met up with my dad at the Howard Johnson’s Motel and restaurant just outside of Nashua, NH. The first meal there with my wife and Dad I had – the clam strips on a hot dog bun. I had so missed this wonderful treat. I finally got my wife to take a bite, but she just smiled and said “No, you enjoy it”:. She is a Southern woman from GA and I think the idea of fried clam strips was just not for her. ANyway, we stayed a coupole of nights and I enjoyed breakfast in the mornings with Dad. We took him back to his place in RI and eventually left for home in OH. I never saw my dad again as he died in 1994. I could not get myself to eat at HoJo’s because of missing him so much when we attended his funeral in NH. I sure wish I could once more sit over coffee at the HoJo’s counter and talk to my Dad.
I know how you feel. I am from Maine, and we moved to Rhode Island back in the early 1970es. I was one of 6 boys ( second to the youngest) All of our family was still in Maine and we would go up once a month, we would all pack up the station wagon and our dog and head for Maine. We would always stop on the Main turnpike at Howard Johnsons. My parents would get fried clams and all of us kids would always have hot dogs with fries. On the way home we would stop and have the same thing, we loved it. Yes,, The GOOD OLD DAY’S..
Man I miss those clams. I can remember when I was a child, one of the family traditions at birthdays was to be asked where I wanted to go out and eat. I would always give my parents that evil little “Duh” look. It was HoJo’s of course, on Wed or Friday, when they were serving all you can eat clam strips! To this day, no one can make a clam strip like HoJo’s did. It is truly one of those nostalgic moments every time I think back about how much pleasure I received from simply stuffing myself with clams.
I worked at Howard Johnsons in Naples Florida back in the early 70’s. Everyone loved those all you can eat clams! I worked at the counter scooping out more icecream & making more milkshakes than I can remember. I still remember that blue & white uniform with the little apron! Memories…
That one is still open (on occasion – seems to be no pattern to it), but most who have been report that it is nothing like the old locations. So it’s still there in name, but not so much actually what most would remember.
I worked at the one in Falmouth, Ma in the summer of ‘69. I was here with six college friends all looking for summer employment and since i was not 21 and could not serve liquor, I ended up working at Howard Johnson’s. I can still remember being required to wear those mid-calf length turquoise and white uniforms with ittle triangular aprons in what was the heyday of mini-skirts. We had to wear white waitress shoes and hairnets if we had long hair. Wish I’d taken a photo back in ‘69 of how we looked in those uniforms. One night was “all you can eat’ fish fry and one night was “all you can eat” spaghetti….and families would pack in there and the kids would order about 3 cokes each, so the waitresses really hustled, for very little in tips on those family nights. The ice cream counter was very popular and I had met my eventual husband early that summer and he would come in and order an ice cream cone on the nights I was working. Definitely a taste of old Cape Cod on multiple levels.
I was a fan of HJ’s fried clams among other things for years and years. Stopped at one HJ’s in NY state (will not name town) about the time they were all closing all over the country, just to have my beloved fried clams. They were grey colored, and tasted horrible. I was so dismayed I just paid (I know I shouldn’t have!) and left. I couldn’t stand that one of my favorite foods had sunk so low, and still occasionally drive past where the restaurant was located and remember that terrible meal. Fortunately, I still remember many many pleasurable meals at HJ’s from many years before.
In 1975 I worked as a chamber maid at the Howard Johnsons motel off I-95 in Old Saybrook, CT. Attached was the restaurant. It was there that I ran into the late, great comedian Jerry Lewis and actually exchanged a few woods with him as he stepped from the elevator, letting the door close on him. Always going for the laugh. Spent some of my hard earned ( not $15.00 an hour) money having lunch at the restaurant. Then again a burger was probably only a couple bucks!
Remember family vacations staying at Howard Johnson motels. Being that we were kids and as such picky eaters, the Howard Johnson got dog on the grilled buttered bun was acceptable to us, and the parents were happy. The past is certainly gone, I fear
Spent the first years of my life in Westerly, RI. On occasion my parents would take their 4 children to the Howard Johnson’s across from what is now Mystic Village in CT. I still remember the orange roof and weathervane. We usually went for ice cream but probably for supper when my parents could afford it. I remember going there after my First Communion Day in 1967 or 1968 for breakfast.
While I attended Lenoir Rhyne College for 1 semester I worked behind the Counter at the Hickory, NC Howard Johnson Restaurant in 1961 or 1962. The butter pecan and pistachio ice cream were my favorite flavors. The frankfurters and the clam strips were great also.. Reverend Billy Graham and his family often stopped when traveling from Black Mountain to Charlotte. I had the honor of making chocolate milkshakes for the Graham family on several occasions. They got extra chocolate ice cream and a little less milk. Verna was the cook. Nice memories.
We would cut class and pile into a friends car to go over to the one on 128/Lexington in the early 80’s and being open 24 hrs, after a dj gig or a house party. Man, weren’t those simpler days. ????
HoJo’s everywhere! But right in our hometown of Darien, CT. Lasted for a long time (2000?) until Whole Foods came in and redeveloped. Love the pics of the inside….same everywhere. Fried clams and black rasberry for desert… ahh, HoJo’s!!! Sad for its demise..
Loved all the HO-JO…my wife’s joke was..28 FLAVORSS OF ICE CREAM…ONE FLAVOR OF FOOD…Wish the Wells , Maine one was still here, wish I were 40 again too!!
I don’t know why I am logged in as my daughter (who has no memories of Howard Johnson’s) but I do, even as a Texan! There was a HoJo’s in Dallas on the edge of Highland Park, where I grew up, and I have fond memories of going there with my mother and sister when my dad was out of town. I always got the frankfort in the delicious square buttered roll, and remember that it came with brown mustard instead of the usual yellow French’s. Of course dessert was peppermint stick ice-cream with hot fudge! My sister and I would recite the whole “Simple Simon” poem while waiting for our order and looking at the silhouette drawings of Simple Simon and the Pieman. It closed years ago, and I often wish that in later years, when our family began going to Cape Cod in the summer, we would have stopped at various HoJo’s while there – it is one of those places that we assumed would always be there. My kids have the same feeling towards Friendly’s, where we would stop on our way to the Cape from Logan – sorry to hear that they are dwindling as well. Ah, the taste memories of our past!
Lucy Washburne – Dallas, Texas
Our Howard Johnson’s was in Beverly, MA on Route 128N. We’d drive to HoJo’s as a treat, boy I loved those clam strips, the Mac & Cheese, and all of the ice cream flavors. Great memories!
As a child in the 60s, my grandparents who raised me in Virginia took me to see my other grandmother in Ohio. My best memories of those trips were the stops at Stuckey’s for pecan logs and HoJo’s for breakfasts of blueberry pancakes. I always saved the orange plastic toothpick from the stack of pancakes as a souvenir! Simple pleasures…..
A bit of trivia here: There would have been no Howard Johnson’s if it hadn’t been for playwright Eugene O’Neil. The first HJ was in Worcester, Massachusetts in the 1930’s. Like most businesses the restaurant with the curious orange colored roof was struggling to stay afloat, when along came a summer stock company performing O’Neill’s Strange Interlude in a nearby theatre. The play was one of several O’Neill plays that was quite long. During the dinner break, the theatre patrons would eat at Howard Johnson’s and the restaurant survived.
Growing up as a kid in NJ during the 60’s, it was a rare treat to go out to eat….unlike today, when parents take their kids to restaurants often several times a week. There were no Howard Johnson’s near where I lived. Instead, we had the very popular Stewart’s (known for their root beer, as well as hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings). But I do have a special memory of coming home from a day trip to Lake Hopatcong Amusement Park (which sadly has also closed) and stopping at a Howard Johnson’s. I was with four other elementary school classmates, along with one’s mother (she drove us to and from Lake Hopatcong). I loved the decor and atmosphere, as well as the food. When the waitress brought the check, I remember asking my classmate’s mother how much money I owed (I didn’t expect her to pay for all of us). She said, “don’t worry hon, this is my treat”. Howard Johnson’s was the end of a perfect day trip. Great memories from a much simpler time!
Howard Johnson’s was where one went to get fried clams. It was my grandmother who really introduced me to fried clams. On the evening after we were married in 1967, my husband and I stayed at a Howard Johnson’s and had supper there. Of course I had fried clams! This was in Iowa–at that time, seafood was not easily found. Yum! Fried clams!
I have lived in Johnston Rhode Island all my life. There used to be a HoJos on the corner of Rt 5 and 6. I remember going there for a late night snack in the early 80s. My snack of choice was the buttered and grilled English muffin. You got 3 halves in an order and the butter just pooled in the muffin. So good! Their macaroni and cheese was to die for as were the corn muffins. I can still remember the taste.
Love rereading this article every year and the comments. So much so I ordered the book, A History of Howard Johnson’s: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco part of the (American Palate) series!
Thank you for the trip down memory lane! I grew up in Simsbury, CT in the 50’s and 60’s. When we visited my grandparents in Albany, NY, we would drive up Route 10 to Massachusetts to the Mass Pike to head west. There was a HoJo’s near the entrance and we always stop for dinner and I always got the fried clams. This was where my love of clams strips began!
My dad was a Howard Johnson manager in a couple different Montgomery County, PA locations in the 60’s & 70’s and my fondest memory was going to the establishment on Christmas (after opening presents), and we got to go behind the counter and make our own ice cream cone, as that was the only day HJ was closed.
It goes to show how HoJo is fondly remembered, I grew up in Dorchester and we would walk to Teanean Beach. There was a HoJo on Morrisary Blvd. My sister Dorothy worked there in between semesters while attending college. She would give us double scoops of ice cream and charge us for one scoop only
What I miss the most are the chicken croquettes
I remember many a night, or early morning, in the mid-70’s visiting HJ’s for fried clams after a night out with friends. Someone once told me that only a New Englander would gladly eat fried clams after a night of drinking!
I’ve actually been to this HoJo’s in Bangor. They had stiff competition from Dysart’s which is only a mile away.
My fondest memory is of the HoJo’s in Nashua, NH, located off the Everett Turnpike. Every Sunday I met friends there for breakfast and bloody Marys. That’s something unique to HoJo’s. You could get food and liquor at breakfast!
1966…got transfered to Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA from NH. Enroute, family and I stayed and ate
at HoJos accross the country ( kids ate free). Low and behold Fairfield had a HoJo. Sunday Chicken Dinners & Friday fish dinners for us. So sad when it closed.
Growing up my family never ate out or stayed in hotels, so I had no experience with any HoJo, but when I was in college and dating in Columbia, SC, I would often go out to eat at their restaurant in town. The food was so good but the ice cream, chocolate chip, was the BEST! There is nothing like it today. The chips were not like the chips you buy for baking, but finely shredded slivers of semi-sweet chocolate that literally melted in your mouth. Every bite had the chocolate flavor embedded in the ice cream. Pure deliciousness!
Great piece, Amy! I stayed at that HoJo’s in Bangor a couple of months ago, and I was very impressed. Probably the best budget motel I’ve experienced in the past several years. I looked in on the restaurant but didn’t have time to grab a bite. Wish I had. The motel and restaurant were both straight out of a “Mad Men” episode, and in a very good way. I left feeling really good about the place and hope I can return some day. I’ll save my “first HoJo’s experience” (it occurred in suburban Chicago in the mid-1960s) for another post some day!
There was a Howard Johnson’s in Wells Maine when I was growing up. My family would go there once, twice a week. I remember having their “johnny cake” and rolls on the table. The johnny cake was like coffee cake, smooth, buttery, and covered with cinnamon sugar. And their cole slaw. Creamy, cold and never duplicated! I miss it. And I never ate clam strips!!! I was told the right way was belly and all!!!
I remember Wells Ho-Jo well! And for exactly the same reasons! I also remember the Howard Johnson’s on the Maine Turnpike in Kennebunk. It had a tunnel that took you from one side of the highway to the other! Great memories!
I remember taking the tunnel on Maine Turnpike from northbound to southbound side as restaurant was not open on both sides at night.
Oh just one more plate of clam strips…Yum
I Travel for a living, I hope its still there when I go through Bangor on a trip.
Stukeys here in the south has a Similair Path
there is still a Howard Johnsons in Lake George New York. (2015)
I remember HoJo’s!!! We used to go three times a week…. Mondays were the turkey dinner, Wednesdays were the frankforts, and Fridays were the clam rolls. Each visit always ended with a flavor of ice cream; Dad kept track on a small index card with our name at the top, and every time you had to try the next flavor that wasn’t checked. That way we got to try all of the flavors! So sad to see them all disappearing one by one… I will be getting up and calling the HoJo’s in Bangor and visiting soon, they’re only 90 minutes away!!!
I agree with the previous comment. My family stayed at the Bangor HoJo’s in April during a visit to UMaine Orono and we thought it was a great value and also offers pet-friendly rooms. I would certainly stay and dine there again if I were in the area.
Thank you for this article. I’m a frequent Bangor Hojo’s guest, and a former Hojo’s employee. (30 years ago as a dishwasher). It’s so nice to read an article that’s been throughly researched and edited for accuracy. Lately, I’ve read a number of Howard Johnson articles in magazines, papers and the internet. You got it right! excellent fact checking. Not a single error! Thank you for doing such a professional job.
I remember the local Howard Johnson’s very well. My mother loved the Friday night All you can eat fish fry, my father would get a steak, and for me it was either a hot dog or hamburger, although I am quite sure my first taste of clams came from here. Growing up in Vermont, HoJo’s clams and fried fish fillets were about the only seafood we saw in restaurants. (I lived in Maine for a year and converted to whole clams then, but still eat a clam roll when nostalgic.)
Our local HoJo closed in the late 70s, became a Lums (another chain I miss!) and then changed hands several times until it was torn down just last year to make way for a CVS. Miss seeing that classic look of the building. Thanks for reminding us of a time when simple food prepared well could always be found under the orange roof.
If I could, I would have eaten the photo of the clam roll, that’s how good it looks! Living out here in Illinois, neither fried clams nor NE-style hot dog rolls are easy to find. I’ve stayed at and eaten at I don’t know how many HoJos, and remember them fondly. I didn’t know the one I ate at some thirty years ago here in Springfield IL would almost certainly turn out to be my last. A true American classic!
I remember Stopping at the one in Port Huron Michigan. My Family would get the clam chowder And us kids got an hamburger and a ice cream cone. I really wish these places could have an comeback. I believe they would be very busy today.
People are starting to quite going to fastfoods places and taking the time to eat real food. And the motels were always very clean and a treat for us as kids to stay in. I think there used to be alot on the Ohio turnpike Also. As well Has the Penn. One. 🙂 Hope to get to eat at and Hojo’s soon.
My mom, who lived to be 100, went to Hojo’s almost every week with her good friends, until not long before those ladies were gradually unable to do that anymore. Not that many years ago, actually. When I went back ‘home’ to visit her, it was so wonderful to join them for breakfast, and see how they all enjoyed that place, and their fave waitress. Like extended family for them. Food always good; comfy familiar atmosphere; a real treasure. Sorry to know it may soon be gone. Thanks for the great memories, Hojo’s!
Every Friday my family would go to All You Can Eat Fish Fry for dinner! Of corse I would have a cup of creamy vanilla ice cream for dessert! I now always equate Friday Fish Day, it’s not just for Lent! I also loved their red jello with sweet whipped cream! I loved HoJo’s, we always went to the one in Needham, MA
Aimee,
Our Father owned a couple of Howard Johnsons in Rhode Island. We were blessed to be Hojo brats……meaning good sweet kids but whatever we ever wanted we had relating to food !
It was a wonderful and beautiful time as children growing up and Howard Johnsons being a big part of our world ! Magical !
Paul Stamp
There was a Howard Johnson restaurant on Jefferson Blvd., in Warwick, Rhode Island.
My Mom, brothers and I ate there. Daddy sat out in the car because he could not eat the food.
My father drove us there and carried my brothers inside the restaurant because they could not walk.
Mom and Dad tried very hard to give quality of life to my brothers for their short lives.
Thanks, Mike! I had a lot of fun researching and writing it. Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay at the inn — I haven’t done that part, yet! 🙂
Hi Kathleen. You’re right! I mentioned the Lake George, NY restaurant in the story (and the Lake Placid, NY one that just closed), but since New York is not a New England state, the one is Bangor truly is “the last in New England” — thanks for your comment!
Thanks so much for your comment, Frank! You made my day! I had a lot of fun researching HoJo’s history for this story, and was proud to visit New England’s last restaurant. Wish I could have visited back when business was booming and the roof was still orange! 🙂
Paul, how lucky for you and your siblings! I’d love to hear what items on the menu were your favorites!
Will, I officially dedicate that classic clam roll to you!
Very nice article Aimee. I also worked here as a dishwasher 43 years ago but moved to northern New York 33 years ago and have only visited the restaurant a few times since. This brought back some good memories of that time. I use to go to the third last Ho Jo in Lake Placid before they closed earlier this year. According to franchise rules, if they sell the restaurant, it will cease to be a Howard Johnson’s so hope they can keep it open or lease it to someone that will promote it and keep it a Ho Jo’s.
There was once a Howard Johnson’s in my hometown of Guilford, CT and we liked eating there of course but what strikes my memory the most was if my dad bought me a chocolate lollipop at the cash register …. I recall this display of white/milk chocolate round lollipops that were actually detailed dipictions of trolley cars and such and they were really good … would love to find one of those today!
Oh my!! I think about those white/chocolate lollipops all the time. Childhood memories
I am a Hojo’s girl!! My Dad owned 2 franchises one in East Providence, RI on Route 1-A next to Naragansett Racetrack from about 1955-1970’s and one in Johnston, RI in the 60’s and 70’s.
We would go to dinner every week, Mom, Dad and my 3 brothers, sit in a long tourquoise booth and we could order whatever we wanted!! It was fabulous, Shirley Temples, shrimp cocktails, clams, fried chicken, and for dessert ice cream Sundays or the ice cream cake roll- devil’s food cake rolled like a jelly roll with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, delicious.
It was a great family place, we all worked there ( not my mom), I can still recite the breakfast menu.
Food I miss is the clams, cole slaw, Indian pudding, brown bread, and of course the ice cream, my fave, butter pecan, my mom’s rum raisin or peppermint stick, sooooo good and such warm fuzzy memories
Ha
Forgot to ad, my first job at 15 was Fish Fry girl at Jefferson Blvd, Warwick. Had a little tourquoise apron with a fish on it and a beret, my cart would have fish, cole slaw French fries and corn bread. Just roll around the dining room making people happy!!!
I worked for Ho Jo’s in the 60’s. First in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Then just off exit 23 of the NY Thruway in Albany.
We had a Howard Johnson’s near us on Rte. 129 in Wakefield, MA, near Lake Quannapowitt, when I as growing up . It was the spot we were always taken for “rewards” (good grades, etc.) for a frappe (coffee being my favorite!!) Our family also made Ho-Jo’s a “go to” place to eat out, and I remember how much Dad loved clams (with our without the bellies!) We always ordered their clam rolls!. Thirdly, we always stopped there for ice cream on Sunday afternoons, when Dad took us for a drive. I always chose Pistachio! I don’t know how that got started! But I just loved it, and to this day I look for that flavor! It’s hard to find! Many fond memories of Howard Johnson’s’ cheery orange roof and turquoise cupola! We watched for them on road trips. We knew the food would always be well prepared. Thanks for the memory!!
We travelled the PA turnpike often when l was a youngster, going to visit relatives in western PA. Howard Johnson’s was a must! It was always a treat to stop there; my folks loved it, too. For me, the peppermint stick ice cream was the absolute best. There was a HoJo’s in Harrisonburgn VA until not too long ago, & l have been known to buy a pint or two in my time! Really wish it would have a resurgence
My family used to travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike from the Ohio border to Harrisburg to visit my grandmother. Back then the concessions on the PA Turnpike was Ho-Jo and we loved stopping there for the clam sandwiches, hot dogs (with the New England buns!) and each of us had our favorite ice cream. Mine was peppermint stick. I have not had a better one.
Oh, one of my favorite places to dine and or stay. Not many left at all. We also had HoJo’s on the Mass Turnpike rest stops. Then they disappeared, but there was still one off of exit 3 in Westfield, Ma. I was working for the Turnpike then and I remember going on runs to HoJo’s for food. One of the more popular items was the Big or Little Apple a large (even the little one) fritter type of delight. Just filled with Apple and Cinamon in the dough. Yum!
After high school, Friday nights at the Howard Johnson’s in Racine WI, I’d gather with friends and someone at the table would always have the fried clams. That is the first time I had them, and had them fairly often. Of course, pie was my dessert of choice!
When I was a kid, we would go out to Howard Johnson’s for Sunday dinner. This meant that you kept your “church clothes” on and rode in the car for about 45-50 minutes, travelling from Chatham, N.Y. to Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany. Hojo’s had theme dinners for kids and I always got the “Little Tommy Tucker”, consisting of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and….PEAS. This is pretty-much how I learned to eat, and LIKE, vegetables. My mom told me to mix the peas in with the mashed potatoes and dunk that in the gravy and everything would be okay. As I’m doing this, my brother and sister, both older, are refusing to touch their vegetables and telling me that the peas will be awful. The peas were delightful; bright, green balls of flavor, mixing nicely with the potatoes and gravy. Soon, I was eating the peas on their own, but to this day, I am a big fan of “the perfect bite”. On Thanksgiving (“Little Tommy Tucker Day”) I’ll stab a piece of turkey, dunk it in some mashed potatoes or stuffing, roll that through the peas and get a little gravy on it and…..nirvana! Peas are still my favorite vegetable, I obviously love Thanksgiving more than most and my brother and sister STILL do not eat vegetables. So, thank you Howard Johnson’s, for being such a great part of my childhood, helping me learn to like vegetables and for that insanely-orange orange sherbet. It was totally worth wearing that stupid clip-on tie!
What a trip down memory lane! Great article! I spent my teen summers with my friends at Revere Beach, and we almost always stopped at the HoJo’s on the beach. We could run across the street in our bathing suits! The food was awesome! Also, my dad used to like to go on family drives to New Hampshire and Maine, and we almost always ended up at a HoJo’s, sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. I always had orange sherbet cones! The food was consistently great no matter the location. I loved the clam rolls, but actually preferred the clams with the bellies. My grandmother’s brother owned Woodman’s in Essex…his family still does. Chubby Woodman invented the fried clam! So we normally got our clams there, or sometimes at Kelly’s Roast Beef on Revere Beach, who also did a fab lobster roll, which I would order with a small box of clams on the side. Living in the Seattle area, I have no access to New England style hot dog buns, but I can get a box of them now and then from my cousin who still lives in MA. I might have to get one of those pans and make some rolls…there is NOTHING better than a delicious, toasted and buttered top loading roll filled with lobster or clams! Now I am SOOOOOOOOOOO hungry!!! Missing home and missing HoJo’s…what wonderful, sweet memories.
My farther was the night auditor on Saturday and Sunday nights for a long time. Sometimes on really hot days, he would let us swim in the pool, but that was rare. Not even once a year, maybe only 3 or 4 times total and he worked there for over 25 years. When I got married, I moved to Indianna because my husband was in grad school. Everytime we made the trip, we would stay at a Howard Johnson’s. Mass to Indianna and back. Always at HoJo. There was a Howard Johnson’s in the city where we lived and would eat there once in a while. One time my brother-in-law came for a visit. We ate at the local Howard Johnson’s and decided to end the meal with ice cream. My brother-in-law ordered his ” with jimmies” on his. The waitress asked him “jimmie’s what?” She didn’t know that is what we called sprinkles in New England, and he didn’t know they were called sprinkles. Is was really quite funny. Fond memories of Ho
JO.
Well…I have read all the comments hoping someone else would remember my favorite food from HoJo’s…the little square “muffins” called toaster pastries. (Waaay better than the current, nasty Pillsbury ones on the market today.) 🙂 My favorite flavor was the orange – it was different. You could get plain ol’ blueberry, corn, and even apple cinnamon regular muffins anywhere…but those orange toaster pastries were unique! I can still remember the taste and texture of them today. And…you could buy them in the supermarket! Aaahh…food memories from childhood…. Thanks for this great article, and a walk down memory lane.
I think you should do an article on the Pewter Pot restaurants of New England. Their blueberry muffins were iconic. 🙂 There’s a memory lane for you.
Liza, surely you know the ultimate blueberry muffins were at Jordan Marsh.
Loved the Pewter Pot as a kid in Burlington. My sister, not so much. She got sick there after dinner one night and it’s moniker became “the puker pot” Lol. We still laugh about it 30 years later!
I saw a review for the Bangor HoJo’s on Trip Advisor dated December 28, 2015. Is it still open?
Hi Bob. We visited in the summer of 2015, and the restaurant was still open. We suggest giving a call for the most up-to-date information. Thanks!
Outstanding hot dogs, oh the clam rolls and the ice cream. Lived in Dover NH and we did a weekly trip to the Portsmouth traffic circle HoJo’s. It was a marvelous time, how I miss those days.
Back in the late sixties I worked in Kenmore Square in Boston. There was a Howard Johnson Restaurant across the street. Every other Friday, payday, I would have my lunch in that restaurant. It consisted of the clam strip plate with fries. My drink was always a vanilla frappe. I could never find another restaurant were I could enjoy a meal like that.
We had a Howard Johnson’s in Chelmsford, Massachusetts where I grew up. I spent a lot of time with family and friends. I used to love the hot fudge sundaes as well as the clam rolls, hot dogs and cole slaw. You could always count on it to be good. Sometimes I would have a club sandwich or some kind of sandwich at the counter! Good memories!
Great article. Thanks for writing it. It brought back lots of good memories. I LOVED their brownie sunday with cherry brandy icecream a and hot fudge. : )
There was an Italian veal patty on the menu that I loved as a kid. It was about as far from authentic Italian as you could imagine, but I loved it! One of my fondest memories though was my great uncle filling out the suggestion card that was always at the table. He had ordered a burger “smothered in onions” Apparently his burger was still breathing. My favorite memory though was driving ing home to Massachusetts from UConn. I had fifty cents on me. But I stopped into HoJo’s for coffee where I spent my toll money so I had to take the back roads home!
Thanks for a great article on HoJo’s in Bangor Me. I need to add a bit about the staff at the Inn & restaurant. In 1996, my Dad stayed at HoJo’s Inn in Bangor, while receiving chemo treatments for cancer at Eastern Maine Medical. He stayed multiple weeks over that year, and the staff were extremely accommodating, and always looked out for him, and any special diet needs he required in the restaurant. They are a true example of “Downeast Hospitality”. I would really hate to see them close their doors!!
Thanks for writing this delightful piece! My 1st “memories” of H J restaurants, was as a kid, driving by them family vacations, across the MA turnpike (in the 50’s) and anywhere else we could find them across the country. As a special treat, we’d occasionally stop for ice cream cones. But the most fun was waitressing during hi school and home-from-college summers, in LaGrange Pk, Ill. (As of Dec. 2-015 there was still an empty space where the classic HoJo restaurant stood). My recollection was that the Fish Fry was Wednesday nite (all you can eat for 99cents)…and pushing the piled high cart of fried perch, fries, and cole slaw around). We were issued our uniform (“dress,” cap, and apron) at the beginning of summer, had to wash and iron ourselves, and wear the cap and hair net, or else! Best part was grabbing a spoon and sampling my way through the large containers of ice-cream as the summer progressed. Carmel fudge, butter pecan, peach…oh boy! On “meal break” we got to order whatever we wanted (no charge), that the cooks would make, except the T Bone steak .
The hired help had the benefit of a free choice of a lunch while I was working at the Howard Johnson’s on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, Mass. -except For the Fried Clams! I gladly paid the extra 50 cents so many times in that within the 4 month period of my summer job that I did not desire to order them (nor a 3-D hamburger either)for a long time thereafter. 10 years later in Springfield, Mass. after a Friday gym workout. I gladly resumed my love affair with the Fried Clams thanks tonthe HJ’s all-you-care-to-eat special!!
Did all the HJ’s make their desserts on premise? I remember climbing the winding stairs to the top of the restraunt’s tower to be surprised by the pastry chef’s room with flour everywhere!
Great piece of nostalgic blueberry pie. After delivering the Boston Globe for years got my 1st real job as Dishwasher at HoJo’s on Route 128 in Newton at Grove St. Promoted to short order cook soonafter. But the grease of Kentucky Fried Chicken tempted me to change jobs while I attended Brandeis U. Years later looking back all those garbage jobs fed my drive to strive. So I guess I have to thank Howard Johnsons for contributing to success I have today. Thanks for the great article as I look out over my pool and across the golf course from my Boca Raton Country Club home.
We had one here in Falmouth, Ma. and it was a great place to go. I had one of my daughter’s birthday parties there and it was just wonderful. One of the places I truly miss in my town.
Pam
I worked at Howard Johnson’s in Birmingham, Al. From 1956-1959. I worked on soda fountain. I loved it . On Sunday’s I would come in around noon, and would dip the ice cream cones constantly until about 8 PM. I loved waiting on the kids, they loved a show and I would dip the scoop in water then flip it in the air and catch it. The food we served was the best. Most of the customers would come in 3 times a week or more. I loved their 3D burgers , it was much better than the Big Mac at McDonalds.
Your article about brought me to tears because I miss HoJo so much! My first memory is of eating at the restaurant in Milford, I believe. It was after school clothes shopping in Manchester & we stopped on our way home to Rindge. I was eating a hotdog & spilled mustard on my dress & it stained all the way through to my slip! We moved to Florida in 1968 & I visited many HoJo’s there. I was glad to have been able to bring my son to eat there & his fav was the Mac & cheese. It is sad that they are all gone except 2. I wish I were close enough to visit one. There is nothing to compare to their hotdogs (ah, the toasted buns!) and their ice cream. Thanks for the memories!
Thank you so much for your comment, Trish! What wonderful memories you have! So glad to serve as a reminder. 🙂
I was brought up in Milton, MA and my first date with my (future) husband was at Howard Johnsons in Beverly (I think) MA on highway 128. This was in 1954 and we were married 3 years later, and then after 6 more years of school for my husband at Gordon College and Gordon Seminary, we pastored churches in NY and Buffalo, Wichita, KS and Indianapolis. Wish I had the count of how many times we ate at Howard Johnson’s.
Hi, Phyllis–Perhaps you know that Howard Johnson’s home town was Milton. He bought and renovated the old Hallowell mansion there, his children (we were contemporaries) grew up there, and he and his wife are buried in the Milton Cemetery. His offices were in Wollaston, where I lived, and his main food warehouses were in Quincy. Nobody misses HoJo’s more than I do.
I can remember the all you can eat fish fries with my family. The HoJo’s in Lake George isn’t the same (we live an hour away). It doesn’t have the panache it seems of Bangor. Another old staple was the dining room at Grants. Does anyone remember that?
Thanks for the memories! I grew up in Hull, Massachusetts, and during high school in the late 60’s worked at a free-standing HoJo’s across the street from Nantasket Beach. It was only open in the late spring through early fall as I recall, and essentially run by high school students with a few older bosses. We worked hard, but had a lot of fun. At least 2 long marriages came after those years at HoJo’s. What a great place to grow up!!!
We (my mom, husband and I) were in the New England area for the past few weeks. My mom worked at the Howard Johnson’s in Scarborough, Maine as a teenager (in the 1950s). She was searching for it on our travels down Rt 1, and couldn’t find it. I’ll have to let her know that the Bangor restaurant is the only one open now. 🙁 Our family stayed at a Howard Johnson motel in eastern Virginia when traveling from California to New England about 20+ years ago, when our kids where little. We loved it because of the spaciousness and the great lawn areas. Great memories!
It might interest readers to know that Jacques Pepin (the now famous French chef who was often seen side-by-side with Julia Child on PBS) was hired by Howard Johnson himself in the 1959 and worked for the HoJo’s for 10 years!
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/howard-johnsons-adieu.html?_r=0
Yes ,the great Pepin was hired to develop the frozen food line of Ho Jo’s retail division,and often visited their Brockton Ma.production facility,which was at the corner of Oak and Battles Streets in the City of Champions. Chicken Croquettes,anyone?
I grew up always loving Howard Johnson’s. When I was young, and my family lived near Buffalo, N.Y., my parents would take me to the “all you can eat” fish fries on Friday nights. My two, older sisters wouldn’t go a lot of the time, so I got to have a special “date night” with my parents! Later, my sisters and me all worked, at different times, at a HoJo’s on Sunrise Highway, in Lynbrook, N.Y. where Long Island starts. It put us all through college, with the money we earned Summers there, as waitresses! A funny story, when I was a waitress in the late 1970s, at HoJo’s, I came into work after a day at the beach, and did not have on my total, “required” uniform, and was yelled at by my manager. Later, Howard B. Johnson, the founder’s son, came into the restaurant on some kind of inspection tour of his restaurants, and after speaking and being served by me, told my manager, “this is the kind of waitress I want working here!” Think I won him over when I had told him how his picture, which was the truth, was hanging in the ladies’ bathroom! Will miss HoJo’s. And, loved your article Aimee!! Will pass it on to my sisters, and I hope to go to the Maine location before it closes! P.S. One of my sisters got to meet, and be asked out, by a young Jimmy Messina, the musician, at HoJo’s!
I have such fond memories of HoJo’s. My grandmother used to take me often to several different ones. The ones we visited most often were: Concord, MA, by the rotary on Route 2, and Portsmouth, NH at the Circle, where the RoundAbout now operates. I do remember the one with the tunnel on the Maine Turnpike. Also, there was one on Route 128, on the way to the Cape. I used to get lobster rolls there, and of course, ice cream afterward. My favorite was pistachio. I did not like the clam strips……..I am one New Englander that likes the WHOLE clam. Thank you for reminding me of those wonderful trips when my Nanny and I spent time together. I am 73 now, and she has been gone a long time. This was in the ’40s and ’50s, way before the motels were added………I do remember the Mass Pike, when it first opened, and for quite a few years, had HoJos at all the rest areas. The Mass Pike opened around 1956. Another one we used to visit, because our cousins lived there, was in East Hartford, CT. And, to this day, there is an old Howard Johnson restaurant building in Waterbury, CT. It has the orange roof and everything. It is a restaurant, run privately under another name, but, I heard the fellow who owns it has kept the HJ menu……..
I LOVED the tunnel under the Maine Turnpike at Mile 24 connecting the northbound and southbound HJ’s – only one of them had a sit down restaurant, but you could access it through the tunnel even if you were headed in the other direction!!!
So remember this Howard Johnson’s on the Maine turnpike! Depending on whether heading north or south, we would go to always go to the one with the sit-in restaurant so we got to go through that tunnel under the highway once per trip! Loved the clam rolls, the hot dogs, good kid-friendly macaroni and cheese, the club sandwich (burger and BLT built into one!), etc., etc.! Loved the advertisements for Howard Johnson’s . I think they were in the Saturday Evening Post at least!
I grew up in the York County area in Maine, and recall the times we used to go to Howard Johnson’s on the Portsmouth Traffic Circle. I also remember the trips from New Jersey to Maine each year with Howard Johnson’s all along the way. We always went to Grandma’s for The Holidays and the stops at the Howard Johnson’s Restaurants were the bright spots on our long tedious trips. I could always get a Maple Walnut Ice Cream Cone…nearly impossible to get in PA where I now live :~( Thanks for the memories!
I think It’s the ROUNDABOUT now..
I remember this HoJo’s fondly. Sometime in the late 80’s I was traveling for work and had spent the night at a small motel in Bangor. In the morning I awoke to a full on unannounced snow storm . Roads were closed and the place I was staying had no food . After a wonderful truck driver shoveled me out he said I could make it to the Howard Johnsons. I made it right before they closed the interstate and was greeted by a lovely woman explaining that I should order quickly incase they lost power. That day I met so many great people that were either staying at the hotel or like myself looking for a safe haven I ended up spending the night there but felt safe and protected. I wish I could return one last time to say farewell .
Oh, this article dredged up many happy memories from my childhood and youth! When I was 8 years old, my family moved to the Panama Canal Zone (my father worked for Chiquita bananas). Every summer we’d get on a refrigerated cargo ship and come home to NY and New England for six weeks. We traveled a lot by car, visiting all the relatives, and we LOVED to stay – and eat – at Howard Johnson’s. I had two favorite meals: hot turkey sandwich and fried clams. Once my turkey sandwich came and it was partially frozen. I didn’t understand why (although our waitress remedied the problem immediately) until many years later, when I first learned about microwave ovens, which were owned by restaurants only because they were so expensive after being invented. The countertop microwave was introduced in 1967 (I just looked that up) but I didn’t own one until the late 1980s. I loved everything about Hojo’s. The day of my brother’s wedding, when I was 12, was the first time I ever went to to the counter alone and ordered a Coca-Cola. I can still remember mentally calculating the 15% tip – I’m sure that was one of the many things I was exposed to at Hojo’s, instructions from my parents about how to treat wait staff, how to order and how to leave a tip. My father drilled into my head the mantra, “If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.” My mother’s maternal aunt, Jane Frances Moriarty, was the mother of Eugene Durgin, who was general counsel to Hojo’s for many years, so we always felt a little proprietary about the company! When I arrived at Boston College for my freshman year in 1975, my brother and his wife used to take me to a Hojo’s for the all you can eat buffet! What a great concept that was – I am sad to know that time has left Howard Johnson’s behind.
I worked for Howard Johnson’s…we never called it HoJo’s….from 1958 to 1971…and never ONCE did we use a microwave…..Some Howard Johnson’s cooks just threw the frozen chicken pies into a steam table. We never did that in North Conway either. Each meal was individually cooked with pots and pans and grill, etc.
I was watching Jacques Pepin on PBS this morning, and I told my husband that Pepin actually worked for Howard Johnson’s, in menu development. One of my husband’s first jobs was at the Howard Johnson’s in North Conway, and he speaks of it fondly. He said he loved the French Dip! I would love to find out which items Pepin was responsible for adding to the menu.
I read the story but not all of the comments, Since Ho Jo’s has closed in Bangor Me, you said there was another one in Lake George NY, well hate to burst your bubble but that one is gone also. So there are none left…Yes I have very fond memories of growing up in Allston/Brighton area of Boston and hanging out at HO JO’s in the 60’s .It is surely missed by all that know of it………..
Thanks for the update, David. The Lake George location received so much glowing press in recent years, I had no idea it was now for sale. The most recent news stories I could find from February, 2017, shows the property is for sale, but still operational. Let me know, readers, if you learn something different. Thanks!
It is still (barely) operational. The building/property is for sale (and apparently has been for some time, the most recent sign just being a new selling company posting one).
The restaurant has been leased to a man who has been running it for a couple years now – unfortunately he was on the news last year being accused of harassment of the employees. No more has come out on that case, and he is still around, but seems to only open occasionally, with little predictability on when that will be.
We all loved their hot dogs and clam rolls.
They had the best onion rings. My Dad always stopped at the one in Concord for a butter pecan cone. So sorry they are gone.
One of my first jobs was in 1963 behind the soda fountain at the HoJo’s on Route 3A in Scituate, MA. The fried clams, grilled franks, and 3D burger were all memorable. Years later while in the Air Force, HO Jo’s in Florida, Nebraska, and California were always welcome reminders of my youth in Massachusetts.
Aimee – Thank you for all the fond memories. In the 1950’s, after Sunday church, our family would go to the Howard Johnson’s in Pottstown, PA, for lunch. I would always order the same thing: fried clams (for $1.15 as I remember), and peppermint stick ice cream for dessert (they did not start serving mint chocolate chip until years later). I continued enjoying HoJo’s food traveling back and forth to college in Maine in the 1960’s, and later when I returned back to the Philadelphia area. Then my cousin took a summer job in the King of Prussia store, and I ate at HoJo’s even more often! Fond memories – so sorry to see them go!
The very first restaurant I ever went to was in Peabody, Mass (I think). I had never eaten at a restaurant, and I was bedazzled with the booths, the counter, and the wonderful service with women dressed in HoJo colors. It was the only place that my dad believed had good food at reasonable prices. It was the early 50s, we didn’t have much, and going to HoJo’s was like going to the Waldorf for us. Thanks to Aimee and all who responded for the wonderful, nostalgic trip back to Peabody.
Aimee! Loved your article. Miss H.J.’S terribly. Lucky enough to spend summers on the Cape and always hit the one at the rotary heading for Falmouth. While my younger sister and I indulged in ice cream, my parents always had a fresh cup of hot coffee. The smell of freshly brewed coffee still takes me back to those warm summer Cape Cod nights of the 70″s. My dad loved them so much he even painted the front door of our cottage turquoise blue! On a family trip this fall to Lake George I showed my boys the iconic sign as we drove by…sigh. Thanks for your article and the memories. Loved all the comments too. Bittersweet.
My mother, sister and I would eat at the HoJo at the Fresh Pond circle in Cambridge, Ma . This was during the 1950s and I’ll never forget the fried clams , the all you can eat fish fry and especially the ice cream sodas. Reading this story and all of the great comments made me both very happy and sad because of all the great memories. THANK YOU
In the 1960s my parents, brother & I would travel by car down to Florida to visit my aunt & uncle, & we always stayed at Howard Johnson motels along the way. We’d look for that orange roof…Richmond, VA, Savannah, GA, & an especially new, very modern one in Miami. My brother & I would head for the outdoor pool 1st thing, & I remember their hotcakes with whipped butter for breakfast. I loved their Simple Simon & the Pieman sign. It all brings back such wonderful memories of such an innocent time when everything seemed possible.
In the early 1960s I had to fly from California to the East Coast on business. Two of the people I worked with were from New England. On my way back to the airport I stopped at a Howard Johnson’s and picked up some fried clams. The next day I presented my gift to them. They heated them in a labatory oven and devoured them on the spot, thanking me over and over. A few years later Howard Johnson’s started showing up in California, but they told me it just wasn’t the same.
loved the fried clams! As a child often traveled from Attleboro Ma. to Manchester NH to visit close friends for the weekend, Always stopped at HJ coming or going. My Dad had 2 cousins who co-owned a HJ in Vermont, I think White River Junction. They always took us there for dinner, We were given the royal treatment by staff which made it special. Moved to Ca. in 62, but always went to the restruant when we came to N.E. to visit family.
Met my wife 50 years ago at hojo in Haverhill MA she worked there We really miss hojo
Mel Allen’s wife story is cool as butter brickle. I remember HoJo’s at Fresh Pond Circle gave me a serious case of “red tide”. Man, the upchucks started about half-past midnight and went until dawn. I felt like rotten kelp. But, you know what, I still loved HoJo’s. Not quite as much, but I still loved it! Thanks for this great article.
Great article. As one reader commented, eating out was a big, big deal for our family of 5 kids. We went to the Tolland Tpke HJ’s in Manchester, CT. The Lenten all you could eat Fish, and more importantly the Fried Clams, were a wonderful treat. I believe they split off the all you could clam nights, and my Dad and I would put a huge dent in their supply those nights. Great memories, thank you!
Howard Johnsons was a big part of my childhood too. We lived in Squantum and would go to the Ho Jo’s on Wollaston Blvd. out of 28 flavors, my favorite is still chocolate chip! The fried clam roll was great too although I know prefer fried clams with bellies!, My grandfather worked as a commercial artist for them, hand painting all of the signs for their stores.(orange & turquoise, of course) He also wrote a little advertising jingle for them and my brothers and I would get a big kick out of hearing it on the radio!
Hey, Donna, I lived on Beach Street, just a block from the beach and the Wollaston stand. You have no idea what it’s like to live in New England (worse yet, New Orleans) and be allergic to all shellfish. I was considered a traitor to my country in both locations–no clams, no lobster, no oysters, and (most of all everywhere I’ve lived) no shrimp. Well, the “frankforts” were delicious–lots of butter. Of course we looked at Squantum every time we went swimming. I went to North Quincy High for 7th and 8th grade, then transferred to Thayer. Nice to read something from someone in the old neighborhood.
Donna, Forgot to mention the Howard Johnson’s original restaurant, in the Wollaston train station. On Fridays, the Baked Finnan Haddie there was so good, businessmen would take the train from Boston just to have lunch there. It was a famous meal all over the South Shore.
My grandmother lived across from the Howard Johnsons in Lenox MA. My grandmother loved ice cream so she would take us across the street for cones. I always got pistachio. Good memories.
When I was young we ate at Howard Johnson’s every Tuesday night. It was a tough time for our family, with my mother very ill and in and out of the hospital. HoJo’s was a bright spot during a hard time and as regulars we became friendly with the Tuesday night waitresses. I soon earned the moniker “Tuna Fish” as it was my sandwich of choice every week. Sadly, I was too young to have learned just how wonderful fried clams are…today, that would be my standing order! So sad that the world moved on and HoJo’s was left behind.
The following excerpt from my book, “My Life on Golden Pond,” is in Chapter 47 – “Rocket Maaaannnn:” One of my favorite traveling routines as a child was playing in the tunnel that ran under the Maine Turnpike at mile 24 between the northbound and southbound Howard Johnson’s. Only one side had a full service restaurant, but I could get my standard HoJo meal – a hamburger with mustard and relish followed by a pistachio ice cream cone with real embedded pistachio nuts – on either side. The tunnel allowed travelers headed in the direction that didn’t have the full service restaurant to still have a sit down dinner, plus it enabled the easy transfer of supplies between the two locations. But for me the tunnel was a dark and mysterious den of wonder, with echoes not found anywhere else on the planet.
From my earliest memories, the mile 24 Howard Johnson’s was the place that made our family feel we were really in Maine, and was what we competed with each other to see first as we drove north. “There it is! I see it!” we’d shout with excitement, and then a spirited argument would break out over who actually saw it first and said it first. But the pleasure of being that far into Maine suppressed any negative feelings that the arguing might have otherwise engendered.
That Howard Johnson’s was a landmark of monumental significance to me, and the fact that it’s now a mini food court with a Burger King and a Starbucks, and a couple of other bland chain stores doesn’t lessen the specialness of my memories. I know that serious Maine Magic exists there. Hidden below the roadway are ancient catacombs with unique and amazing sound qualities and mysterious powers yet to be discovered. And you, Gentle Reader, now know it also.
My first waitressing job at 17 years old was at a HoJos in Daytona Beach Florida in 1985. I was a year shy of being able to serve alcohol so I’d have to have someone else bring that to my tables if someone ordered it. Spring break was a big deal in Daytona in ’85 & the college kids would come in & order the “all you can eat” meals to make their dollar stretch farther. I went on to waitress for about 5 years, until 22, leaving HoJos after about 6 months for a higher end seafood restaurant but I’ll always remember them willing to train me when my only experience prior was McDonalds at 16.
My oldest brother flipped burgers at HoJo’s in Concord, MA for his first job. I have such special memories of going there for chicken croquettes (my favorite) and a coffee frappe while watching my brother behind the grill. We were a family who almost never ate out so Howard Johnson’s was doubly special to me.
They closed the Hojo in Kankakee IL, Olympia fields, IL, Nashville, TN, St Louis, MO, Indianapolis IN, … suddenly no chowder, fried clams. My quality of life continues to descend.
Our family was scattered around New England while we lived in New York. On one of our many trips each year, we always stopped at the Howard Johnson’s on 84 (hang a right after Hartford) in Connecticut. I always ordered the fried clams – dinner or roll. I rarely got to have the cone sundae as we took our ice cream to go. My favorite was the chocolate chip (because you got both the chocolate and vanilla flavors ????) in a sugar cone. To this day chocolate chip is still my go-to ice cream flavor! What great memories, and what a shame it’s gone now. ????
And that Route 84 exit between Hartford and New York would have been my hometown for many years, Southington! The old Ho-Jo was just off the exit and a mainstay for travelers as well as the locals. Crowded especially on Sunday mornings for early & late breakfast, and you were sure to see many friends there. Great memories – but as a native New Englander, I, too, prefer the whole-belly fried clams; so delicious.
My first job was at the Howard Johnsons in Muncie, Indiana (Middletown U.S.A.), in 1959. The restaurant I was sixteen and my first job at the restaurant was lot boy. I changed bulbs in the overhead parking lot lights, the old fashioned way, by shinnying the poles with my belt around me and the pole. Never came close to falling. In addition, I made sure the lot was always clean, trimmed the hedges, mowed the grass, and unloaded the Hojo trucks that came in pretty much daily. The refrigerated truck brought ice cream and pre-seared, frozen New York Strip Steaks and clams. We never ran short on ice cream … or the steaks, which were the most expensive item on the menu. Another truck brought in canned clam chowder and a couple of other soups. The chowder was in gallon containers and required another gallon of milk. I moved from lot boy to dishwasher and bus boy, then to the kitchen and finally to the soda fountain and assistant manager before joining the Army. Unlike these days, these jobs had actual career progression possibilities. What I learned from my manager about personal interactions came in handy in my military career, especially when handling troops. The old Muncie restaurant still exists … the building at least, although it’s had several additions, including a new façade. But it’s always been a restaurant. It’s now called Richard’s Restaurant on old highway 3 in Muncie, Indiana.
Although never having traveled to New England as a child (Baby Boomer) growing up in Tulsa Oklahoma we had a Howard Johnson’s just off of Route 66… as you mentioned for the travelers and adventurers who would stop in either heading west or east…. My grandmother who lived in Ft.Worth Texas would take the passenger train from Ft Worth to Oklahoma City and we would drive over to pick her up…. I have such vivid memories sitting in the booth at HoJo’s in Tulsa with my family and visiting Grandmother in the summers all of us enjoying The taste of New England sweet clam rolls and loving them from first bite!!!! It certainly was the heyday especially for Route 66 travelers and being on the “route” in Tulsa we were blessed to have one of the HoJo locations right in our little Oil town! Sad to see this part our our Boomer history disappear. Now I need a New England trip in my future! Craving clam rolls after my brother and I started discussing them which led to finding this article…. we want to know what else happened that fateful night when your boss sampled the pretty girl’s ice cream cone who later became his wife! We were caught up in that memory he shared sounded like a scene from American Grafitti!
I lived in Wollaston MA from 1943 to 1951 (and Hingham from 1934 to 1943) and ate regularly at the first three HoJo’s in the country: Wollaston, Quincy, and Dorchester. HoJo’s offices were next to the Wollaston train station, so I passed them almost every day. Their quality was something you could count on, wherever you traveled. I miss them very much, especially the little pots of baked beans, and their orange-pineapple ice cream, now very hard to find elsewhere. I knew his children, featured in their ice cream ads; we were about the same age. Sad to see HoJo’s gone.
Grew up in Bangor…had fish fries n grape nut ice cream. Then we went to Florida for a vacation n we stayed in HoJo Motels n had breakfast of Toasties…all the time.
Worked at the “Ho-Jo’s on the Highway” just north of Hartford, CT when I was 17. My first waitress job and when multiple buses poured in it was wild! I had Am shift and frequently was only waitress as others slept in. We were so busy one morning and I was alone I got left a 2 cent tip! My parents and I always had lunch at one on way to NH for vacation. Sad to see it go….
My first job was at the Howard Johnson in Boscowin, N.H. On Rt. 3 going to the Lakes region. I was 15 and started as a bus boy. It was only open during the summer months and was managed by a teacher and his wife. The second summer I was a soda jerk and once served an ice cream cone to Jimmy Piersol of the Boston Red Sox.
I was brought up in Milton, MA and my Mother told me that Howard Johnson had a home in Milton and one in FL. My first date with my husband was in 1954 and we went bowling and then he took me to Howard Johnson’s which was on 128 in Beverly, MA.
I worked at the Hojos at the circle in Chatham on Cape Cod one summer while attending UConn. My boyfriend worked at the Mobil station across the circle. I remember scooping ice cream after the ballgames and the band concerts until my forearms were black and blue. So many years ago. Next year my boyfriend and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. On Cape Cod of course.
Great article on Howard Johnson’ Restaurants and it brought back many memories of simpler times in our lives. I worked at a Howard Johnson Restaurant in Weirs Beach NH right across from Lake Winnepesaukee north of Laconia NH–I worked there in my teens from 1956 to 1960 this was a summer job and the restaurant was a franchise owner of which belong to my uncle and aunt Charles and Avis Baroody–The restaurant was a classic style restaurant with its orange roof and windows it was open only from April to Columbus day but the fond memories I had with my fellow workers are too numerous to mention—I did write an article about my experiences at this restaurant in the the Weirs Times Gazette publised in November 2008 and the headlines on the newspaper was Remembering My Summers Working At Howard Johnson’ in Weirs Beach. My closing paragraph was back in the fabulous 50’s there was no McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendys. Howard Johnson’s was the place to go. When you say Howard Johnson’s it is sort of like Apple Pie and Baseball in the summer. Maybe even like a Norman Rockwell Painting. The name is synonymous with a different decade and unfortunately end of an era.
I don’t know how I came across this site…but what a joy.. I use to work at Howard Johnson’s in Madison Heights, MI.. I started there in 1973 when I was 21 years old. I really enjoyed it. I still remember the Hostess, Mrs. Lauwers, she was such a nice woman. I remember the strict dress code.. clean wrinkle free turquoise and white uniform with a crisp white apron. We had to tie the apron in a perfect bow and loop one of the tie’s up and over to hide the knot in the back. No nail polish, unless it was clear.. we had a good looking bunch. My favorite item was the Corn Bread! I absolutely Loved that corn bread. Whenever I took a break, I would go for a piece of that. We had a Bar/Lounge attached, and I remember putting the fruit on the Swords that went into the drink.. I was waitress #2…lol I worked the Breakfast shift for a little while, the Corral and 2 Booths to the side.. I asked for afternoon shift because I had a child at home.. I made really good tips on afternoons.. I got the Banquet Room often, and wow..tips were great. Alot of good memories working there.. We moved away in 1975 so left the area. We were packed all the time. Felt bad when I heard they had troubles…sad.
My sister and I would always order clams; and if you wanted clams with bellies, as we always did; you’d order Ipswich clams. They were the best!
Thanks for sharing all your memories, but, I have to mention(2) more Howard Johnson Restaurants one on Route 12 – West Boylston, MA where myself and several associates were “out at the top” for different meals of the day and a second location on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, MA a notable place to go after a visit with Spags department store.
My first “real” job (not babysitting) was at the Howard Johnson”s on Farmington Ave in West Hartford CT. It was the mid-sixties and some of my classmates also worked there. Ours was more of a local restaurant, many of our guests were from the neighborhood and we got to know them well. That summer was the busiest summer I ever spent, working Sunday mornings alone, covering the dining room but it was the most fun, families coming in after church for breakfast. This is where I learned to love clam chowder and fried clams and try a different ice cream flavor every night on my way out the door; I loved them all and even to this day I miss having HoJo’s when I travel.
Lived Somerset PA and both Somerset and Bedford PA had How Johnsons on both sides of the PA Pike and we would park behind the one near Somerset one and walk in the back door and eat all of the time That is where I grew to love the clams, etc Forget this I think Somerset had a tunnel underneath the Pike also between the two or maybe Bedford Had a family friend in Somerset who worked at the Esso gas on thePike knew everyone there
The tunnel was in Bedford between North and south Midway.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! My mom, dad, & 2 younger sisters would always go to the Howard Johnson’s every Friday Night for the All You can Eat Fish & Clams. This Howard Johnson’s was located on Route 51 in West Mifflin (Pittsburgh), Pa. We would also go to the H.J. Restaurant on another evening when they had the All You Can Eat Baby Back Ribs with Cole Slaw & FF because my youngest sister liked their Baby Back Ribs!!! Remember those? After it closed, the restaurant became The Elephant Bar. But, it wasn’t the same so we didn’t go back. When I was younger & lived in Columbus, Ohio, there was a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant that my mom & dad took me to on 161 where my older sister Diane used to work as a waitress. Her waitress outfit was a brown & cream plaid dress. I always loved the fish, clams, french fries,coleslaw, & ice-cream! I remember the soda fountain on the right side of the restaurant when you walked in with the bar & chairs up to it. I remember that the restaurant part where you could sit and eat was on the left side of the soda fountain. I remember the Orange Roof and the Weather Vane with the Rooster that my mom loved. We miss Howard Johnson’s!!!
There still is a Howard Johnson open in Winsor Locks CT. It is located on RT 20 near Bradley Airport. I ate there about tow weeks ago.
Not many are aware that Jacques Pepin, the famous French chef, worked for Howard Johnson and they were great friends. He helped Johnson with improving the mass production of his foods as the restaurant chain grew. I only know this because I just finished a book about Pepin’s life. What a surprise.
Oh, my gosh, I am so surprised to see this article and I loved it. I worked for HoJo’s in MA during my college years. I worked at the Canton store, as they referred to it, near the Blue Hills and also at the beautiful one, with the gorgeous sunporch in Orleans on the Cape. Great times!! Great fun!! In Canton we had a fabulous boss, Mr. Peter Toli. The president?? of the company, whose name I cannot recall, also had an office there, so I believe it was where many trained to be managers. I even still have a HoJo charm on my teenage charm bracelet.(This was in the mid 60’s) My older sister and brother had worked at the one in Chestnut Hill, at the shopping center and my sister also worked on the Cape at the one at the rotary and the one further down in Harwich. In fact, my sister met her to-be-husband at the HoJo’s in Harwich. I grew up in Dedham and we had a family tradition of meeting up with my mother’s family for breakfast after church at the one on Rte#1. So very many memories and all good. Love both their clams and the bellied ones elsewhere. Always enjoyed the work atmosphere and the way the company was run. Thanks for this great, fun for me, article.
My family lived on Snell Street in Brockton Massachusetts and at the bottom of the street was Rt 28 with a wonderful Howard Johnsons.. Grandparents took us there my favorite was Chicken Croquettes,and Peppermint stick ice cream. So many good memories. They also had later on a place off Oak Street Brockton Ma were they made the food for the freezer. Could smell it cooking yummy. If I’m not mistaken Papa Gino’s took over the Rt 28 Brockton Ma spot. HJ your missed
Oh, the memories of stopping at HoJo’s for a cone of ginger or frozen pudding ice cream. Try finding that flavor today!! The restaurant in No. Dartmouth, MA was a favorite place to meet friends. Junior prom post celebration offered an inexpensive meal while parent chaperone /driver sat in an adjoining booth. Those were the courting days back in the 50’s when you were accompanied by an”elder”. Grateful for the memories. Thanks!
I am Northern Maine, Houlton to be exact and have always gone back to Maine yearly while my Mother was alive. I always stayed at HOJO’s and enjoyed eating there every time. I will miss the facility when I return to visit other family members.
I remember about about age 5/6 on, my Grandmother Ware bringing me for lunch & ice cream to the Williamstown, MA Howard Johnsons’ where she personally knew the Brundidge Brothers who ran the place. She was a weekly customer & they always greeted her by name. It was a treat for me which we repeated many times. Co-incidently when we built a house over the border from MA in VT while a teen, I applied for a job in the Bennington, VT HoJo’s & was hired on the spot! They supplied the Aqua & White uniforms & had them laundred after every use. I loved working there & serving the locals who came (some nightly) for dinner &/or ice cream or Indian Pudding. Hard work but educating and FUN! Worked w a lot of respectable people & teens for a couple of years. Now I’m retired & living on the Gulf Coast of FL where there’s a Howard Johnson hotel nearby on St. Pete Beach. Great memories. ?
I worked at the Williamstown HoJo’s when I was 15 and in high school , my first real job.i worked for the Brundige Brothers Frank and Ernie .their niece Pam was the hostess . When I worked there so did my aunt , my cousin ,sister in law and a future sister in law.good ole days long ago. My favorites were of course the class and the Indian pudding with a little scoop of van. Ice cream . I’m retired now too and also live in Florida , Spring Hill
Nice article about HoJo’s. Growing up, we spent summers camping in Buzzards Bay, Ma and naturally loved ice cream. Our parents, plus others at the campground would give us money to go for ice cream in the afternoon. Off we’d all go hiking by the herring run and through the Ocean Spray cranberry bogs over to HoJo’s for our favorite ice cream. Great memories, great ice cream.
I grew up in Concord, Ma. We had a Ho Jo’s restaurant and motel on Rt. 2 in Concord. Started going there in the 60’s, sitting at the counter with my dad and older brother. English muffins with orange marmalade and an OJ. As I got older, the fare turned to clam strip dinners, or French toast and coffee for breakfast. It was also a local hangout in my high school years. What fantastic memories! Howard Johnson’s, the host of the highways!!!
We grew up in Gardner, Ma off rt 2..every time we’d go in to Boston we’d stop there otw way home. Clam strips were the fave!
Before Howard Johnson’s there was another chain that originated in Brockton. It was called Dutchland and they had their own dairy farm. Eventually Howard Johnson’s bought them out, and I believe this is where they acquired the orange roof along with the shade of blue and white they used. However, if i remember my reading, Howard Johnson could use the colors but were not allowed to use the Dutchland windmill. History is fascinating. I discovered Dutchland when I found, on a census record, that my grandma worked at one back in the 1930’s or 1940’s.
Fond memories of Howard Johnson dinners. No matter what I ate, I always had room for a hot fudge sundae for dessert! 71, so one of the first year of Baby Boomers!
I too have fond memories od HOJO. In the 60’s my fiancé and I would have their Fisherman’s Platter every Sunday. It was so good. This was in Rochester, NY. Of course it is gone now. I will cherish those times forever.
Ah, the Fisherman’s Platter. As a Brit, I consider this the US version of our great Fish and Chips. We got hooked (excuse the pun!) when we holidayed with the kids in Florida. The last time I remember enjoying it was at the HJs on 7th Avenue in NYC. Often think of trying to recreate it at home! Anyone know where there’s a picture?
Wow..this article brought back great memories! My Mom worked at the Howard Johnson’s in Brattleboro, Vt. for her entire career…and the Corkins, who owned the restaurant. My sister worked there also..and I wanted to so badly that I wouldn’t let up .. eventually…Mrs Corkins hired me at 15 as a bus girl! I was soooo happy!! Graduated to behind the counter to serve 10 cent coffee..and other wonderful delights..this was 1960!! Graduated to cashier and ice cream server and then on to waitress for several more wonderful years..until graduation from high school. Saved enough money to buy my horse…and car….great experience working for wonderful people…and..having my favorite ice cream from time to time.. chocolate chip..with “gigantic” chips!!! Thanks for the memories!!!! 🙂
My family also ate at the Brattleboro, Vt location from 1958 until it closed. Every night from Riverside cabins we would go back and eat ice cream! Ate there every night and fond memories. My parents ate in all HoJo’s wherever they travelled. Miss those fried clams! Thanks for the memories!
worked Kennebunk north hojo on maine turnpike through all 4 years of high. mom, future wife, sister in law all worked on north or southbound sides
Raised in New England, Hojo’s was a big part of our family trips. Their pistachio ice cream was my favorite and still the best of that flavor I’ve ever had. It makes me really sad to see this important icon of another time disappear. Farewell old friend. ;(
We use to go to any and all Howard Johnsons in Massachusetts. My mother enjoyed Mapel Walnut ice cream.
In the summer of 1959, between high school graduation and the beginning of nursing school, I worked at the Howard Johnson in Springfield, PA. It was my first real adult job, and I loved working there. Mr. Marks, the manager was great, and the cooks and waitresses were a joy to work with. Although I loved the ice cream, bits and pieces of which I frequently “wore” home on my uniform, my absolute favorite was french fries covered in turkey gravy. It was my “go to snack”, especially when I worked a double shift. Great memories. . .great introduction to the world of work. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
I believe there is still a Howard Johnson’s motel in Mystic, CT. No restaurant.
I remember my parents would take my sister and I to a HoJos in Reading, Massachusetts. Loved it! Oh, for the good old days.
Several HoJo experiences: (1) my hometown Springfield, Pa. had a HoJo’s where Alfred Hitchcock filmed a scene from the 60’s movie “Marine” with Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. (2). One of my first jobs in 1969 was as a busboy in HoJo’s in Media, Pa. (3) I went to a HoJo’s in Times Square during several trips to New York over the years. (4) I really enjoyed the episode from Mad Men where they re-created a HoJo on the New York Thruway complete with the bright orange angled roof. Thanks for the memories (and great milk shakes) Howard Johnson’s.
I may have introduced South Americans to Boston baked beans. In 1962, while traveling from Bedford, MA to New York City, I stopped for dinner at a HJ on Connecticut Route 85 near Tolland. Sitting at the counter I ordered a pot of baked beans and a couple of hot dogs. As I waited for my order the seats next to me became occupied by three traveling South American diplomats who expressed huge interest in my baked bean order when the pot arrived. I offered tastes and they dug into the pot eagerly with spoons from their counter settings.
It was obvious to me that they became hooked on Boston baked beans forever.
When I was in High School–mid 50’s-Our family went on a vacation to Cape Cod. On the way home, we stopped for supper at a HoJo’s on the Cape, which we practically never did. Dad chose Howard Johnson’s because, as he said, “You always knew what you were getting.” We girls ordered fried clams, probably the first we had ever had. We ordered the whole ones. I loved them, but afterwards my sister declared, “I liked them, except for the necks and the bellies!” We had a very cordial waitress, but when she refilled my Dad’s water glass, she got it so full that it rounded at the top. My father, who was never fresh, but had a good sense of spontaneous humor, looked at her and said, “Why didn’t you fill it full?” That has been a family joke ever since!
After dancing to Big Band music (like you’ll hear when ya do a YouTube search for ‘Moonlight Serenade Glenn Miller’ – click the one with a blue hue) at the Totem Pole (do a Google Images search using ‘totem pole norumbega park), we’d stop in to the HJ on 128 before heading back “up” to Lowell. How could we afford gas, admission, and then Lobstaah Rolls with Coffee Frappes as highschool kids back then? Well, as Mary sang a few years later…(do a YouTube search for ‘Mary Hopkins Those’)
[Sorry. New England Mag wont let me insert the links for convenience. Hope Y’all can take the time for some really great pics of the Totem Pole…click them to enlarge. Also, do the same using ‘commodore ballroom lowell’ for before it became a rock n roll, stand and watch “venue”…LOL]
I come from Franklin , NH and when I worked in Milwaukee, Wi a co-worker would ask were I wanted to go to lunch. I would always say it is up to you and we would end up at HoJo’s for a fried clam lunch. loved it and miss it. Also missed my friend. God Bless.
I grew up in Wollaston, MA. My mother was the papergirl for Howard Johnson when he opened the original store on Beale St. The block where it was located is gone and there is a “T” train station across the street. I believe there is a plaque of somekind in the area. The orange roof so emblematic of HoJo’s was put on by my mother’s uncle who owned Pemberton Roofing Co. When I was in college I worked at Pemberton and among my duties I had to clean the ceramic orange tiles.
Just wanted to add to the dialogue.
Ken Thomas
Very informative. I heard he started across from Wollaston beach. I remember the restaurant in Quincy Square. Can still pick out his home in Milton/Hyde Park. Thrilled to have found a place near Concord. NH, that serves very similar fried clams.
But why remove the trademark Orange branding for BEIGE??? When did we start to fear color this much.
We had a Howard Johnson’s in Chelmsford. When I was a little boy, they had a chopper pad in the back. I remember my Dad used it to go to Logan in less than 20 minutes. We always stopped at Ho Jo’s when visiting relatives in CT. It’s sad because now the Friendly’s in Chelmsford that was there since 1968 (50 years) is also closing. I guess it’s a new wo
rld now and it’s the next generations turn
I feel a kinship with all the lovers of HJ, we have a nostalgic love for the food and those days. Mine was ginger ice cream and clam strips at HJ in Weymouth, but Sunday drives with Dad and Mom were not complete with out a stop for ice cream. Ninety now and lots of great memories, buying our German Shepherd pistachio ice cream at aHJ near Swanzey NH, their hot dogs were an acquired taste. It was part of our childhood.
Where was the one in Weymouth? Thank you.
Many memories of going to Howard Johnson’s. As a child, shopping in Uniontown, PA and stopping in Hopwood, PA for hamburgers on those buttery buns and butter pecan ice cream. And, in Camp Hill, PA for Wednesday night all you can eat Fish And French Fries. Then with my daughter for Clam Strips on those delicious New England buttery hot dog buns, French fries and Clam Chowder … it was so yummy. And, a first date to eat out … yep, HoJo’s.
When I was four or five (1944-1945) one of my earliest memories was being in my parent’s 1930’s vintage Chevy on our way to my aunt’s from our home in Massapequa on Long Island, N.Y. All I remember was being on a fast parkway and seeing the Howard Johnson’s orange roof as we sped by. It was an exciting sign to see and I’ve always remembered it.
I grew up in Sherborn in the ’70s and have such fond memories of HoJo. It feels like we must have stopped there every time we took a trip to one of the neighboring New England states. I wish we could have them back.
Have just finished reading all the “memory” comments about Howard Johnson restaurants. My mouth waters still for the quart of bellied fried clams I used to buy at the Chestnut Hill, Mass. H.J. on Rte. 9, across from the new recently built Chestnut Hill stores in the late 40s. The quart of clams cost 90 cents and I ate them all myself! I just loved them. I hated to see that H.J. close but by that time, I no longer lived at home.
Enjoyed reading some of the 55 pages of nostalgic remenicences about HoJo’s. Surprised I didn’t see any mention of the higher-end version called Red Coach Grill.
Boston, Hingham Ma. etc had one, others I can’t recall the location of. Not a teenage hang out as was it “parent”. Not bad but no where full of the HOJO’s memories for me.
Red Coach Grill was awesome. We’d go to the one in Wayland on Sundays where kids ate FREE! Anyone remember the clown sundaes. They had a nice one in Cambridge too. Great family memories.
There was a Red Coach Grille in Newton Corner, MA. Think it closed in early/mid eighties
Our family came from “away”. spending most of our family vacations in New England. Howard Johnson’s served the first clam strips I’d ever eaten and, loving them, ordered fried clams at a Rye, NH establishment. Biting into my first one, I got a mouthful of—–belly. Imagine the face on a 7-yr-old not knowing what to do with a mouthful of goosh. Lesson learned—only order fried clams from HoJo’s.
P.S. Anyone remember the milk and white chocolate lollipops that had a picture, PRINTED IN MILK CHOCOLATE, on the white chocolate face?
Yes, I totally remember the choclate pops with white chocolate pictures- my sister and I would spend too much time in line deciding which one we destroy in 5 seconds. ANd the milk chocolate was the best. I’m glad you remember too!
Loved the article about the clams – which for years were the best, although I’d graduated to more traditional with bellies. Still craving the HoJo’s clams, though, I stopped at one of the few remaining restaurants sometime in the 90’s (?) and ordered the clam strips. Unfortunately, my last experience with HoJo’s clam strips was the worst food I’d been served in my life. They were literally gray! I tried eating one but couldn’t get any further, and left the rest uneaten. So many years of those great clam rolls and sometimes dinners, marred by the disappointing experience. I remember driving by the same restaurant a few years later. It was no longer HoJo’s, and I remember thinking, small wonder. But now they are all history. The times and tastes have changed so much, but HoJo’s was an institution to be remembered. Like one of the posters said, you always knew what you’d get. (well, except for that last one). Had a similar experience with another iconic New England Restaurant chain – Friendly’s – after passing restaurant after restaurant whose lots were filled with cars, (I always would check the parking lot, a full one usually meant you’d get good food) my partner pulled into a Friendly’s, saying you can always rely on Friendly for good food. We entered, and found a disheveled establishment, that must have been terribly short staffed, with food and knapkins strewn all around the floor under the booths, and at least three of the items we tried to order not available (they had run out), food we did manage to order was decent, though, but, we still remark whenever we’d see a Friendly’s — “there’s old reliable” – and even those may be gone, I’ve seen nearly every one in NY that I know of closed in the past 10 years or so. maybe I’ll do a search, perhaps New England Today had an article on them as well. Memories!!
I used to go to the one in Weymouth until it closed. The last HOJOs I ever went to was the one on I95 in Waterville,Maine. I was hitchhiking up the coast in the early 1970’s and I was trying to get a ride when I got caught in a downpour. I ran down to HoJos to get out of the rain but had the last burger and fries that I would ever eat at this great institution.
Re the piece of writing about Howard Johnson restaurants:
Anyone who ate an English muffin at Hojo’s ate a Mrs. Kavanagh’s English muffin. My Uncle Frank Kavanagh was a close friend of Howard Johnson when Johnson opened his first restaurant. The only English muffin that was sold at a Hojo’s from then on, at least till my Uncles Frank and Charlie sold the company in the 60’s, was a Mrs. Kavanagh’s English muffin. They were very popular, and I can attest to the fact that they were very good. In my opinion, better than the big- name ones today.
These two Kavanagh brothers established their business in 1905, using a family recipe from Ireland. They were later joined in the business by a third of my uncles, George, who was the inventor of their large “fork splitting” machine, used in the bakery production that was in Dorchester, MA.
There were ultimately hundreds of Howard Johnson’s restaurants and they were very popular. Mrs. Kavanagh’s basically had no other serious competition until much later in the 20th century.
When we drove from Milwaukee and Chicago to Sarasota, Florida we would stop at a Howard Johnson’s. On ski trips out West, we would do the same. It was pretty much Howard Johnson’s or Holiday Inn. The restaurants were a child’s fantasy…. the ice cream, the gum, hot dogs in a sleeve, the Howard Johnson’s toy trucks, the orange and blue colors, and everything had the HJ name on it. As a kid, I had some procedures performed at the Northwest hospital in Arlington Heights , Illinois that involved fasting. My mom told me if I did it, I would be rewarded with lunch at my choice of a restaurant… of course, I picked the Howard Johnson’s near Arlington Park Racetrack
Enjoyed the story which to me back to my very first restaurant job. It was the summer of 1969 and I worked at HoJos in Battle Creek, Michigan bussing tables and washing dishes until school started in the fall. Miss those blueberry corn toasties
Howard Johnson’s was always my favorite. We stayed in a Howard Johnson in Illinois on our wedding night in 1967. We had a dinner of fried clams–my very favorite. Only in Boston while visiting my son have I had better fried clams.
I always remember Ho Jo’s growing up in CT and then later when living in Maine. Fried Clam Strip night was looked forward to each week as we went for them often. First restaurant took my children too as so family orientated and appreciated. My one daughter always got their spaghetti and the other a grilled cheese and eventually, when older, the friend clam dinner too. Ice cream after was the treat of the visit to top it off! We went to the one in Milford, CT just over the Sikorsky Bridge and also on Route 1 in Milford and/or the one on Post Road in Fairfield. No matter where we were HJ’s frequent customers. When in Maine, the Bangor Howard Johnson’s was are go to restaurant! Shall miss the touch of America and memories of a really good home town restaurant. When friends and family came to visit they often stayed at the motel.
worked the counter for my college years at the hojo on rte 128 in newton. unfortunately just remember the rude customers, small tips and mean hostess, mrs vallis. ate the ice cream though, the best memory of my stay there. paul
I like Andy frequented the Chelmsford, Ma HOJO’s…..On one occasion I went after seeing Emerson, Lake, and Powell with two of my buds……Yes… No Carl Palmer…..but still a great show at the Wang Theater in Boston, MA. A VERY SMALL venue so a great place to see them….Mind you this is the mid 80’s. Remember a Small Venue!!!! So we head home to the Chumsdale Area and go to HoJo’s…..we all decided we were starving to death at this later time at night. So we get there and order all this food and chocolate Frappe’s and we are devouring all this food and downing the awesome Hojo Frappe’s. Then we all look at each other and just start laughing hysterically………The Wang theater was very smoke filled that evening and not cigarette smoke!!!! We did not partake but unfortunately we did not have a choice……We partook!!!!!! (Secondary High) We could not stop laughing once we realized and of course eating!!!!!! Hojo’s was never so good and desired!!!!!! Miss the old Hojo’s and my 10 yr. old self (70’s not 80’s) loved the buttered Hot Dog Roll Hot Dogs with the cool card board sleeve (only found at Hojo’s or Brigham’s (Burl. Mall) back then) with Chocolate milk…..Two Thumbs UP!!!! Also loved the one off of 128 in Newton because that meant I was with my Grams and we were most likely heading to the Cape. I also remember the Garage next to that Hojo’s and the Midget (Sorry for the NON PC 70’s terminology here) mechanic that fixed Our 75 Chevelle Malibu Classic Estate Wagon on the way to the cape. I Remember he showed us his car with extended pedals. What a super nice guy he was!!! Thanks Howard Johnson’s for the great memories!!!
Bonus: Someone mentioned the Chocolate (Milk&White) Lollipops ….I remember them but I will add the Entermann’s type rectangular box filled with lollipops that had the green and orange lettering and a believe a picture off a Hojo’s restaurant on it. They were always up high on a shelf if I remember right. Great candy selection as well and I will add the cool triangle game with the white Tee like pegs that you would remove one and then try to jump them until you could try to get to one left on the Triangle board (6″) and the place mats for the kids that you could connect the dots or color. Howard thought about the kids so they were not always saying they were bored. Good times!!!
Worked at Ho Jo’s in Westbrook, Ct (right off I95) ‘83-‘84. Waitresses for Friday Fish Fry and Sunday breakfast. Liked the atmosphere and staff, but hated the tips. Travelers along 95 figured they would never see you again so why bother tipping. In 84 moved to their sister restaurant Ground Round in Groton, Ct. closer to home, much better tips.
I just came across this article, I was googling to find a picture of the uniform I wore in the early 1960’s. I hope it’s not to late to publish “my HowardJohnson” memories. And I never called it HoJo, I thought that was rather demeaning!
I first worked at a HJ down in Homestead Fla from 60 to probably 63. Very good training for waitresses – not like now, no wonder the servers are so bad. Best experience there was when we received notice that a “Dame from England” was coming in. Finally after finding out more info, a lady who we never really did know her name, had cone to the US to help PresKennedy promote physical fitness. She was WALKING from Massachusetts (probably Boston?) to Key West! I hadn’t been on the floor but probably 2months. And of course the Head Waitress decided to give her to me as no one else had courage to wait in her. They all were Asked – I was Assigned!! Where did the out her – of course at a deuce facing the hallway to the bathrooms! I was mortified. In those days I hadn’t been around the English Accents much. After serving her, we got to talking and had a great time. Much to the Head Waitress dismay. The other memory from Homestead was I was now an old pro of probably 6 months. We had hired a new girl from “up North.” We pooled our tips in those days, something I grew to vehemently dislike!! This Waitress was SO lazy. If she took a table in her station she usually only got the order – WE had to do the rest. Don’t forget she was getting her share of OUR tips and not doing anything! Finally after a few weeks, HWaitress called a meeting and said no more pooling on Tips, we were all responsible for our own stations and money. Then she turns and says you have 2 stations every day this week. Hers and yours! I don’t know how to this day I managed but I did it. Money was great too. By the end of the week, she was gone!
My husband was in the AF stationed at Homestead AFB. We left there and was sent to
Hi Winnie, I am really surprise to see someone who remembers the Howard Johnson’s in Homestead, FL on US. 1 My Mom used to work there as a Cook, later to transfer to the Kendall store and became the Head waitress. She retired from the University Store after 40 yrs. I was raised eating the 3-D’s, Fried Fish Fri, Brownies, corn muffins, all the Ice cream I can imagine. etc. It will always be the best resturant in my book. I will share this with you, I hold one piece of treasure from the good old days. The Green apron with the log, three pockets.. That was my first job as a Kid… Those were home made products without all the preservatives, maybe. I just think because people back then were not couch potatoes, therefore could really enjoy the food. Thanks for sharing a moment on one of my best memories.
Even though there was a Howard Johnson’s in Brunswick, Maine, near where I grew up, we never went there. My first HJ experience was in 1977 (or so) when I was in the Coast Guard. Our ship was stationed in Portland, but was in Boston for repairs. Several of us had apartments in Portland, so if we had weekend liberty we’d drive back to Portland Friday night, returning to Boston early Monday morning. In those days there was a Howard Johnson’s on the Maine Turnpike near Kennebunk. We’d always stop for coffee and a piece of pie before finishing our trip. Not exactly the most healthy breakfast but the pie and coffee hit the spot for an early morning treat!
By any chance were you on the cutter Duane? My brother in law and a couple of friends were about that time?
I am from Maine. In the 70s and 80s my family drove to and from Massachusetts a lot to visit family. I don’t recall a HJ on the Maine Turnpike, but I do remember there was one right over the state line at the Portsmouth, NH rotary. I stayed there with my mom after our car broke down on the evening of December 8, 1980. I was secretly pleased because that meant I would be able to watch the second half of the Patriots game on MNF. That was the same night that Howard Cosell informed much of the nation that John Lennon had been shot and killed.
I remember eating at a HoJo’s on our first wedding anniversary. My hubby (now of 58 years) was in Officer’s School at Quantico, VA. I remember being ill…bad cold & felt miserable. Still we wanted to celebrate in some fashion & and then share the topping of our wedding cake. We didn’t have a lot of extra money but knew we’d get a nice meal at reasonable price at HoJo’s. I believe our closest restaurant was in Manasses, VA so off we went. We enjoyed our meal (but wish I had felt better). Ahh, young love ❤️
As a teenager I lived just a 5-minute walk from my local Howard Johnson restaurant. I loved the clam roll and ordered them very often (of course, that was before I had ever experienced such a thing as a whole belly clam, which changed my life). I was glad to see someone mention the 3D burger, which was my favorite burger ever. I am convinced to this day that McDonald’s ripped off the 3D burger and called it the Big Mac. In any event, I really miss Howard Johnson’s and was incredibly sad to see them go out of business.
There is no doubt 3D/Big mc same thing. Jacq Pippin worked for HJ in both the HOJO and Red Coach divisions!
We spent vacation in Rainbow Lake near Saranac Lake.on Friday night we would ride to Lake Placid (a short ride) and order the fish fry. Our two young sons couldn’t get enough mac and cheese. If we were lucky, we got a table at the back window and watched the waterfall. The boys loved the old Ho Jo car that was parked in front of the restaurant. We were very sad when it closed.
Yes….in fact, we knew Howard Johnson personally. Before moving to Cape Cod, my father had his own business in Wollaston/Quincy, MA. Howard‘s first restaurant was a couple of blocks away. We used to go there for ice cream and knowing my dad, I’m sure he would go there during the day for a coffee break. Howard was so impressed with my dad…he wanted him to come and work for him as his business manager. My dad turned down the offer. He wanted his own business and be his own boss. Shortly after that we moved to Cape Cod where he had a very successful business….Ray’s Auto Electric Service. We continued eating at Howard Johnson restaurants for years. In fact, that’s where David and I had our first meal together as a married couple on Aug, 1st, 1970…50 years ago….at Howard Johnsons on the Mass Pike in Springfield. I had the meat loaf dinner. The last standing Howard Johnson is in Lake George….about 45 miles north of us. Hmmm…wonder where we would be if Dad had taken the job….the road not taken.
My grandmother worked for Howard Johnson for 35 years – the man, as well as the company. She started as his bookkeeper, and eventually was in charge of the payroll department. Every day, she would walk from her home on Newbury Ave. in North Quincy to the offices in Wollaston. I imagine sometimes my grandfather drove her, or she got a ride with a friend. HoJo’s was always a mark of quality, whether it was the ice cream, the delicious clam rolls, or the motels with the orange roof and the swimming pool. It was an essential part of my childhood. I’ll miss it.
My father retired as purchasing manager for Howard Johnson. He started out as Mr. Johnson’s paper boy when dad lived on Pine Street in Walleston around the corner from Mr. Johnson. After WW11 dad came to Pa to open up the Pennsylvania turnpike. His first office was upstairs at Midway. My mother came from Sommerset to train the waitresses and soooo. Years and years of life around Howard Johnson’s. His last position was one of the four buyers for H.J.. in Braintree, Mass. The stories and history I know.
I got married to my High School sweetheart the day before I was supposed to leave for Camp Pendleton, CA, and on to Vietnam from there. My soon to be in-laws drove us from Worcester, MA to Weldon, NC for the impromptu occasion. Five hours after arriving in NC, the 3-day waiting period had been waived, blood samples analyzed, physicals performed, and the nuptials were completed by Chief Magistrate L.C. Barrow, a legless man in a wheelchair. His daughter bore witness to the event, and in ten minutes we were on our way back to New England. While still in NC, my new Father-in-law pulled into a HoJo’s on side of I-95, and ordered four spaghetti and meatball dinners. I had never cared for spaghetti, but that was our sole wedding day meal.
I later got to like spaghetti, served in the mess halls during my 6 years in the Marine Corps.
My most memorable experiences of Howard Johnson’s was truly stopping …en route from upstate New York, a family of 5, driving to Daytona Beach Florida – comfortably crammed into a tan Fairlane 500 …somewhere in South Carolina…and getting a Pecan Roll as a treat for the long ride ahead. Highways were 2 lanes back then…thinking, 1963-64…
It was a familiar face back in the day but sadly we all grew up and have health problems from these foods, I for one cannot eat what they serve as fast food today, as I am but a statistic of 1 out of 3 babyboomer’s with diabetes.
My family, with the exception of me, were born and raised in Maine. My dad was relocated to North Louisiana in 1940, with Advance Bag & Paper Company. Most every summer, after I got a little older, we would make a trip back up “home”. I remember stopping at many Howard Johnson’s Restaurants on our way up and back home. The restaurants were always so busy and had great ice cream. If I am remembering correctly, the restaurants along the Pennsylvania Turnpike were in the middle, between the lanes of traffic. That was so neat!
My last memory of dining at a HoJo’s restaurant has a bittersweet memory attached. My step-mother had died in 1993 and my wife and I flew from OH to Boston to go to NH and attend the funeral. We met up with my dad at the Howard Johnson’s Motel and restaurant just outside of Nashua, NH. The first meal there with my wife and Dad I had – the clam strips on a hot dog bun. I had so missed this wonderful treat. I finally got my wife to take a bite, but she just smiled and said “No, you enjoy it”:. She is a Southern woman from GA and I think the idea of fried clam strips was just not for her. ANyway, we stayed a coupole of nights and I enjoyed breakfast in the mornings with Dad. We took him back to his place in RI and eventually left for home in OH. I never saw my dad again as he died in 1994. I could not get myself to eat at HoJo’s because of missing him so much when we attended his funeral in NH. I sure wish I could once more sit over coffee at the HoJo’s counter and talk to my Dad.
I know how you feel. I am from Maine, and we moved to Rhode Island back in the early 1970es. I was one of 6 boys ( second to the youngest) All of our family was still in Maine and we would go up once a month, we would all pack up the station wagon and our dog and head for Maine. We would always stop on the Main turnpike at Howard Johnsons. My parents would get fried clams and all of us kids would always have hot dogs with fries. On the way home we would stop and have the same thing, we loved it. Yes,, The GOOD OLD DAY’S..
That was “our” Hojo’s. Just a great place for a young family. My kids knew all the staff. Different days. It’s a Porsche dealership now…
Man I miss those clams. I can remember when I was a child, one of the family traditions at birthdays was to be asked where I wanted to go out and eat. I would always give my parents that evil little “Duh” look. It was HoJo’s of course, on Wed or Friday, when they were serving all you can eat clam strips! To this day, no one can make a clam strip like HoJo’s did. It is truly one of those nostalgic moments every time I think back about how much pleasure I received from simply stuffing myself with clams.
I used to work for Paul Nicholson He was the President of Interstate Construction who GC’d all the HOJO’s.
I worked at Howard Johnsons in Naples Florida back in the early 70’s. Everyone loved those all you can eat clams! I worked at the counter scooping out more icecream & making more milkshakes than I can remember. I still remember that blue & white uniform with the little apron! Memories…
There’s one in Lake George, New York…but I guess that’s not New England….but close.
That one is still open (on occasion – seems to be no pattern to it), but most who have been report that it is nothing like the old locations. So it’s still there in name, but not so much actually what most would remember.
They should have turned the last HoJo’s into a museum.
That was a GREAT IDEA…wished they did do that
Loved Mels memory, and especially all of the comments the story elicited. Thank you Yankee!
I worked at the one in Falmouth, Ma in the summer of ‘69. I was here with six college friends all looking for summer employment and since i was not 21 and could not serve liquor, I ended up working at Howard Johnson’s. I can still remember being required to wear those mid-calf length turquoise and white uniforms with ittle triangular aprons in what was the heyday of mini-skirts. We had to wear white waitress shoes and hairnets if we had long hair. Wish I’d taken a photo back in ‘69 of how we looked in those uniforms. One night was “all you can eat’ fish fry and one night was “all you can eat” spaghetti….and families would pack in there and the kids would order about 3 cokes each, so the waitresses really hustled, for very little in tips on those family nights. The ice cream counter was very popular and I had met my eventual husband early that summer and he would come in and order an ice cream cone on the nights I was working. Definitely a taste of old Cape Cod on multiple levels.
I was a fan of HJ’s fried clams among other things for years and years. Stopped at one HJ’s in NY state (will not name town) about the time they were all closing all over the country, just to have my beloved fried clams. They were grey colored, and tasted horrible. I was so dismayed I just paid (I know I shouldn’t have!) and left. I couldn’t stand that one of my favorite foods had sunk so low, and still occasionally drive past where the restaurant was located and remember that terrible meal. Fortunately, I still remember many many pleasurable meals at HJ’s from many years before.
In 1975 I worked as a chamber maid at the Howard Johnsons motel off I-95 in Old Saybrook, CT. Attached was the restaurant. It was there that I ran into the late, great comedian Jerry Lewis and actually exchanged a few woods with him as he stepped from the elevator, letting the door close on him. Always going for the laugh. Spent some of my hard earned ( not $15.00 an hour) money having lunch at the restaurant. Then again a burger was probably only a couple bucks!
Remember family vacations staying at Howard Johnson motels. Being that we were kids and as such picky eaters, the Howard Johnson got dog on the grilled buttered bun was acceptable to us, and the parents were happy. The past is certainly gone, I fear
Spent the first years of my life in Westerly, RI. On occasion my parents would take their 4 children to the Howard Johnson’s across from what is now Mystic Village in CT. I still remember the orange roof and weathervane. We usually went for ice cream but probably for supper when my parents could afford it. I remember going there after my First Communion Day in 1967 or 1968 for breakfast.
While I attended Lenoir Rhyne College for 1 semester I worked behind the Counter at the Hickory, NC Howard Johnson Restaurant in 1961 or 1962. The butter pecan and pistachio ice cream were my favorite flavors. The frankfurters and the clam strips were great also.. Reverend Billy Graham and his family often stopped when traveling from Black Mountain to Charlotte. I had the honor of making chocolate milkshakes for the Graham family on several occasions. They got extra chocolate ice cream and a little less milk. Verna was the cook. Nice memories.
We would cut class and pile into a friends car to go over to the one on 128/Lexington in the early 80’s and being open 24 hrs, after a dj gig or a house party. Man, weren’t those simpler days. ????
HoJo’s everywhere! But right in our hometown of Darien, CT. Lasted for a long time (2000?) until Whole Foods came in and redeveloped. Love the pics of the inside….same everywhere. Fried clams and black rasberry for desert… ahh, HoJo’s!!! Sad for its demise..
Loved all the HO-JO…my wife’s joke was..28 FLAVORSS OF ICE CREAM…ONE FLAVOR OF FOOD…Wish the Wells , Maine one was still here, wish I were 40 again too!!
I don’t know why I am logged in as my daughter (who has no memories of Howard Johnson’s) but I do, even as a Texan! There was a HoJo’s in Dallas on the edge of Highland Park, where I grew up, and I have fond memories of going there with my mother and sister when my dad was out of town. I always got the frankfort in the delicious square buttered roll, and remember that it came with brown mustard instead of the usual yellow French’s. Of course dessert was peppermint stick ice-cream with hot fudge! My sister and I would recite the whole “Simple Simon” poem while waiting for our order and looking at the silhouette drawings of Simple Simon and the Pieman. It closed years ago, and I often wish that in later years, when our family began going to Cape Cod in the summer, we would have stopped at various HoJo’s while there – it is one of those places that we assumed would always be there. My kids have the same feeling towards Friendly’s, where we would stop on our way to the Cape from Logan – sorry to hear that they are dwindling as well. Ah, the taste memories of our past!
Lucy Washburne – Dallas, Texas
Our Howard Johnson’s was in Beverly, MA on Route 128N. We’d drive to HoJo’s as a treat, boy I loved those clam strips, the Mac & Cheese, and all of the ice cream flavors. Great memories!
As a child in the 60s, my grandparents who raised me in Virginia took me to see my other grandmother in Ohio. My best memories of those trips were the stops at Stuckey’s for pecan logs and HoJo’s for breakfasts of blueberry pancakes. I always saved the orange plastic toothpick from the stack of pancakes as a souvenir! Simple pleasures…..
A bit of trivia here: There would have been no Howard Johnson’s if it hadn’t been for playwright Eugene O’Neil. The first HJ was in Worcester, Massachusetts in the 1930’s. Like most businesses the restaurant with the curious orange colored roof was struggling to stay afloat, when along came a summer stock company performing O’Neill’s Strange Interlude in a nearby theatre. The play was one of several O’Neill plays that was quite long. During the dinner break, the theatre patrons would eat at Howard Johnson’s and the restaurant survived.
Growing up as a kid in NJ during the 60’s, it was a rare treat to go out to eat….unlike today, when parents take their kids to restaurants often several times a week. There were no Howard Johnson’s near where I lived. Instead, we had the very popular Stewart’s (known for their root beer, as well as hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings). But I do have a special memory of coming home from a day trip to Lake Hopatcong Amusement Park (which sadly has also closed) and stopping at a Howard Johnson’s. I was with four other elementary school classmates, along with one’s mother (she drove us to and from Lake Hopatcong). I loved the decor and atmosphere, as well as the food. When the waitress brought the check, I remember asking my classmate’s mother how much money I owed (I didn’t expect her to pay for all of us). She said, “don’t worry hon, this is my treat”. Howard Johnson’s was the end of a perfect day trip. Great memories from a much simpler time!
Howard Johnson’s was where one went to get fried clams. It was my grandmother who really introduced me to fried clams. On the evening after we were married in 1967, my husband and I stayed at a Howard Johnson’s and had supper there. Of course I had fried clams! This was in Iowa–at that time, seafood was not easily found. Yum! Fried clams!
I have lived in Johnston Rhode Island all my life. There used to be a HoJos on the corner of Rt 5 and 6. I remember going there for a late night snack in the early 80s. My snack of choice was the buttered and grilled English muffin. You got 3 halves in an order and the butter just pooled in the muffin. So good! Their macaroni and cheese was to die for as were the corn muffins. I can still remember the taste.
I remember! I used to hop in after working 2nd shift at Kenneys Mfg. on Jefferson Blvd, in Warwick…….Good times great food
Love rereading this article every year and the comments. So much so I ordered the book, A History of Howard Johnson’s: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco part of the (American Palate) series!
Thank you for the trip down memory lane! I grew up in Simsbury, CT in the 50’s and 60’s. When we visited my grandparents in Albany, NY, we would drive up Route 10 to Massachusetts to the Mass Pike to head west. There was a HoJo’s near the entrance and we always stop for dinner and I always got the fried clams. This was where my love of clams strips began!
Wonderful stories. Brings back so memories of my 1960s. Clam strips and strawberry shortcake!!
My dad was a Howard Johnson manager in a couple different Montgomery County, PA locations in the 60’s & 70’s and my fondest memory was going to the establishment on Christmas (after opening presents), and we got to go behind the counter and make our own ice cream cone, as that was the only day HJ was closed.
It goes to show how HoJo is fondly remembered, I grew up in Dorchester and we would walk to Teanean Beach. There was a HoJo on Morrisary Blvd. My sister Dorothy worked there in between semesters while attending college. She would give us double scoops of ice cream and charge us for one scoop only
What I miss the most are the chicken croquettes
I remember many a night, or early morning, in the mid-70’s visiting HJ’s for fried clams after a night out with friends. Someone once told me that only a New Englander would gladly eat fried clams after a night of drinking!
I’ve actually been to this HoJo’s in Bangor. They had stiff competition from Dysart’s which is only a mile away.
My fondest memory is of the HoJo’s in Nashua, NH, located off the Everett Turnpike. Every Sunday I met friends there for breakfast and bloody Marys. That’s something unique to HoJo’s. You could get food and liquor at breakfast!
1966…got transfered to Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA from NH. Enroute, family and I stayed and ate
at HoJos accross the country ( kids ate free). Low and behold Fairfield had a HoJo. Sunday Chicken Dinners & Friday fish dinners for us. So sad when it closed.
Growing up my family never ate out or stayed in hotels, so I had no experience with any HoJo, but when I was in college and dating in Columbia, SC, I would often go out to eat at their restaurant in town. The food was so good but the ice cream, chocolate chip, was the BEST! There is nothing like it today. The chips were not like the chips you buy for baking, but finely shredded slivers of semi-sweet chocolate that literally melted in your mouth. Every bite had the chocolate flavor embedded in the ice cream. Pure deliciousness!