Beloved Arby's hat sign saved; a survivor of the old Times Square closes; classic Indian restaurant in Queens moves; historic ice-cream stand melts into memory | Rolando's Roadside Roundup
Plus, Burger Kings are closing, Nordstrom Rack looks to the 1970s for design inspo and over two dozen more headlines from the American roadside
A couple of weeks ago, I brought you the news that an Arby’s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was closing, a location that opened in 1968 and still retained its original 10-gallon-hat sign.
It was a heartbreaker: The hat was in excellent condition and had recently been restored. Well, as many of my kind followers did for me through my Instagram inbox, I'm happy to report that the sign has been saved.
The hat was carefully taken down in three parts and ended up in the hands of the Winston Cup Museum, about a 10-minute drive from the 10-gallon hat’s home of almost 55 years.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Christy Cox Spencer of the Winston Cup Museum “has acquired the sign and plans to put it up near the museum in the near future.”
The photographer who took the photos, Walt Unks, is on Instagram and posted photos of the removal process, and they can be seen below or at the link above.
Spencer told the paper that it would take some time to prepare the sign for installation on Ninth Street, but the big hat will once again shine for all. Acknowledging that its presence might confuse passersby about the existence of an Arby’s — or lack thereof — Spencer said the museum would install a plaque to explain why the sign is there, and the roast-beef sandwiches are not.
The article also taught me something wonderful I did not know about Winston-Salem: The city cares about its old signs and has changed the law to accommodate those that still exist.
In 2007, the Arby’s sign was about to find itself violating restrictive city sign regulations. A special provision for historic signs was created to ensure the Arby’s sign did not have to come down.
“That was the sign we were looking at,” Michelle McCullough, Winston-Salem’s historic resources officer, told the newspaper. “We said that was a sign we wanted to keep. It is that iconic roadside architecture, kind of like our Shell station,” a photograph of which I am sharing below from my visit in 2021.
And read this!!
McCullough said it is time to start looking at signs like the one at Arby’s as public art.
“They are becoming art pieces,” she said. “They are part of our community.”
If only more communities felt this about their roadside heritage!
The article mentions two other signs in Winston-Salem that were protected under the historic-signs provision: the Campus Gas and Mr. Barbecue signs, the latter of which I photographed during another visit in 2019.
As I learn more about the plans for the Arby’s sign, I’ll alert you in my newsletter, so make sure you sign up if you haven’t done so yet.
The Jackson Diner, a pioneering Indian restaurant in Queens, New York, moves for the second time in its 40-year history
When the Jackson Diner opened in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1983, it quickly became a destination for fine Indian food in a neighborhood with a growing Southeast Asian population.
Well, open is perhaps an imprecise word. The diner had already been there for a long while — a traditional neighborhood greasy spoon — until Gian Saini bought it and transitioned the cuisine to Indian from the usual diner fare. He kept the word “diner” because, in his words to the New York Daily News in 1997, he “didn’t want to change everything.”
In 1987, Arthur Schwartz in The News described it as a “boxcar room by the bus stop,” an “oppression of marbleized aqua Formica.” But, he stated, it was dishing out the best Indian food in New York City.
In 1998, the Jackson Diner opened in its next location, a much larger space with a buffet that had, until the year before, been home to a Woolworth’s and, before that, an M.H. Lamston, both long-gone five-and-dimes.
The diner has moved again, to a smaller space just across the street here on 74th Street.
In size, if not in spirit, the new location harkens back to the original one, the old diner by the bus stop.
I want to do a deeper dive into the history of the Jackson Diner, and the circumstances around this move, and I will share that here in due course, but I felt compelled to get the news out about the move right away.
Regardless, I’m happy the diner is still in the neighborhood, still on 74th Street and still dishing out Indian food that I love. Its original location, back in 1993, was where I first tasted Indian food, and I can now say I’ve dined at all three iterations of this diner.
Starlite Deli closes in Times Square, along with the best old-school sign left around there
I was sad to say farewell to the Starlite Deli in Times Square. Its longtime operator, Min Kim, decided to retire, and the shop disappeared along with him.
Mr. K, as he is known, has been running the Starlite since 1984, and most press accounts have stated that the deli, a favorite in the Theater District, was only 39 years old.
Shaving a few years off one’s age is a longstanding tradition in the theater business, I suppose!
It may be 39 years since Mr. K took the helm and made the Starlite his own, but the deli, at least in name, has been here for much longer.
Here’s a gem from the Retrologist archive that gives you some flavor of the Starlite of yore, a curious tale that I’d imagine has turned up in a law class or two:
It was 1975, and the Times Square you saw depicted in “Taxi Driver” was thriving. That world has largely vanished, but one shop that is still shining is the Starlite Deli, and this story explains one of the reasons why.
In March of that year, New York learned that one of the deli’s secrets to survival was a clause in its lease. No competing fast-food shop could open in the same building, the clause assured. When Blimpie, the once-vibrant chain of sandwich shops, tried to land at the base of the Paramount Building, right next door to Starlite, the old-school deli took Blimpie and the landlord to court.
Starlite insisted there was no difference in their respective offerings -- sure, Blimpie sold items like Italian heros and Starlite served delicatessen-style sandwiches like corned beef on rye. But Blimpie, Starlite insisted, was ultimately in the same line of business. They sold sandwiches and served them fast.
Blimpie, however, insisted its sandwiches did not appeal “to the same taste” -- and even had a Perry Mason moment in court when it presented a dramatic piece of evidence -- its menu.
A State Supreme Court justice sided with Star Lite, saying that as far as John Q. Public was concerned, there was no difference in the menus. A sandwich is a sandwich.
It took Justice Hyman Korn 2,500 words to make that point, granting Starlite a “drastic remedy,” a temporary order to keep Blimpie at bay.
“The average New Yorker would quickly recognize both as fast-food places,” Korn wrote, according to the New York Times.
The columnist Nancy Q. Keefe later opined: “The world needs both delicatessen stores and hero shops, as it needs both short stories and novels. If it can’t distinguish between the one and the other, the reason is that mind and taste have become numbed and careless from the steady diet of prepackaged pap from TV dinners and TV.”
Ouch! By the way, a 1985 article mentions a Blimpie on West 44th Street, but I couldn’t immediately determine if it finally moved in here.
Still, what a neat, forgotten story. I took this photo a decade ago, hard to do now because the building is covered in scaffolding.
That scaffolding only recently came off, only for the Starlite to close. (Edit: I just learned it was recently removed.) I hope the sign is salvaged and remains in public view, ideally in the neighborhood where it long shined.
Blimpie, by the way, has lost a lot of air over the years, a decline in locations bemoaned by many. Here’s one you can still visit in Downtown Brooklyn, as photographed by me in 2020. (The awning has since changed to a green background.)
Burger King is closing hundreds of restaurants this year even as the “Reclaim the Flame” retro-flavored campaign appears to boost sales
Last week, I shared news of the closure of a 1970s-era Burger King in Queens, New York. (See post below.) Indeed, I have been noticing several BK closures of late, and the company confirmed last week that between 300 and 400 stores — out of 7,000 in the United States — will close before the end of 2023.
The King has been knee-capped by several factors, from the pandemic to the bankruptcies of two of its biggest franchise networks to increasingly aggressive competition in the fast-food space.
But fear not, subjects of the King. Yearly closures are usually in the low hundreds and new locations keep opening. Same-store sales are up 8.7% year over year, and many of the shops closing were “low-volume” units, explains Restaurant Dive. The jump in sales has been linked to new promotional efforts that have refreshed the classic “Have It Your Way” campaign, with the retro logo at the heart of that.
BK is upgrading existing stores, too, as part of its “Royal Reset” program, though we all know how those upgrades mean stripping nostalgic flavor from legacy stores. Indeed, I shared one undergoing that kind of upgrade in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. (See top photo.) And they better not mess with the Hawthorne and Cabazon, California, stores, also shown here. (They surely will, of course.)
And here’s another one, in Astoria Queens, that recently was renovated and received the new retro logo, which now towers over the area and can be seen from the Grand Central Parkway. I noticed it the same day I wrote about the closure of the Jackson Heights store.
The fast-food gods, they give, and they take!
After 90 summers, Hoyer’s, a Rockland County ice cream stand, is finished
There was concern that Hoyer’s, in West Haverstraw, New York, was not waking up from its seasonal slumber when the ice cream stand did not open up around Easter.
The mayor of the town tried to ease concerns, telling the Journal News that the owners of the shop could be quirky.
But alas, the rumors were true and Hoyer’s is not coming back, its fate confirmed by a message left on its voicemail.
The shop dates to 1933, but the Journal News reports it was not incorporated until 1968. It has reportedly been here since 1950. I have stopped here a few times and snapped these photos about a decade ago. The place is frozen in time, so if you’d like to do a drive-by for some snaps, now is the time.
But, hey, you never know. Somebody could always scoop it up and reopen it. It’s happened before when things have looked bleak, but in today’s environment, I wouldn’t bet on such a fortuitous outcome.
Notes From the Road
Nordstrom Rack has a new logo, a throwback to its 1970s look. The chain joins retailers like Pizza Hut and Burger King, whose throwback logo and design scheme was the work of JKR, the same firm that just tweaked Nordstrom Rack’s look. Explains Print: “JKR looked to the logo Nordstrom Rack used in the ’70s and ’80s to prove yet again how nostalgic design can be modernized. The updated identity system also features a new color palette with vibrant blue hues that give the branding a confident look. The resulting system feels utterly refreshing for beautifully fusing contemporary elements into classic design.” [Footwear News] [Print Mag]
And more from Print Mag on the neon-inspired redesign for Landmark Theatres.
The Kellogg’s Diner, a treasure of old-school Brooklyn, has filed for bankruptcy. [Brooklyn Paper]
After 58 years, the Cherry Hill Diner on Route 38 in New Jersey is no more. It will be demolished to make way for a car wash. [NJ.com]
Did you know that New Jersey is home to one of the oldest rodeos in America? The new season at Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, N.J. begins on Saturday, May 27. It is the longest continuing weekly rodeo in America, missing only six Saturdays, in the early days of the pandemic, since 1955. I swung by during one of those quiet days in 2020, and shot this photo of the cowboy Muffler Man who has long greeted visitors. [New York Times]
A bill in the Florida Legislature that preservationists feared could have threatened the Art Deco structures of South Beach has been pulled — for now. [WSVN]
“In Minnesota, historic designation doesn't always stop wrecking ball,” reports the Star Tribune. It’s sadly true everywhere.
Good news for a change! The sign is shining bright as Hutchens BBQ in Benton, Kentucky, has reopened after sustaining severe damage during a storm back in March. [Paducah Sun]
And more good news! The century-old Roosevelt Tamale Parlor in San Francisco has reopened with a new name, but they’re keeping — and restoring — the old neon sign. Win win! [ SFist]
It’s right down the street from another San Francisco classic — St. Francis Fountain — and across the street from Pop’s Bar. Here are my photos from a visit in February 2020:
St. Francis Fountain — just wonderful, no? (Rolando Pujol) 
What a fabulous block! (Rolando Pujol) And my picture of Pop’s, St. Francis and Roosevelt Tamale in the background. I neglected to get a close-up of the tamale shop, a mistake I will happily have a chance to correct on my next trip to San Francisco.
A visit to Pocatello, Idaho, which takes pride in its neon sign. [KIRO Newsradio]
I love Edinburgh, Scotland, and they’ve made a vintage-sign find there I wish I could easily photograph. [Edinburgh Live]
This neon sign in British Columbia could be on the move. [Tri-City News]
A historic cafe in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, faces eviction after 51 years. Learn more about the saga of Suehiro Cafe, located in one of only three Japantowns left in the United States. (The others are in San Francisco and San Jose) [LA Eater]
Manuel’s Tavern, an Atlanta staple since 1956, is raising prices because of inflation. [WSB]
Landmarks Illinois has revealed its 2023 list of most endangered structures. [Journal Star]
The Schuyler Restaurant and Pub in Marshall, Michigan, has returned to its pre-pandemic hours. Nearby is another remarkable treasure — the Hemmingtsen Drug Store with its fabulous Rexall signage. I really want to visit!
Via Buzzfeed: “25 Fascinating, But Low-Key Trippy Images From McDonald's That I Can't Get Out Of My Brain” — I could not improve on that headline.
Fresh Water launched a series on the ghost signs of Cleveland. There really are such beauties here. Check it out.
A Jersey Shore landmark, the Ram’s Head Inn has been saved from demolition with just days to spare. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
The Catskills, one of my favorite places, gets some love in the New York Times, with profiles of six resorts that are “targeting a new generation of visitors with organized “experiences,” nostalgic style elements and serious cocktails.”
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The Pop's sign was restored last year.
The Woodstown cowboy never had a muffler. Despite the name "Muffler Man" (coined by RoadsideAmerica.com), the original Paul Bunyan statues held axes. Only a few of these International Fiberglass statues were built with or held mufflers later on.