The Steak ‘n Shake at St. Louis Street and National Avenue in Springfield, Mo., may soon be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reports the Springfield News-Leader.
This particular franchise was built in 1962, and its owner, Gary Leonard, has made it a point to keep the retro-looking restaurant looking spiffy. The article says it’s one of two surviving restaurants with the standard design from the 1950s and ’60s. The rest of them have either been altered or razed.
Original features in the downtown structure include:
– The main building, with a poured concrete floor, porcelain exterior wall panels and plate glass windows on glazed tile footings.
– The rooftop and street-side neon signs, and the painted wooden sign overlooking the parking lot’s southern end.
– The curb service window and counter.
– The kitchen cook line, stainless steel kitchen counters and tile kitchen floor.
– The original wood door on the rear entrance.
The story includes comments from Tommy Pike, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, and several excellent photos.
Alas, the original Steak ‘n Shake in Normal, Ill., was razed about 10 years ago and replaced with a pizza parlor. I always thought it was a shame that the chain didn’t see fit to keep that one.
I grew up near Decatur, Ill., and there were several Steak ‘n Shakes there. I thought at the time it was cool that a restaurant that started in 1934 was still going. Still do. At one point in the late 1970s, the whole chain was in jeopardy. But it turned around in the 1990s, and now it’s seeing growth. In fact, Steak ‘n Shake opened its first Tulsa location about a year ago.
And, yep, the shakes and steakburgers are still as good as I remember them 30 years ago.
UPDATE: Ace Jackalope, celebrating the news about the Steak ‘n Shake’s National Register nomination, has posted his collection of photographs of the restaurant.