The owner of the Midpoint Cafe and Gift Shop, a Route 66 landmark in Adrian, Texas, has put the property up for sale again because of health issues.
Dennis Purschwitz wrote Wednesday night on Facebook:
Although I am doing better health wise than this time last year, I still have further to go. I realize that I must slow down in order to fully recover and running the cafe and gift shop does not allow me to do so. Therefore, we would like to sell the business so that I can put money back into our savings. Due to my surgery late last summer, my medical insurance basically paid little to nothing of those medical bills and hospital stay. Luckily, we were able to pay the bills by draining our savings, so I would like to replace those funds.
If you have any questions concerning this fantastic opportunity to own a landmark business on Historic Route 66, please contact me directly here on Facebook or at the contact information in the attached “For Sale” sign picture.
He can be reached at (615) 330-8118 or midpointcafe@bellsouth.net.
When asked about a price, he declined to give one. He said the price would depend on what the buyer wants retained in the restaurant and / or gift shop.
Purschwitz said the restaurant and gift shop would keep its normal hours in the meantime. Lunch will be available only Fridays and Saturdays, but the restaurant’s famous pies would be available daily.
He also said he is continuing construction on the restaurant’s pie-making kitchen, with an anticipated completion of less than a month.
Purschwitz also put the Midpoint up for sale last fall because of health reasons but took it off the market in the spring once tourism season rolled around.
Purschwitz didn’t make big changes to the Midpoint Cafe menu after he bought it in March 2012. Most of the alterations were mildly cosmetic or energy-efficiency upgrades.
But one significant change was to beef up the “Midpoint of Route 66” marker across the road from the restaurant. Once a simple sign that denoted the 1,139 miles to Chicago or Santa Monica, it now is a landscaped spot with flags, a windmill, a brick surface and other features that make it nicer-looking and better for photo opportunities.
Predecessor Fran Houser owned the cafe for more than 20 years. The Midpoint, formerly known as Jesse’s Cafe, attracted notice for its small-town hospitality and what then were known as “ugly crust pies.” Houser herself gained fame when she served as an inspiration to the Flo character in the original Disney-Pixar “Cars” movie in 2006.
(Image of the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas, by JymPolranges via Flickr)