A new version of Red’s Giant Hamburg opens Monday in Springfield, Missouri, decades after the original on Route 66 closed.
KY3-TV in Springfield posted a story over the weekend:
The owner says he’s been planning this restaurant for 25 years. Finding the right location and items to put inside the eatery took a lot of hard work, but it’s about to pay off as his dream comes true when the doors open.
“You’ll sit here and dine. We have the old drive-in speakers installed at each booth and sound in the ceiling,” said owner David Campbell.
“I’m just excited, this place is just going to jump.”
The restaurant will feature more than 700 pictures of Route 66 and Red’s life. It also has a replica of the original Giant Hamburg sign out front.
Here’s the video segment:
Here’s another story from KOLR-TV, also in Springfield:
Back in 1997, when the founder passed away, the original Red’s was torn down. Red’s wife, Julia, then sold the rights to just about everything the founder once had to Campbell and his partners.
Campbell says, while the new Red’s will look a little different, he’s determined to keep the legacy he purchased alive.
“People have said, ‘This looks nothing like the original Reds.’ Well, it’s the year 2019 too. It was just impossible to replicate that and do what we want,” Campbell told reporters. “But I guarantee you, Red and Julia are going to be proud of this looking down. We’ve got the recipes. The food is going to be as close as we can get it to what they put out and served. This was theirs. We’re just carrying the name on for them.”
And here’s the video:
A second video from the station:
Thanks to a reader two years ago, we first reported on the idea by Campbell to resurrect Red’s.
The new site will be 2301 W. Sunshine St. (map here) on Springfield’s south side. That’s about two miles south of the nearest Route 66 alignment, College Street. Campbell said he chose that site because it has more traffic.
Red and Julia Chaney opened Red’s Giant Hamburg along U.S. 66 in Springfield in 1947 at a former gas station. The cafe was supposed to be called Red’s Giant Hamburger, but Red erred on the sign’s dimensions, and it could accommodate only “Hamburg.”
Red’s was known for using magnets to supposedly enhance the flavor of the restaurant’s burgers and homemade root beer. They used beef from their cattle farm, and Red sometimes danced with the customers. Red’s probably best-known as reputedly the site of the first drive-through window, although this never has been confirmed.
The best way to get a feeling of what the original restaurant was like is through a 1982 music video — “Red’s” by The Morells, an acclaimed local band led by future record producer Lou Whitney.
The restaurant closed in 1984 after the Chaneys retired. Red died in 1997; Julia died in 2006. The building was torn down not long after Red’s death.
Nearly 30 years after Red’s Giant Hamburg closed for good, the city paid tribute to the restaurant’s sign by erecting a replica at Route 66 Roadside Park, west of downtown on Route 66.
UPDATE 8/5/2019: The Springfield News-Leader published a story about the opening of the new Red’s Giant Hamburg:
Diners can fill up on a Sooper Redburg topped with bacon and ham. The sandwich is intended to mimic Chaney’s ground-beef mix as closely as today’s health codes will allow — but now diners can also get a gluten-free vegan burger, if they want.
Campbell said he and Iott own Julia Chaney’s original hamburger press and had 20 replicas made to ensure the new Redburgs are made the same way as the old ones.
Chaney had the habit of brewing his own root beer with licorice and sassafras, but Campbell said that wouldn’t fly under today’s brewing regulations, so Springfield Brewing Company provides the root beer that flows from the new Red’s tap. […]
The soundtrack to the place is rockabilly. Campbell said proudly that he and Iott even own the rights to the classic “Red’s” song by celebrated local band the Morells.
(Screen-capture image from KOLR video of the new Red’s Giant Hamburg in south Springfield, Missouri)