Jungle Jim’s Cafe on north side of Springfield closes permanently

The auto racing-themed Jungle Jim’s Cafe on the north side of Springfield, Illinois, closed its doors shortly after New Year’s Day.

The Facebook account for the restaurant on Jan. 3 announced the closing, citing labor shortages, higher costs and the advancing age of the operators:

Jungle Jim’s Cafe at 1923 N. Peoria Road (aka Route 66) had been listed on the city’s tourism website.

According to online newspaper archives and the Springfield Business Journal, Jungle Jim’s was opened in 1988 by Jim Davison, an aspiring racecar driver who wasn’t talented enough to make it often to the winner’s circle.

He and his girlfriend Mary Bloomfield, who became his wife, began selling grilled pork chops at a local short track. That led to another stand at a northside mall, then a permanent site at Jungle Jim’s. The restaurant was decorated with auto-racing memorabilia, served down-home meals such as meatloaf and pie, and had a Barbie doll fly across the dining room on a wire.

The Springfield State Journal-Register in 2015 reported this about the restaurant:

One of the most memorable visitors traveling Route 66 was from Zimbabwe. He left with a Jungle Jim’s Restaurant T-shirt, hat and bumper sticker. A few years later, he returned with some friends. They all told Davison he was famous in their African village. That’s the because the village had one taxi cab, a 1949 Ford, and the taxi sported the Jungle Jim’s Restaurant bumper sticker.

However, business conditions on that side of Springfield turned into a struggle in recent years, particularly with the closing of the landmark Shea’s Gas Station Museum in 2013. Mary Bloomfield-Davison purchased the restaurant in 2019.

The Business Journal reported the restaurant cut its hours to weekends only and was listed for sale in May. It is listed with Jim Skeeters of Keller Williams Capital at a sale price of $360,000.

(Image of Jungle Jim’s Cafe in Springfield, Illinois, via Facebook)