Coffee shop coming to long-vacant Red’s Giant Hamburg property

A Trailer Perk Coffee shop is under construction at the lot that contained Red’s Giant Hamburg restaurant in Springfield, Missouri, nearly 40 years ago.

Route 66 News reader and Springfield resident Mark Mahy sent over a recent photo of the construction of the coffee shop underway.

Despite the location being the home of Red’s for nearly four decades, Mahy said it has seen little development in subsequent years, save for an ice vending machine about five years ago.

(Sure enough, the archive of Google Street View shows the short-lived ice business from 2014 to 2018.)

Trailer Perk Coffee’s website states it started as a trailer coffee business before embarking on a permanent location at 2848 West Chestnut Expressway (aka Red’s and Route 66).

It described its business as such:

We are at the intersection of nostalgia and modernity.

Trailer Perk Coffee is a mobile retro-creative coffee concept that is slinging deliciously-original, caffeine-forward beverages one cup at a time to the greater Springfield area.

We are human (friendly), vibrant, retro-cool with a little grit and a little funk AND one thing is for sure… we really know our coffee.

Though Red’s is long gone, its memories prove durable. A restaurateur on the south side of town opened a location of the same name that pays tribute to the original restaurant. The Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park in Springfield also contains a replica of the original Red’s sign.

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 the word “Hamburg.”

Red’s was known for using magnets to supposedly enhance the flavor of its burgers and brewed its own root beer. They used beef from their cattle farm, and Red sometimes danced with the customers. Red’s probably is best known for reputedly being 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 is through an entertaining 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, though they briefly reopened it a year later as a charity fundraiser for the local PBS station.

Red died in 1997; Julia died in 2006. The building was torn down not long after Red’s death.

UPDATE: We received an email comment today from Amber Ottoson, owner of Trailer Perk:

We were surprised in learning when we bought the lot at 2848 W Chestnut Expwy, that it was the original location of Red’s Giant Hamburg. After 5 years of operating and catering the greater Springfield area in our mobile espresso bar, we were excited to learn that the spot for our brick and mortar held so much Springfield history.

Trailer Perk Coffee does have a brand that embraces the retro-feel and vintage quality that is similar to Red’s however it is purely coincidence. While we won’t have any place to showcase any Red’s memorabilia (the new location on Sunshine has done a beautiful job of that amd we are a drive thru only business) we do plan on featuring a “Route 66” drink. We feel this will pay homage to the location as well as pair well with our own brand.

I do know there have been talks on social media suggesting that a historical marker be put on the site and I think that’s a fabulous idea.

(Image of the Trailer Perk Coffee construction site courtesy of Mark Mahy)