The neon sign for the closed Uranium Cafe in Grants, New Mexico, was taken down several weeks ago and placed in storage, with the hopes it eventually will be restored and placed in a neon park in the city.
Blue Miller initially reported on the Historic Route 66 group about the sign’s disappearance.
A few phone calls and emails put me in touch with Michael and Kendra Brown, who purchased the building at 519 W. Santa Fe Ave. (aka Route 66) in 2018 and will convert it to the Rinconada Adventures outdoors store by summer.
The Grants area boasts numerous adventure opportunities, including Mount Taylor and El Malpais National Monument.
Michael Brown said he took down the Uranium Cafe sign shortly after New Year’s Day and is keeping it in a storage yard for now.
“I don’t have definite plans for it today, but there are no plans to scrap it,” he said.’
Brown said he’s turned down multiple offers to buy the sign. He said it’s his preference to have the sign restored and re-erected in a neon sign park along Main Street in Grants.
He said his recollection that the last restaurant to occupy the space was Nana’s Cafe, which closed in 2016 or 2017.
The Route 66 Times reports the Uranium Cafe opened in 1956 there, with part of a 1955 Chevrolet car made into a booth. It also had been known as the Golden ’50s Cafe, Five Brothers Uranium Cafe and Badlands Burgers.
(Image of the Uranium Cafe and its neon sign in Grants, New Mexico, in 2008 by Marcin Wichary via Flickr)
That’s one of my favorite signs. It looked pretty good when I first saw it in June 1996.