The landmark Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Illinois, is celebrating a century in business, though it wasn’t always on its present location on Route 66.
The Litchfield Chamber of Commerce is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony today to mark the occasion. Former owners Nick and Demi Adam, who ran the restaurant for 52 years. are planning to attend.
Current co-owners Kara Steffens and Will Law also said they plan to help the community in celebration of the anniversary, including Operation ELF, Coats for Kids, Hearts United, local food banks, school supplies and more.
The Journal-News newspaper’s story (subscription required) about the centennial contained several interesting tidbits of which I was unaware:
- The Ariston had another location in Litchfield across the street, at the current site of the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center. The present site dates to 1935.
- Slot machines kept the restaurant alive during the Great Depression. They can still be seen in a photo at the Ariston.
- The restaurant also survived the COVID-19 shutdowns by locals ordering desserts to-go.
- Former co-owner Demi Adam said her favorite customer Harold Goeke, who came in daily.
The Ariston first was established along Illinois Highway 4, an early alignment of Route 66, in downtown Carlinville. Then it was moved east to the new alignment of Route 66 in Litchfield.
The article made a kinda-sorta claim the Ariston is the oldest operating restaurant on Route 66. However, Ike’s Chili in Tulsa and the Sycamore Inn in Rancho Cucamonga, California, both are well over 100 years old.
—
I read your 100-year anniversary posting on the famous Ariston Restaurant this Wednesday. Thanks very much. It tells me that it opened in Carlinville in 1926 and I did not know the exact year before now.
Nearly everything that I have read states that when Route 66 was shifted to the east in about 1930, Pete Adam “moved” the business to Litchfield, IL. Well, to me “moving” means you close down one location and move the restaurant equipment, fixtures, seating, etc., to the new location. Almost every book that I have read and almost every website that I have visited (I have not visited them all) uses some take on the verb “move.” But I have located a very old matchcover, probably from the decade of the 1930s, that lists two locations (Carlinville and Litchfield). That matchcover is proof that both locations were once active at the same time. I assume that the business did not “move” but rather Mr. Adam eventually closed the Carlinville location.
My first visit, I told Nick I would sit at the counter so as not to take up a table for a single person. He replied “you are our customer, too.” I would love a cookbook of some of their recipes. The
Italian cream cake was incredible, and the portions were huge. The best stop on the Route.