At 8:10 p.m. Saturday, the switch was flipped to show the restored neon signs and window accents for the Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Illinois, during a relighting ceremony.
The aim of the restoration was to show what the Route 66 restaurant looked like shortly after it opened in Litchfield in July 1935. The Ariston originally was founded in Carlinville, Illinois, also on Route 66 when the road was aligned further to the west.
The restoration included:
- The blue “Ariston Cafe” sign hanging from the facade wall with its original border of black dots.
- A vintage red Budweiser sign, believed to be the last of its kind.
- Red and blue interior window neon accents missing since the mid-1970s.
The main green-neon “Ariston” sign was not part of the restoration and remains in good working order.
Nick and Demi Adam, owners of the Ariston from 1966 to 2018, were the featured speakers Saturday night.
Nick said:
“We are really appreciative of the friendship and love you have shown us here this evening, and by being and remaining our customers and friends for all these years. I’m sure my father never dreamt, back in 1924, that he was establishing a restaurant that would be in operation for 95 years — that’s quite an accomplishment. Thank you all for being here this evening.”
Other speakers included Rich Dinkela, newl president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri; Steve Dougherty, mayor of Litchfield; and the Ariston’s new ownership team, Will Law and Kara Steffens, who carry on the Ariston tradition of “where good food is served.”
Adding to the festivities were vintage cars and music, two large cakes decorated in Ariston/Route 66 theme, plus commemorative T-shirts and can koozie souvenirs of the event for those attending.
If you have an hour to kill, you can watch the entire ceremony that was broadcast on Facebook Live. The relighting occurs about the 40-minute mark, or about 22 minutes left in the video:
The restoration was enabled by a cost-match grant from the National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The Neon Heritage Preservation Committee of the Route 66 Association of Missouri facilitated the project; it was its 13th neon-restoration project in the last 11 years.
(Images courtesy of Jim Thole)