PEORIA: RESTAURANTS AND MEMORIES

PEORIA:  RESTAURANTS  AND  MEMORIES

                            NORMAN   V.  KELLY

 

Even for me, a guy that has spent thirty-five years delving into all aspects of Peoria History, the number of restaurants

we had available to us during WW11 and beyond still amazes me.  I really stopped researching Peoria beyond 1951, because my interests just stopped there. I mean, after all, Prohibition and the Depression were long gone along with all those mythical gangsters and colorful gamblers.  I left Peoria in 1951 for the United States Air force and was gone four years.

What triggered my interest in our history were the wild stories that were told to me by some of the people I met during those four years.   Hell, they all knew Peoria, Illinois and it was simply a wide-open, wild gambling town mixed with prostitutes and gangsters.  Funny, here I was born and raised in Peoria and I thought it was a wonderful town, with one of the most extensive shopping and entertainment areas in all of Illinois.  Guess I was wrong, huh?

 

So starting in 1828 I just researched the truth and wrote fourteen books and hundreds of stories from the records, newspapers, coroner inquests, liquor license and on and on until I truly unveiled the truth as to who and what Peoria was.

The books were all sold, a lot of the stories were put on the Library web site and I lectured for a couple of decades.  What did I accomplish with all those historical facts?  Not much because there are a lot of gangster fans in Peoria and believe me myth is a lot more fun to listen to than actual facts.  But, the information is available and down at our library downtown I have a vertical file available for research.  But who has time for all that? All the folks wanted to hear from me was how horrible things were and how bad-ass Bernie Shelton was. 

 

 

Once Prohibition was settled Peoria snapped out of all that illegal booze game and really grew.  We grew not only in size but businesses as well. By 1940 we had just over 105,000 people living in the city limits and we were just over twelve square miles.  When the war began 23,200 of our young men were on their way to serve their country and thousands of men came into town to take those factory jobs.  It was an exciting time I can tell you that.  I spent a lot of time downtown during the war and I saw way too much for a young kid, that’s for sure. 

 

I wanted to tell you a bit about the restaurants that flourished during the war and beyond. They began to fade away but along with the 49 hotels, 250 taverns, and a ton of other businesses, Downtown Peoria was a hub of activity.  Our movie houses and restaurants and late night fun never seemed to cease. 

The restaurants numbered 187 and were scattered all over the downtown area, west to Bartonville and east to the bridge.

I was amazed at the interest these places had and at most all my lectures, someone would ask me questions about restaurants.  Being a poor kid, if I had a nickel for a hot dog or a dime for a hamburger I was a happy kid so I certainly did not know these places personally.

The drive-ins I knew, but usually one of my friends came into a few dollars, or we snuck in inside the trunck. so it was a treat for me to go along with the gang.  I came from a huge family and money was scarce but my friends were always happy to share their booty with me.   Andy’s Drive In was located at 1611 N. Knoxville where we could share a couple of Cokes, and cheap hamburgers.   The entire town visited Hunts Drive in at 500 Farmington Road.  Later we would drive through the place five or six times, just ‘cruising’ as we called it.  What in the hell were we looking for…I have no idea.    

 

We also went to Kramer’s Drive-in at 2305 Western and I remember one night just getting out of the car and walking into the place.  The guys wondered what I was doing and as a result of that walk, I was hired as a Curbie. I made good money and bought a Whizzer’ which was a motor bike. I remember leaving Kramer’s after midnight and riding home to El Vista down that narrow gravel road called Sterling.  The little front light bouncing up and down and the visibility was almost nil, but I made it night after night.  I expected to get a job at the Meadow Brook Dairy but I was told I was too short to reach the ice-cream.  I tried to work at the Maid Rite Drive-in at 2801 University but that never happened.

In 1950 I graduated from Woodruff and thought that I was the luckiest kid in Peoria when I got a job at R.G. LeTournea. I rode a bike around the plant delivery office supplies and putting things up on the bulletin board. I loved that job and suddenly it was January, 1951 and I was leaving for four years in the United States Air Force. When I came back home my job was waiting but my old boss convinced me to go to Bradley.  “Norm, the job is yours but take this G.I. Bill offer and go to Bradley.  When you graduate come on back and you can have my job.”

Here are some of the popular restaurants that I never went in because I just never had the money. Do you remember any of these places?

 

The Bishop Cafeteria, 422 Main was a very popular place in town along with the Palace Cafeteria, 108 S.  Madison.  I remember going to The Board Of Trade cafeteria on South Washington to eat cream pies, but that was rare.  We ate at the Wig Wam on the BU Campus, but that was after 1955.

Bris Collins had a place called Cabristo’s at 3301 Fayette but young people never went in there.  There was The Family Café on South Adams and The Five Points Restaurant at 307 Franklin. Of course for any Peorian Hunter’s Lunch was a favorite but I rarely went in there.  It was their hot dogs and pop corn that kept the folks coming to that place and you could order from an outside little trolley of some kind. It was located at 105 North Perry in case you forgot.

For chicken fans there was Jimmie’s Chicken at 1403 Main and a chicken dinner house on Seventh.  We had a lot of hotel’s that had great places to eat like The Jefferson and The Pere Marquette, but nobody in my crowd ever went into a hotel.  We had some pretty fancy night spots that we never even heard of.  places like the Mecca Supper Club and a ton of other places that certainly did not want young fools barging in.

 

We had a lot of places where you could get a sandwich like the Niagara Sandwich Shop at 108 Jefferson. Places also like the Nook and another one called The Nugget both on North Adams.  We had Chinese food, but I could not stand the smell of those places but some of my pals did go to the Oriental Café at 116  N.  Adams.

I did go into the Pantry when I got a bit older at 425 Main and the Rocket Restaurant at 203 Fulton. The Sheridan Inn, only this one was at 1425 Main and The Toonerville Trolley out on Farmington Road were pretty popular.

We had two Stake ‘n Shakes one on Main and the other across the river. When we had a windfall, we would ride the Green Arrow or the Red Arrow across the river to the one across the river and they had curb service for boats.  These were really fast speed boats and that was a rare treat. We had a White Hut place at 415 Hamilton and  some pretty good places in the South-end like The Garden Café  and the Five Corners on South Adams.

People really liked Phone A Feast a unique idea at 1915  Main.

I loved The Farm out on University across from Sipp School, but have no idea what year that was.

As I mentioned there were 187 of these restaurants in our town, along with the 49 Hotels, and a ton of small dumps and dives and hundreds of saloons and taverns that thrived. The shopping here was truly phenomenal.

 

Then in March of 1954 Sheridan Village opened and slowly, ever so slowly, things began to change.  Along came TV to take out our Theaters, and Peoria’s  population headed north.  There was a time when most of us would rather go to a Drive-in Theater than go downtown.  Once the Mall over on Sterling opened up the disappearance of our magical downtown sped up and soon it was gone.

The City of Peoria had a wonderful run beginning in 1845 and ending when we quit going downtown. I tried to capture that history over the years and it is almost time for me to fade as well. I hope cyberspace keeps those stories alive for many years to come.  Happy memories.

Editor’s Note:   Norm is a local historian and fiction writer.  Join Norm when he Joins Harry and The Red Nose Gang on WOAM, 1350 AM Sundays 7 until 10 AM.

norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net