HoJos is gone...

[K Frame]

The last Howard Johnson's restaurant, in New York, has closed.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/business-food/howard-johnsons-last-restaurant/index.html

Best clam strips I've ever had.

[HankB]

It's been . . . let's see . . . at least a couple of decades since I ate at a HoJo's.

Their all you can eat "Fish Fry" specials were really, really good . . . back in the day. You didn't even have to order additional fish, I remember a waitress walking a around with tongs and a basket of fried fish, asking diners if they were ready for more. 

[Fly320s]

I thought HoJo was a hotel chain.

[K Frame]

I thought HoJo was a hotel chain.

It was.

It was also a restaurant chain.

The hotels are now part of Wyndham.

The restaurants are... gone.

[230RN]

I thought HoJo was a young lady named Josephine.

This habit of abbring everything will be the downfall of the English lingo.

Argot to go now. AFK. CUL.

[Hawkmoon]

I thought HoJo was a hotel chain.

It was a restaurant chain for decades before it became also a hotel chain.

One of my favorite memories from childhood was from a vacation trip to Maine. We stopped at a Howard Johnson's (not "HoJo's," thank you) in New Hampshire, on a traffic circle just before U.S. Route 1 crosses into Maine. It was one of the old Howard Johnson's, so the building had some style, both inside and out. Fried clams were great, and they had the best grilled hot dog in the world.

[Fly320s]

It was a restaurant chain for decades before it became also a hotel chain.

One of my favorite memories from childhood was from a vacation trip to Maine. We stopped at o Howard Johnson's (not "HoJo's," thank you) in New Hampshire, on a traffic circle just before U.S. Route 1 crosses into Maine. It was one of the old Howard Johnson's, so the building had some style, both inside and out. Fried clams were great, and they had the best grilled hot dog in the world.

Building is still there.  It is Roundabout Diner now.

[Hawkmoon]

Building is still there.  It is Roundabout Diner now.

Have you been in it? Is the interior still done in real wood paneling? It was beautiful in the 1950s.

[Edit to add} Just looked it up on Google maps. I'm pretty sure that's not the same building. That may have been **A** Howard Johnson's, but I don't think that's the building that was there in the 1950s.

[Andiron]

Best clam strips I've ever had.

My dad used to rave about their clams.  Place finally sold a few years back and it was sad.  Never had said clams myself.

[K Frame]

" Never had said clams myself."

You missed something really special, then. HoJo's clam strips were plump, juicy, slightly sweet, slightly tangy, and just incredibly good.

They used to have the occasional all you can eat clam strips. Friends and I from high school would to the one in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, when we were in high school and gorge on them.

[Fly320s]

Have you been in it? Is the interior still done in real wood paneling? It was beautiful in the 1950s.

[Edit to add} Just looked it up on Google maps. I'm pretty sure that's not the same building. That may have been **A** Howard Johnson's, but I don't think that's the building that was there in the 1950s.

Looks like I had the wrong building.  The HoJo was on the other street.

[WLJ]

When I saw the thread title I though the thread was going to about a certain "lady" that hasn't been showing up on their usual street corner.

[K Frame]

You're selling Hocakes?

Of course I'm selling hocakes! The hos gotta eat, too!

[Hawkmoon]

Looks like I had the wrong building.  The HoJo was on the other street.

If I remember correctly, the Howard Johnson's was right on the traffic circle. That looks like the correct location. I vaguely remember my brother telling me years ago that the building I remember had been torn down and replaced by one of HoJo's newer, cookie cutter design restaurants.

[Andiron]

They used to have the occasional all you can eat clam strips. Friends and I from high school would to the one in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, when we were in high school and gorge on them.

That's the same story he tells.  All you can eat clams on a certain day, and pigging out with a couple friends.

Might have to go see if the recipe is floating around and try to recreate it.

[K Frame]

Holy crap, I just looked up a couple of recipes, and the first two that came up...

Have vanilla extract in them!

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2016/09/30/howard-johnsons-fried-clams


Oh, wait, the recipe from the second site I found got its recipe from... the site I linked above.

But still, yeah, I could see them having vanilla in them -- that could help explain the slightly sweet flavor.

[230RN]

I thought HoJo was a young lady named Josephine.

This habit of abbring everything will be the downfall of the English lingo.

Argot to go now. AFK. CUL.

Time passeth...

When I saw the thread title I though the thread was going to about a certain "lady" that hasn't been showing up on their usual street corner.

"Ho."  "Jo."

Like minds think alike.