Easter Dinner Restaurant Ads – 1971

Here’s wishing all of my readers a joyous Easter!

Are you planning a big Easter dinner? I’m eschewing the usual ham in favor of beef, which I’ll be chewing in the form of Western-style ribs. A real cowboy dinner.

But if you were hoping to avoid a culinary clean-up in the kitchen fifty-one years ago, you had a few restaurant options. But unlike my supper today, beef was not on the menu at Arby’s which was closed on Easter Sunday 1971.

Beef was on the menu at Chris Family Restaurant on West Erie, which was serving up a sirloin dinner, roast chicken, a Hungarian platter and its still-great today perch dinner.

Corinthian Family Restaurant at 1138 Broadway had a great varied menu for Easter, including Roast Tom Turkey, Shiskabob, Swiss Steak, Baked Hickory Smoked Ham and – what else? – Sirloin of Beef. (Maybe having beef today isn’t as offbeat as I thought.)

And lastly, Harvest House Cafeteria at Midway Mall surprisingly did not feature its endless year-round Thanksgiving turkey feast. Its ad described a great Baked Ham Dinner with Sweet Potatoes, Choice of Vegetable, Tossed Salad, Juice, Cheese Cake and Beverage, all for $2.50.

Now that I’ve gotten you hungry, hope you enjoy a nice Easter dinner, whatever is on the menu!

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As noted a few days ago, I’ll be taking this week off as I transition all of my files (hopefully) from my ancient, barely working iMac to a brand new one. See you soon!

Cruise-in at Chris'

I happened to be driving by Chris’ Restaurant this afternoon and noticed these two great vintage cars parked out front. The effect was that of a scene from an old postcard, don’t you think?

A Sign of the Apocalypse?

Here's a disturbing sight that greeted U. S. Route 6 motorists over the weekend: a wrecked Chris' Restaurant sign. That's it, lying on the ground in front of the remaining poles.

It's quite an apocalyptic vision compared to the usual scene (below).

I called the restaurant on Sunday to ask what had happened. They confirmed my guess that the destruction had been the result of one of the recent storms.

Note how a portion of the original Howard Johnson neon sign (that spells out RESTAURANT) is exposed. On the ground, you can also see what looks like some of the original Hojo blue sign peeking out from under the layers of paint of previous Chris' Restaurant logo designs.

Here's a classic Hojo sign (although it's for a motor lodge) with a similar 'RESTAURANT' component (below).

Here's hoping the restaurant has a good insurance policy – signs are expensive. But out of calamity comes opportunity. Perhaps a new sign – maybe even a classic neon one – can be designed to reflect the popular restaurant's heritage and longevity, and draw in even new customers.

A Tale of Three Chris' Restaurants

The Morning Journal had a nice article back in mid-October about the 50th anniversary of Chris' Restaurant. (Click here in case you missed it.) The article mentioned that Chris Manofski started his popular restaurant back in 1964 on Pearl Avenue, and moved it to its current location at 2812 W. Erie Avenue (in the old Howard Johnson's restaurant) in 1981.

The article left out some of the details of the restaurant's history.

Mr. Manofski did indeed start his restaurant on Pearl Avenue, although his business had a different name back then. The 1965 Lorain City Directory included a listing of his Pearl Restaurant at 2843 Pearl Avenue (roughly where the vacant lot is next to the Koury Building, across from Lorain National). But the listing was only in the book for one year before the restaurant changed hands.

Then in the 1968 book, a listing appeared for Chris Restaurant at 5100 West Erie – the former home of Johnson's Restaurant, and most recently Jack & Diane's) right across from the Lorain Drive-in. The listing remained in the city directory well into the late 1970s.

What makes it confusing is that there were actually three restaurants in the Lorain area with Chris as part of their names during the 1960s and 70s.

In the 1970 directory, there was Chris Restaurant at 5100 West Erie. In that same book, there was Chris' Restaurant – run by Frank and Christine Bishop – at 5316 Colorado Avenue, and Chris Cafe at 3680 Pearl, run by a gentlemen listed as Christ Evanoff.

It's a good thing Lorain didn't have a Ruth's Chris Steak House back then. It's enough to make a researcher's head spin.

I'm not sure how long Mr. Manofski was involved with the restaurant out on Pearl. Hopefully, someone knowledgeable about Chris' Restaurant will clear this all up for me with a blog comment.

Nevertheless, Chris' Restaurant remains one of my mother's favorites. We stop in on Saturday every couple of months to enjoy a delicious perch sandwich, along with some friendly service.

The funny thing is, when Mom is in the mood to go there, she mentions, "How about lunch at Chris Cafe?"

The Coliseum Part 4

After the Coliseum burned down, the site remained vacant for a few years. Around the mid-1950's, a Howard Johnson's was built on the front of the lot, claiming the 2812 West Erie Avenue address (formerly assigned to a two-family apartment adjacent to the Coliseum). Around 1960 or so, the Beachcomber Motor Lodge was built behind it at the Coliseum's old 2800 West Erie Avenue address.

With the Coliseum gone, it was up to someone else to carry on the skating rink legacy on the west side of Lorain. A little further west of where the Coliseum was located and on the other side of the road, the Lorain Arena opened on April 2, 1955 at 3709 West Erie Ave. It closed around September 1972. A few other businesses then occupied the building, including Motor Homes Inc. and Penton Imports Motorcycles. Most recently, the building was the Kerr Beverage complex (now closed). Click here to see its link on the Coldwell Banker Hunter Realty website.  

And what about the businesses that succeeded the Coliseum? Today Howard Johnson's is now the popular Chris' Restaurant. And the Beachcomber Motor Lodge is now the Erieview Motel.  (See photo at top, looking north at the property and at left, approaching the property on Route 6 from the east.)

Further west on West Erie Avenue, Skate World Roller Skating Center at 4952 West Erie Avenue  continues the tradition of west side skating. It's located on the site of the former Benny's Motel and has been there since about 1975.