Long before McDonald’s, Subway and Taco Bell came to town, Edwardsburg had a few fast food restaurants.

Maybe fast food is the wrong term for those eateries. The food was quick and it was take-out but not always so fast. From time to time the community had four of these prominent food sources, Tastee Freez, A&W Root Beer Stand, Porky’s Party Place, Mike’s Take Out, and the Chicago Style Hotdog business.

The Tastee Freez was located where Spicey’s stands today. It was very popular with young and old.  On weekends there would be lines at both walk up windows.  It was take-out only at first specializing in soft serve ice cream. Later a grill was added so that sandwiches were offered. No inside seating was available.

The A&W Root Beer stand was located where the Maple Cafe is now and was a drive-in. Of course you had to eat in your car or take it home. Trays were provided for your food and carhops came to your car for orders and serving.  Later electric menus were available and the carhop only brought food to your car. Root beer was also available by the frosted mug or the gallon bottle. Later a grill was added which made it more than a drink drive-in.

Porky’s Party Place was more of a deli than a fast food restaurant. There was fried chicken and mojo potatoes and other fried foods already prepared. Salads were available along with other food items. It was a pick-up for dinner food place. There were a few tables so that you could eat inside. Porky’s was located where the McDonald’s is now. Later is moved behind the U.S. Highway 12 gas station and was eventually torn down for Lunker’s parking lot.

Mike’s Take Out is the little building that now stands on the museum grounds. It is now just called the hamburger stand since the museum acquired it. It is used for storage. It originally stood next to the Uptown Tavern. It was a walk-up food place in the summer only and it served hamburgers and hot dogs plus soft drinks. The only place to eat was standing on the sidewalk.

Also on Main Street, where the Razor’s Edge Barber shop is located, a Chicago style hotdog restaurant did their business. It was just a take out diner with one or two tables. Chicago Style and other special hotdogs were their only menu items. They later moved to Niles and since the building was originally a barbershop it reverted back to be a barbershop.

Memorabilia from all of these restaurants is part of the museum business exhibit. The museum collection of advertising items from former businesses fill a large corner of the museum along with pictures of some of the buildings. For many years the matchbook was the most used item to advertise a business. With the ban on smoking in public places matches are no longer in demand. It seems that the most recent advertising item is a coffee mug. Most households today have a collection of odd coffee mugs, as do most businesses.

Edwardsburg was not always a little town and it isn’t today either. When you begin listing all of the businesses located in the Edwardsburg area it is a surprise. Many of the businesses are not visible on the main streets. It is the surrounding area that you find all of the businesses. Please patronized and support our local business owners so that we can keep them.

Local residents owned all of the past businesses mentioned in this article.  I would be remiss if I did not mention Raab’s Supermarket. It was on Michigan 62 next to the bank. While it was not a restaurant it did make the best broasted chicken and it was cooked while you were shopping in their store. Let’s get dinner ready. Besides all of the fast food places there are currently many restaurants to choose from. Happy eating.

Added note: Has anyone found the Starrs?

 

JoAnn Boepple works with the Edwardsburg Area History Museum.