Anybody remember these restaurants? (Cincinnati, Sharonville: college, airport, swimming)

[Sunnydee]

Yes, I remember those restaurants and McIntoshes on Galbraith. Prom dinner was at McIntoshes - we thought we were so grown up! LOL. I still miss the salad bar at Prime and Wine.

Esther Price's candy counter is a good sub for the one at Shillitos.

[blockhead]

Loved Esther Price...Oh man, the opera creams are pure heaven. Seems like my prom dinner was at a Howard Johnson's on Reading road in Roselawn. Could that be right? Was there one there in the late 60s?

[blockhead]

OK...here's one. Once my friend and I pretended to be at each other's house but stayed at a hotel called El Rancho Rankin, which I believe was near Winton Place. They had a really crummy restaurant, but didn't question 2 16 year old boys staying there. Anyone else remember this place

[PG77]

Originally Posted by blockhead

OK...here's one. Once my friend and I pretended to be at each other's house but stayed at a hotel called El Rancho Rankin, which I believe was near Winton Place. They had a really crummy restaurant, but didn't question 2 16 year old boys staying there. Anyone else remember this place

There used to be an El Rancho Rankin at the bottom of Beechmont Avenue before you went onto the Beechmont Levy.

[blockhead]

That's the very one...we bought boone's farm at a Pony Keg and had a great (huh) tiime. Thanks

[goyguy]

There was a big "Enquirer Magazine" spread about El Rancho Rankin not long before it was torn down. Wow...I'd totally forgotten about that place. It was a collection of "desert yellow" painted presumably-cinderblock buildings hugging a curve on Beechmont. Along the gutters were neon tubes that glowed red-pink or green depending on the building. The motel had a sketchy reputation in the neighborhood, so said the article, and that was easy to perceive. Who's to say, there could well have been some "vice" operations going on. Prostitution and drug dealing have always been in the world of truckers, who favored the Rancho as a place to sleep on the cheap. Even at the time it was demolished, the motel was on the preferred route between Cincinnati and Huntington; the interstate traffic on 125 wasn't shunted to Kentucky's AA Highway and Ohio's "upgraded" Route 32 until later.
El Rancho Rankin had a sign in front, which also appeared in their big Yellow Pages ad, that depicted a mustachioed and sombrero'd Pancho Villa caricature holding a Mexican poncho. That whole angle was decidedly politically incorrect, lol, but whether there was stereotypical accented English used in any of the promos I don't remember. Such wasn't once the case for the still-prospering "South of the Border" on the NC/SC state line. I always saw El Rancho Rankin as a far inferior imitation of that.

As for the HoJo's on Reading Rd, it still stands - empty - in Evendale, near what was once Bypass 50. For after-whatever, Wyoming kids back in the day flocked to the all-night Perkins which was near Galbraith Rd opposite the Carousel Inn. Now, of course, the Perkins is long gone and the no-longer "Mainliner" Frisch's is said to have shut down and "Ohio's Only 5-Star Motel" has skidded to the point where its reputation matches that of what El Rancho Rankin once must've borne.

[Mikey1003]

Mike Fink's is on it's way back to Cincy from dry dock refurbishing.

Gee, I wonder what the new prices will be?????

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by goyguy

As for the HoJo's on Reading Rd, it still stands - empty - in Evendale, near what was once Bypass 50. For after-whatever, Wyoming kids back in the day flocked to the all-night Perkins which was near Galbraith Rd opposite the Carousel Inn. Now, of course, the Perkins is long gone

Howard Johnson's also ran a restaurant/soda fountain about a block from
Summit Lanes. It closed in the mid-late 1960s. At some point that
building was taken over by a steak chain - maybe Mr. Jim's Steakhouse.

The nearby Perkins probably opened in the early-mid 1970s. Pancakes
were always their strong suit - Bob Evans pretty much blew them away
in the other departments. As for late-night eating, Chili Time closed at
4:00, which usually sufficed for our crew.

[Brenda lykins]

The Greeks that i'm thinking about was on East Upworth I think .a friend and I would go in after school(Winton PLACE) AND GET CHERRY COKES AND CHIPS .THERE WAS ALSO A STORE DOWN THE STREET CALLED KATHY'S .gREEKS WAS ACROSS FROM A METHODIST CHURCH.I LIVED THERE ON FLAT TERRACE FROM 1961-1965? BRENDA

[blockhead]

Hey Goy,

Thanks for the info on El Rancho Rankin and the HOJOs. I think, given my memory of El Rancho, that prostitution was likely there. Good thing I didn't know that as a 16 year old, LOL.