Red's Giant Hamburg was a restaurant on

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, which is believed to have been the world's first

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their c ...

restaurant. It was reopened in 2019 in a different location.

Overview

Sheldon "Red" Chaney (May 20, 1916 – June 2, 1997) arrived in Springfield after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with a bride and a business degree. He purchased a small Sinclair gas station with several wooden motor court cabins tucked among trees on the back of the property. Eventually, a café was added in 1947. Growing weary of pumping

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

and operating the motor court, the couple decided a better money-maker would be a restaurant. Since they owned a small herd of beef cattle (and would continue to raise their own beef until the close of the business), they decided to concentrate on

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

s. The restaurant became a staple of Route 66 and the Springfield area until its closure in 1984. Red died in 1997 a few days after the restaurant was demolished, and Julia died in the early 2000s

Sign recreation

In 2013, a fundraising campaign was established to recreate the Red's Giant Hamburg sign. The sign was installed in 2015.

Reopening

In early 2019, the ''Springfield Business Journal'' announced that Red's Giant Hamburg would be making a comeback 35 years after the original restaurant's closure. The new restaurant, located on Route 413, will be a recreation of the original Route 66 location. The project is being led by David Campbell, the owner of local BBQ chain Buckingham's, and insurance agent Greg Lott. The restaurant opened in August 2019.

In popular culture

In 1982, Springfield rock and roll band

The Morells The Morells are an American rock band from Springfield, Missouri. They released an album titled ''Shake and Push'' in 1982. The band's members have included bassist and producer Lou Whitney, guitarist D. Clinton Thompson, keyboardists Maralie ...

filmed their tribute song "Red's" at the location of the restaurant.

References

External links