SaveTheChooChoo.com has been set up by The Choo-Choo's owner Jean Paxton in response to the announcement that her beloved burger joint in Des Plaines, Illinois, may be torn down to make way for a new police station. Fans can sign a petition through the website to be sent to city officials. The Choo-Choo has been open for 57 years and features a toy train outfitted with baskets that goes around the counter to delivers burgers.
Des Plaines mayor Tony Arredia says there are no current plans to build anything due to lack of funds, and that there are two other locations in the running, but Paxton's landlord told her last December that the the city contacted was interested in buying the property. The city may not make a decision for the next year or two.
The Choo-Choo
600 Lee Street, Des Plaines IL 60016 (at Miner Street; map)
847-391-9815 thechoochoo.com
Apparently the concept of Electric Train burger places was popular in those days. I fondly remember going to a place in Huntington, NY, with my Grandpa in the mid to late 1970's. It was called Hamburger Choo Choo, and it was on Main Street, Rt. 25A.
This article got me thinking, and I had to Google the old place - it burned down decades ago, was replaced by a sucession of restaurants, and is now an upscale Japanese place.
There were tables and booths but the main attraction was sitting at the counter and having the train deliver your food. If I recall correctly there was also an elaborate model train display that ran around the entire restaurant along the top of the walls.
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Apparently the concept of Electric Train burger places was popular in those days. I fondly remember going to a place in Huntington, NY, with my Grandpa in the mid to late 1970's. It was called Hamburger Choo Choo, and it was on Main Street, Rt. 25A.
This article got me thinking, and I had to Google the old place - it burned down decades ago, was replaced by a sucession of restaurants, and is now an upscale Japanese place.
http://talk.nycsubway.org/perl/read?subtalk=89525
There were tables and booths but the main attraction was sitting at the counter and having the train deliver your food. If I recall correctly there was also an elaborate model train display that ran around the entire restaurant along the top of the walls.
JWFROMNJ at 5:53PM on 11/17/08