A Fresh Face on 66

A FRESH FACE ON 66

By Mike Vieira Photographs by David J. Schwartz - Pics On Route 66

Historic Route 66 has always been an evolutionary highway — its course moved, its paving altered, and its mom-and-pop businesses alternately birthing and dying according to the path of the route and the whim of its travelers. Businesses changed hands, moved, closed, and opened. Multi-generational family enterprises are rightfully honored for their multidecade existence, while brand-new attractions spring up along the route. The best of these look and feel like they’ve been there a long time, and that’s a compliment.

Although the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant didn’t get its start until 2001, years after the Mother Road was decommissioned as an official U.S. highway, the Dwight, Illinois, eatery has rapidly embraced the history and atmosphere surrounding the old route in such a way that it has become an important stop for those touring the Main Street of America. Situated some 75 miles from the Chicago terminus of Route 66, just off Interstate 55, and near the intersection of State Highways 17 and 47, there is no shortage of hungry motorists passing through the area.

Festooned with memorabilia and souvenirs of America’s Main Street, the restaurant allows visitors to step back into the highway’s heyday to enjoy those slower paced times while they fill themselves with comfort food and American cuisine specialties. Heritage tourists often specifically seek out the restaurant because they’ve seen it featured in a book or magazine, or it might catch their eye when they are passing by or making a stop at the Dwight Visitor’s Center in the 1933 Texaco station barely a block away. And what they get for their choice to come in for a meal are generous portions of made-from-scratch fare from recipes handed down through generations, served in a friendly, unique atmosphere. They get vintage Route 66.

Owner Maria Ahmedi’s customers are a mix of those folks touring the famous highway, travelers who are looking for the nostalgia of bygone days, motorists who jump off the nearby Interstate highway for some nourishment, and local folks who know where to get a great meal and great service. Reputation and word-ofmouth have been the best advertising for the restaurant, regardless of which group the diners may fall into. A long list of accolades and awards, including Illinois Country

Living magazine’s Top Restaurant in 2017, along with many outstanding reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor over the years, have helped cement their standing as a top establishment in the region. Even more notoriety will come shortly when the restaurant’s story is featured in an episode of the new TV show Destination Chicago. “We just had our twenty-year anniversary in November, and people know we put out great food,” said Maria. But this family restaurant actually got its start with the previous generation. Jim Jashari, or “Grandpa Jimmy,” as Maria’s dad is affectionately known, opened his first eatery, the Spring Valley Family Restaurant, in 1977 in Spring Valley, Illinois, and later opened another family restaurant in Seneca, Illinois. Maria grew up learning the business and developing her determination and work ethic at the Seneca restaurant, where later on her soon-to-be husband, Naser Ahmedi, also worked in the food business. “I used to watch my dad make everything, and I remembered it in my head. It was never written down. He never wrote anything down. I just watched him all the time, and I learned how to cook there.” Following in the entrepreneurial footsteps of her dad, Maria decided to branch out on her own in 1993 following her marriage to Naser.

In that busy year, the couple also welcomed a baby boy and opened the Wishing Well Cafe along the Route 66 corridor in Odell, Illinois. “I was pretty ambitious and pretty gutsy,” said Maria. After ten years of success with the Wishing Well Cafe, the couple purchased Stark’s Restaurant, about eight miles farther up the road on old Route 66 in Dwight.

Bill Stark had long been known as a restaurateur of popular eating places in Dwight. For years, he operated the Crown Restaurant at the intersection of US Highway 66 and Illinois Route 47 at the northeast edge of Dwight, the same intersection where another eatery, The Coffeehouse, widely advertised the intersection as “the first stoplight south of Chicago.” Later, Stark built a one-story building two-anda-half miles farther southeast on Route 66 at its intersection with Illinois Route 17. He opened his Stark’s Restaurant on September 18, 1978, advertising that he was open daily from 5AM to 8PM. By the time Stark was ready to retire in 2001, the Ahmedi family was ready to purchase the location.

On November 5, 2001, the Ahmedi family opened their new restaurant in Dwight, a charming and picturesque town of 4,000 in the heart of a busy area that embraces and promotes Route 66 tourism.

Maria and Naser ran both the Wishing Well and the Dwight restaurant for two years, but not wanting to continue the stress of operating two restaurants at once, the ideal location on Route 66 and the size of the Dwight facility made it the one to keep, and they sold the Wishing Well Cafe in January 2003. Then, with renovations going on after hours in order to keep the business open and running every day, the couple transformed the former Stark’s Restaurant into a real Route 66 attraction – the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant.

Maria Ahmedi and family pose in front of their iconic 1973 American LaFrance fire engine.

“We’ve worked really hard throughout the years and made it work. It’s been up and down, it’s not easy,” Maria said. “It’s a hard business, and sometimes when it rains, it pours, and then there are days when it’s a breeze.”

As for Maria, although she did not have a personal history of travel on Route 66, back during her operation of the Wishing Well, historians and authors John and Lenore Weiss, along with other Route 66 Association members and enthusiasts, were frequent visitors with whom Maria became good friends. The growing influence of Route 66 tourism was bringing more and more visitors to the area, greatly increasing Maria’s interest and knowledge of the highway, and gradually making her a part of the Mother Road experience.

Even today, John Weiss leads regular bus tours that stop at the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant. “The reason is because the service and quality of food we receive from Maria, her family, and staff is remarkable,” Weiss said. “When we arrive, she greets all of the folks, and when we are leaving, Maria hops on the bus to thank everyone for stopping. This is a very nice, homey gesture, and she tells them that she and her family are ‘living the American Dream’ thanks to people like them.”

365 Days a Year

That “American Dream” needs a lot of loving care to keep the restaurant open 365 days a year at 6AM, and Maria, or another family member, is always at the restaurant as a manager to provide a guiding hand to keep everything on track. “The entire family, except my granddaughter, because she’s only two, works here,” Maria said. “We have my son, my two daughters, my daughter-in-law, and my husband. He’s more behind the scenes and supervisory, but my kids and I are hands-on with everything.” That’s in addition to the numerous other staff members that are such an important part of the eatery’s success.

“Our staff is wonderful, and I treat them with respect, and they treat me with respect. I’m really flexible with them, and that’s key to keeping a great staff. I hate turnover, and I love that they stay with me for many years. We work as a team,

Steve Connor’s exterior mural boldly stands out on the side of the restaurant. our family and staff. We work where we’re needed, and just get the job done, and I think that’s why we’ve succeeded.”

In addition to the regular restaurant business, along with drive-thru and take-out options, delivery and catering services have been part of their offerings since the beginning, so there’s always plenty of work to be done to stay on top of things, and a part for everyone to play. In addition to the many long-term employees at the restaurant, high school students looking for work find a welcome reception from the venue.

“We all do our part, and since my kids grew up and are able to help out, it really makes a difference. Our business has progressed at the same time as they got older, and it really helps me out that we can work together as a family.”

A Dream Makeover

Maria and her family shut down the restaurant for seven months during the worst of the pandemic in 2020, but they really put that time to good use. Although they already had a Route 66-themed decoration scheme at the restaurant, which they had created in their overnight renovations when they first took over the location, they wanted to improve upon it. The family decided on a “clean slate” approach, stripping the building to the bare walls in a remodel that created a much more elaborate vision of the ultimate Route 66 restaurant.

Again, it was a family effort, with everyone pitching in to create the rustic, homey atmosphere that would make customers feel even more welcome; a look that they would find entertaining and comfortable. With assistance from the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Starved Rock Country Alliance, they were able to weather the shutdown and emerge stronger with their dream restaurant design. The family spent many long hours personally doing the hard work that yielded the result that they were aiming for.

Among the new additions is a reception desk made from the real front end of a 1973 American LaFrance fire engine, with working lights and a bell greeting visitors as they enter. Originally built from spare parts by Herb Weyers, a Chicago area LaFrance sales representative, as a promotional tool at fire conferences, it was acquired by Dwight businessman and fire memorabilia trader Alex McWilliams when LaFrance was done with it. Maria had seen the unique décor piece years earlier in McWilliams’ office and felt it would be a perfect fit for the renovated restaurant. She said it was an expensive purchase, but feels that the one-of-a-kind nature of the item made it well worth it. They didn’t hook up the siren, because they felt it would be too loud and might frighten people, but they do use the bell for birthdays and special occasions. “[When we turn on the lights], the kids like it, but the adults love it!” Maria enthused. “Adults are really kids at heart, and when we showcase it to them, they’re just overwhelmed with joy when they see it.”

Another important — if less flamboyant addition — is an interior mural, painted by local artist Steve Connor, depicting famous sights along the length of Route 66 (to go along with the eye-catching patriotic mural Connor painted on the exterior of the restaurant back in 2002.) The family prepped a blank upper wall wrapping around the dining area, then turned the artist loose for several weeks to complete his rendering of Mother Road hot spots from Chicago to Los Angeles.

In terms of functional improvements, they added 1,500 square feet and upped their dining capacity from 120 to 150, added a new kitchen, new restrooms, a new dishwashing area, and a new walk-in freezer and storage area.

Looking to the Future

The multi-generational success of the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant is likely to continue, as Maria’s husband Naser, son Luan, daughters Brendita and Lindita, and daughterin-law Malia will continue to be a big part of the present operation, and with her two-year-old granddaughter Leona and a new grandson on the way, there will be future family members who Maria hopes will carry on the tradition.

“I explain to the folks on the tour[s] that the Route 66 experience is not about the road itself. That is simply what connects each town and its people,” said Weiss. “People, such as Maria, is what Route 66 is all about.”

This is the art and craft of creating a new “old” Route 66 destination business in modern times. It’s the skill learned from a previous generation and the hard work of the upcoming generations. It’s not a historic building, but it’s legendary hospitality. As this multi-generational restaurant continues to garner accolades, more and more travelers say they’ve eaten there, and that the food is great. But yet, after meeting Maria, they too remember that it’s all about the people.