Saturday, February 3, 2018

Akron Restaurant: "Homespun Pleasures of Lancaster County"



On the heels of the Jakey Budderschnip business card and the Soudersburg Motel business card, here's a third old Lancaster County business card. This one touts the Akron Restaurant, which once offered Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine in the borough of Akron in northeastern Lancaster County.

The restaurant's proprietors were Mr. and Mrs. Warren Royer and, based on the hours of business, the only time they got a "breather" was on Mondays, with a 2 p.m. closing time.

The Akron Restaurant is mentioned in passing in "The Homespun Pleasures of Lancaster County," a lengthy and glowing travel article by Michael J. Lephy that was published by The New York Times in 1981. Lephy states: "at the Akron Restaurant in Akron, I discovered shoo-fly pie as it should be: a stickily delicious combination of molasses and breadcrumbs served warm in a pie shell and topped with freshly whipped cream."

The restaurant is, as you have surely guessed by now, no more. A January 2016 LancasterOnline.com article by Chad Umble details this chronology:

  • Circa 1950: Warren G. and Dorothy Royer opened a restaurant in Ephrata, about three miles northeast of Akron.
  • 1954: Akron Restaurant is relocated to Main Street in Akron. Traditional Sunday dinners become a big draw.
  • 1971: Restaurant moves from Main Street to nearby, larger location along Route 272. (So, this business card might be from 1971 or earlier.)
  • 2004: The Lewis family, the restaurant's third-generation owners, sell the business to the Mountis family. The restaurant is closed temporarily.
  • May 2007: Restaurant, under the Mountis family, reopens as the Akron Restaurant, Bakery & French Toast Factory. There are some notes and reviews of this era on this Roadfood message board.
  • July 2010: Restaurant closes for good.
  • January 2016: Work begins to remodel the building into an outpatient rehabilitation center.

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