Scotty’s Route 66 soon will change owners

A purchase offer for Scotty’s Route 66 Bar and Grill in Hamel, Ill., has been agreed to in principle, and the closing on the deal will occur May 21, says current co-owner Jim Allen.

Allen says he hasn’t yet met the new owners, who hail from the nearby Edwardsville-Granite City area. He and his wife Pat, also a co-owner of Scotty’s, will meet them next week.

“I believe they will carry on the Route 66 tradition,” he said. “That’s the word I did get.”

The Allens have owned Scotty’s for eight years, and decided it was time to retire.

“We had a lot of fun with it,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to give it up.”

Scotty’s and the Allens will host a farewell party from 6 p.m. until closing at 1 a.m. Friday, May 15, that includes live music.

Scotty’s was an Earnie’s, and a Village Inn before that. It dates to at least 1937 and was then called Tourist Haven. Scotty’s was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2006, and it’s a frequent stopping point during Route 66 cruises.

The Allens owned a stuffed jackalope that had been “kidnapped” by customers and taken all over the continent, including Mexico, before being returned. It was something of an unofficial mascot and prank target.

Well, the jackalope soon is going to stop its rambling. The Allens are donating it to the Illinois Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac.

(Hat tip: Roaddog)

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