Angels on the Route operators resurface in nearby Galena

The operators of the closed Angels on the Route restaurant on Route 66 in Baxter Springs, Kansas, have resurfaced at an upcoming restaurant in nearby Galena, Kansas — also on Route 66.

On Monday, Alan and Cheri McCarney will open Sugar Creek Diner & Bakery at 300 W. Seventh St. (aka Route 66) in Galena, they announced in a Facebook post. The restaurant sits about eight miles northeast of their earlier site.

“Nothing against Baxter Springs; this opportunity just happened to be in Galena,” they stated in a text message Saturday.

Sugar Creek will offer a “full menu, bakery, catering & gourmet coffee,” the Facebook post stated. The McCarneys stated in a text message the restaurant will have an “All American style menu with a variety of dessert items.”

Hours will be from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Angels on the Route closed in early 2018. In May, a developer bought up nearly an entire city block in downtown Baxter Springs — including the Angels on the Route building — for the soon-to-open Decades of Wheels complex that includes a car museum, go-kart track, craft-beer bar and a restaurant.

The Angels on the Route building was constructed in 1865 as Cooper’s Dry Goods Store. It later became a pharmacy, drugstore and doughnut shop before Sue Gast and Sue Rammage bought it and reopened it as Angels on the Route.

KSNF-TV produced a report last week on how Decades of Wheels was progressing before a planned October opening:

Staff with Decades of Wheels say by this fall, they’ll have a museum and two restaurants open in downtown Baxter Springs. The museum will showcase a rotating inventory of cars from the Model “T” all the way up to the modern era.

The facility will also offer a 25 room bed and breakfast for tourists. Museum staff say when it came to choosing a location for the facility, Baxter Springs was the perfect fit.

“There are an enormous amount of people who still travel this highway to see what things used to be like, and they want to come see the mother road, and see what things used to be, and we want to preserve that history,” says David Hickmott, Marketing Director for Decades of Wheels.

(Image of Sugar Creek Diner & Bakery in Galena, Kansas, via Facebook)

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