The historic Dew Chilli Parlor site a short distance from Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois, closed Friday because of traffic and parking issues. Two other Dew Chili sites — including one on old Route 66 — remain open in the city.
The site at 1216 S. Fifth St. had operated there since 1954. Other Dew Chilli joints may be found at 2312 Wabash Ave. (a 1926-1930 alignment of Route 66) and 301 N. Grand Ave. West. A third will open at 2690 S. Dirksen Parkway in October., another 66 alignment.
Joe Bockelmann, who served his first bowl of chilli in 1909, was operating out of his house on Sixth Street (aka Route 66) until he was evicted. He relocated to the South Fifth Street site in 1954 and ran it until his death in 1975.
Longtime Dew employee Rita Maurer took over the restaurant until 1994, when it closed. Mark Roberts III reopened and renovated the historic site in 2014 after acquiring the rights to the original recipe.
The Springfield State Journal-Register reported on why the historic site closed:
“We’ve put a lot of thought into this,” co-owner Mike Monseur said Thursday. “There’s sentimental value there for a lot of people and, originally, we intended to keep it open. But the limited parking and high traffic meant we couldn’t assure customer safety.”
Monseur said the final straw was a recent incident when an elderly patron fell into the road — which serves as an artery for traffic leaving downtown — while exiting her car parked street side.
“We ran out to her and she was OK,” Monseur said, “but you open your car door and people are zooming right by.” […]
Leskovisek said many artifacts from the Fifth Street parlor will be moved to the Dirksen Parkway address for display, including the building sign, an original parlor table and Bockelmann’s writings and bean counter.
The “chilli” spelling is native to Springfield and often credited to Bockelmann, although other vendors used the spelling as well.
Like Cincinnati, Springfield long has enjoyed a reputation as being a hotbed for chili. Springfield calls itself the “Chilli Capital of the World.” Springfield residents reputedly eat more chili per capita than anywhere else.
(Excerpted image of the historic Dew Chlli Parlor in Springfield, Illinois, via Google Street View)
According to the Collins Etymology Dictionary, chilli [sic] comes from the Nahuatl (Aztecan) native name for the peppers. So “chili” is a misspelling – or misspeling!
As for finally closing a business because one person fell over when getting out of a car, that sounds a bit unlikely. How much trade was the branch actually doing?
Regarding, “but you open your car door and people are zooming right by,” a photo of the road outside the parlour shows several cars parked with their drivers’ doors adjacent to the kerb. How much of a risk to other road users was the person who “fell into the road”? Did she drive to the parlour? My 90 plus own mother gave up driving when she realised she was a danger to others.
A shop owner saying “we couldn’t assure customer safety” suggests a new duty to people outside the premises and on other people’s land. How soon will it be before a clever lawyer tries to claim damages for someone injured or killed while driving to or parking at a shop, or just getting out of a car?