Springfield eatery celebrating 100 years by offering original prices from 1924

It’s been a century since the first Maid-Rite sandwich was served, staking Springfield’s claim as home of the nation’s first drive-thru.

The recipes for the signature, seasoned loose meat sandwich served with mustard, onions and pickle relish on a steamed bun and scratch-made root beer haven’t changed over the decades.

And for the business’s centennial celebration July 27, the prices also are rolling back the calendar to 1924.

More: 66 Things on Route 66: Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop

“Everything is still the same,” said Sam Quaisi, Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop’s current and longest running owner/operator. Quaisi purchased the 118 N. Pasfield St. business in 1995 and can still be found at the eatery daily. “It’s a tradition going on for years and years. A lot of people grew up on Maid-Rites.

“The only thing that has changed is us and the cow.”

Quaisi is celebrating the local landmark’s anniversary by rolling back prices from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the celebration. Buy one sandwich or root beer at regular price and get the second for a nickel. That’s a bargain, considering Maid-Rite’s 75th anniversary was marked with menu items selling for 75-cents.

The Route 66 destination also will be feted with a street party complete with a classic car show and DJ.

History tells that the business got its name after local butcher Fred Angell had his mailman sample his newest sandwich creation – a loose meat sandwich seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. The response: “That’s made right.”

Arthur Knippenburg opened the business in 1924 at the Pasfield address, complete with the sliding window where customers could place orders. Few changes have been made to the white clapboard building over the decades. Rules posted on the walls warn “No loud talking” and “No moving of chairs.”

A 7-by-14-foot addition was added to the dining area shortly before Quaisi purchased the business from Clarence Donley.

Over the years this Springfield landmark has had to fight for its place in the history books.

Donley took an Iowa-based chain that also operates a loose-meat sandwich shop under the Maid-Rite name to court when the usurper opened a location at 2941 W. Iles Ave. in 1993. Donley got a court order barring the competitor – founded in 1926, two years after the Springfield Maid-Rite – from using the Maid-Rite name in the Capital City.

Now, the claim to be the first drive-thru window in the country has never been proven definitively. But the building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Pizza, pizza!

A third Little Caesars opened Wednesday on Springfield’s north end.

The new site at 2512 N. Dirksen Parkway operates from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily from the strip mall in front of Lowe’s Home Improvement. The new store offers the Detroit, Mich.-based pizza chain’s full menu, however the location does not have a drive-through window.

This is the second franchise that operator Steve Brevitz has opened in the Capital City in as many years. Brevitz entered the Springfield market in June 2023 with a Little Caesars site at 2427 Adlai Stevenson Drive.

More: Change of scenery could be coming to high-end steakhouse, sushi restaurant in Springfield

He is the franchise operator for seven Little Caesars located throughout central Illinois with stores in Decatur, Jacksonville and Quincy and in Hannibal, Mo.

Brevitz said he plans additional locations for the brand in Springfield, but has yet to identify any sites.

The Little Caesars at 1614 S. MacArthur Blvd. is not part of Brevitz’s holdings.

Bakery reopens

Jubelt’s Bakery & Restaurant reopened the restaurant portion of the Litchfield business Thursday, just three days after a drunk driver ran a truck into the south end of the building.

But more time will be necessary for the third-generation business to showcase its full line-up of doughnuts and pastries again.

“We lost a lot of space, storage and a lot of bakery product loss,” owner Jeanmarie Jubelt said Tuesday. “The full restaurant menu will return Thursday, but bakery items are going to be very limited.”

More: New-to-Springfield eatery provides tasty options for breakfast and lunch

Brothers Paul, Fred and Albert Jubelt opened their first location in 1922 in Mount Olive, supplying bread to the coal mining community. Through the decades Jubelt’s locations multiplied throughout central Illinois with stores stretching from Springfield to Staunton, Litchfield to Lincoln.

Today, only the Litchfield store, which has operated on a stretch of Old Route 66 since 1982, remains.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Need an excuse to eat ice cream?

Miracle Treat Day is July 25 with $1 of every Dairy Queen Blizzard sold in central Illinois going to HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital.

The Springfield-based children’s hospital is one of 170 member hospitals that partner with the not-for-profit Children’s Miracle Network. Dairy Queens throughout North America will be participating in the fundraiser raising money for member hospitals.

Dairy Queen has been holding Miracle Treat Day since 2006.

Local DQ’s raised $4,476 for HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital in 2023, according to a hospital spokesperson. Funds this year will purchase items like art supplies, books, educational materials and comfort toys.

The A La Carte column highlights restaurant openings, closings, renovations and relocations, as well as personnel changes and business news. Natalie Morris can be reached at 217-737-7254 or by email at natalie.sjr@gmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Springfield eatery celebrating 100 years by offering original prices from 1924