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Dating back to the early days of
baseball most ballplayers had regular
jobs during the off-season to
supplement their income. Some star
players lent their name out or invested
in sports themed restaurants. Some
restaurants used the popularity of our
national-game to draw patrons to their
establishment.
In 1937, a season removed from his
All-Star rookie season with the New
York Yankees, Joe DiMaggio invested
$25,000 in the restaurant. Named "Joe
DiMaggio's Grotto," he brought his
brothers in, and left Tom in charge to
run the business.
Their farther Giuseppe was a lifelong fisherman, as were generations of
DiMaggio's before him. Not long before
the restaurant was opened, the father
and older brothers set out every
morning to take crabs off the ocean
floor. Joe received a wholesale price
of 22 cent a crab for his catch.
The Fold's in this
1956
Joe DiMaggio's World Famous Restaurant
Menu is the result of a special
"FOLD HERE" mailing feature. The back
reads: "If you desire to mail this menu
to your friends, please address and
hand same to your waiter. We will take
care of postage and mailing."
 In
1940 Lefty O'Doul opened a cocktail
lounge at 209 Powell St, in San
Francisco, one mile from Joe DiMaggio's
Grotto. The ex-major league ballplayer
was the manager of the San Francisco
Seals of the Pacific Coast League at
the time. O'Doul was given credit to
developing the young Joe DiMaggio, but
said he was just smart enough to leave
him alone.
In 1958 O'Doul closed up the prosperous bristo on Powell street, and
opened a bar-restaurant in a new
location at 333 Geary Street. His idea
was to open an establishment in the
order of Toot's Shor's restaurant in
New York, catering to the resident
sporting fraternity and the crowds
attracted into town by major league
baseball. The menu featured such
flavored dishes as the Willie Mays
Omelette and the Carl Hubbelburger.
The 333 Geary St., San Francisco
"Lefty O'Doul's" World Famous Restaurant Glass Ashtray
measures 3.25 by 3.25 inches. A round
ashtray was also produced, as was one
for the 209 Powell St. Lefty's Cocktail
Lounge.
Al Schacht was a Major League pitcher
for the Washington Senators from 1919
to 1921. He later became a 3rd base
coach, and his comedic antics from the
coaching lines with fellow Washington
coach Nick Altrock, earned him the
nickname of "The Clown Prince of
Baseball."
During WWII, wearing a battered top hat and ragged tails, Schacht took his
act on the road, touring to entertain
the troops overseas. On the home front
Schacht was involved locally, attending
events to raise money through War
Bonds, including the 1944 Dodgers
Yankees Giants Tri-Cornered Baseball
Game, played at the Polo Grounds.
In 1942 Schacht cited that tire and gas restrictions, rationing for the
war effort, forced him to abandon his
diamond antics and he decided to open a
cafe in New York. September of 1942,
Al Schacht Score Card Restaurant
opened at 102 E. 52 Street, New York
City, NY. It soon became a popular
destination for local sports stars and
celebrities. The Restaurant operated
into the 1960's.
Bill Zuber played 19 years of
professional baseball. At the Major
League level, Zuber pitched for the
Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators,
New York Yankees, and the Boston Red
Sox. Bill returned to the minor leagues
for the 1948 season, pitching for the
Louisville Colonels, before retiring.
In 1949, Bill a native of the Amana Colonies, purchased the century old
Homestead Inn.
The Homestead was completely modernized it into a restaurant, serving
family style German-American food.
This trade card pictures Zuber in his
Yankee uniform with a facsimile
autograph with salutations: "Good
Hitting Bill Zuber" The back features:
"The Ten Commandments of Baseball" By
Joe McCarthy
Stan Musial always worried about his
baseball career, about getting hurt,
and wanted a business to fall back on.
After befriending Julius "Biggie"
Garagnani, owner of Biggie's Steak
House, Musial bought a home in the St.
Louis area, then spoke with Biggie
about a partnership in the restaurant.
Musial officially became Biggie's partner in January of 1949. In 1950, the
original restaurant at 6435 Chippewa
St. was enlarged, with the addition of
a cocktail lounge and expansion of the
main dining room.
This
cocktail glass is from the new Stan
Musial & Biggies Steak House that
open on February 17, 1961, at 5130
Oakland Avenue. The earlier Cocktail
glasses feature black & gold leaf
printing. Glasses that were made at a
later date have the same design but do
not have the gold leaf.
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Dubbed as Baseball's unofficial
headquarters, Toots Shor's
Restaurant was owned and
operated by Bernard "Toots"
Shor at 51 West 51st Street in
Manhattan from 1940 to 1959. It
was the place to be in New York
City, frequented by celebrities
such as; Jackie Gleason, Frank
Sinatra, Judy Garland, Marilyn
Monroe, Orson Welles, Yogi
Berra, and Ernest Hemingway. It
was also Joe DiMaggio's home
away from his hotel room, and a
place of gathering of sports
and Broadway figures, who came
to see and be seen. |
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On February 5, 1951, Toots Shor hosted
a party held in conjunction with the
National League’s 75th birthday. Hall
Of Famers in attendance were the likes
of Kid Nichols, Charley Gehringer, Mel
Ott, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Tris
Speaker, George Sisler, Pie Traynor,
Mickey Cochrane, Cy Young, Fred Clarke,
Jimmy Foxx and Ed Walsh. Before the
evening was considered ended, the old
greats—Cobb, Speaker, Hornsby and the
rest—pressed Shor for his king-sized
menus and table-hopped, getting each
other’s autographs.
The back of the 1952-1959
Toots Shor Dinner menus featured a
picture taken at the 1951 party.
Pictured are: Jimmy Foxx, Mel Ott,
Mickey Cochrane, Ed Walch, Toots Shor,
Rogers Hornsby, Pie Traynor, Fred
Clarke, Arlie Latham, Cy Young. George
Sisler, Charley Nichols, Ty Cobb, and
Charley Gehringer.
Robin Roberts, ace right-handed pitcher
for the Philadelphia Phillies became
the president of a new seafood
distributing company in 1956. William
Mullis, a former grocer who parlayed a
breaded shrimp recipe into a fortune,
sold his interests in the Trade Winds
company, and opened the Neptunalia
Seafood Co. in Savannah Georgia.
Roberts was named president and Mulis, Chairman of the board. The company
made Gold King products, which offered
such items as; fried shrimp ready to
"heat and eat," shrimp cocktails and
ready-boiled and deveined shrimp. By
1958, at least four locations of Robin
Roberts Neptunalia Seafood restaurants
were also opened in Georgia.
This souvenir postcard pictures the Robin Roberts Seafood Neptunalia
Restaurant on the front. The back lists
two locations and at the bottom reads;
"Food is our Business - Service to our
customers is out most important aim.
Both must please you -Robin Roberts
President"
In 1959 Ted Kluszewski an 11 year
veteran of the Cincinnati Reds,
purchase interest in the original
Charcoal Steak house at 1106 East
McMillan street in Cincinnati.
Kluszewski partnered up with the
nationally known restaurateur Jack
Stayin, who took on the name "Jack and
Klu's."
Opening day 1960, Cincinnati Redleg fans weren't permitted to forget ex-Cincy
slugger Ted Kluszewski, who was playing
for the Chicago White Sox at the time.
Before the game an airplane circled
Crosley Field several times, and behind
the plane was a huge banner reading:
"Dine at Big Klu's Charcoal Steak
house." By 1963 Jack and Klu's opened
restaurants in 5 locations. The inside
of this
Jack and Klu's matchbook lists
four locations. The other side features
Ted Kluszewski facsimile signature.
Kluszewski sold his interest in the restaurant in 1971, but the steakhouse
retained his name. Following the joint
venture with Kluszewski, Jack Stayins
sold the restaurant in 1975.
Don Drysdale, ace right-handed pitcher
for the Los Angeles Dodgers partnered
with Jack Lafaye in 1962, and opened
"Don Drysdale's Dugout." The Van Nuys
60 seat restaurant and cocktail lounge
located at 14030 Oxnard St. featured a
baseball motif throughout, from the
entrance doors, in the shape of
baseball bats, to the baseball shaped
light fixtures.
Drysdale a Van Nuys native, opened two more Don Drysdale Dugout
restaurants, one in Santa Ana, and
another in Maui, before calling it
quits in 1982. The
Don Drysdale's
Dugout souvenir postcards were produced
by J.D. McCarthy. It features a black &
white picture of Don on one knee
holding a baseball, with a blue ink
facsimile salutation signature; "Very
Best Wishes Don Drysdale." The back
reads: "Don Drtsdale's Dugout,
Luncheons Steaks & Cocktails, Santa Ana
California. Another lists all three
locations.
The Dallas based Mickey Mantle's
Country Cookin' franchise opened it's
first restaurant in December of 1968 in
Longview Texas. The prototype
restaurant located in San Antonio
opened in March 1968 as Mickey Mantle's
Country Kitchen; but a
Minneapolis-based franchise chain,
Country Kitchen international owned the
name since 1939, and brought suit
against Mickey Mantle.
In agreement with the settlement, the name was changed to Mickey Mantle's
Country Cookin'.. Mickey Mantle was
named chairman of the board of ten
restaurants and drew a yearly salary of
$100,000. Mantle was fired late in 1969
after the stock plummeted from $15.00 a
share to $2.00. Despite coming up with
the advertising slogan: "To get a
better piece of chicken You'd have to
be a rooster," Mantle officially
resigned in 1970.
The
six piece table settings and the coffee
mug feature a Shenango China U.S.A.
makers mark. Along with the mark is a
code which signifies the year made.
T-27, and H-27 were made in 1969, G-26
was made in 1968. "Mickey Mantle's
Country Kitchen" plates from the
original prototype restaurant in San
Antonio have surfaced into the hobby
but are extremely rare.
Johnny Bench's Home Plate Restaurant
opened on February 16, 1974, at the
Northgate Mall, corner of Springdale &
Colerain, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The
restaurant featured a giant scoreboard,
and a row of red lockers to check your
coat. The cocktail lounge was called
the "Dugout," decorated with bright red
uniforms, bats, balls, and gloves.
Behind the bar was a trophy case, symbolic of Bench's greatest
achievements; MVP Award, a trophy for
leading the National League in home
runs in 1972, and other gold plated
memorabilia.
There was also a football Room, Basketball room, and a hockey room. The
menu advertises house specialties under
the headings of baseball jargon:
"Warm-up" drinks and cocktails,
"Batting Practice" Salad-Bar in the
Bengal Room. "The Line-up" contained
J.B.'s Pepper Steak, with such "Pinch
Hitters" as a Baked Potato. "On Deck"
Coffee, tea or Milk. "Extra Innings"
desserts. After Dinner drinks "In the
Bullpen" Wine list "From The Dugout"
By 1975, the growing restaurant
community in the "Queen City" already
hosted Ted Kluszewski's Steak House,
and Johnny Bench's Home Plate. But
Cincinnati still had an apatite for
"Pete Rose's Restaurant" at 3360
Westbourne Drive. A second Cincinnati
eatery, "Pete Rose Champion
Restaurant," held a Grand Opening
Weekend, May 5th to May 7th, 1978.
Festivities included; Free Soft Drinks with Every meal, a pair of box seat
tickets to a reds game, given away
every hour, each child received a free
autographed
picture of Pete Rose with every meal, and the Grand Prize, four box seat
to a future Reds game and dinner for
four with Pete Rose after the game
compliments of Pete Rose Champion
Restaurant.
The following year, Pete Rose was
traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. A
name change from "Pete Rose Champion
Restaurant" to the "Champion
Restaurant" followed. When Pete Rose
went to Philadelphia, the business went
with him.
A 4 foot by 20 foot neon Pete Rose signature outside the restaurant was
given away through a newspaper
contest... By sending in a postcard
telling in 25 words or less why you'd
like to have "THE WORLD'S LARGEST PETE
ROSE AUTOGRAPH."
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 In 1987, New York Yankees
first baseman Don Mattingly opened
Mattingly’s 23 Restaurant & Lounge
in Evansville, Indiana. It featured a
carpeted floor laid out like a baseball
diamond, and two dugouts where you
could sit.
Mattingly's 23, which took
its name
from Mattingly's jersey
number, seated 269 people and featured
sports memorabilia throughout the establishment. The baseball legends
area with tributes to Ruth, Gehrig,
Rose, DiMaggio, Thurman Munson and
others. There was also a boxing ring
with tables inside the ropes, and a
Hoosier Room, with tributes to local
sports figures, such as Don's late
brother, Jerry Mattingly.
The entrance
featured a replica ticket booth, World
Series programs and a souvenir stand.
The
Mattingly's 23 menus were made available at the
Souvenir stand (gift-shop) which also
included; jackets, sweatshirts,
t-shirts, caps, posters, coffee mugs,
baseball bat pens, mini bats, 1991
Coca-Cola Mattingly's 23 restaurant
baseball card sets and more.
 Harry Caray was a radio
and television broadcaster, covering
Major League Baseball teams beginning
with a long tenure calling the games
of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland
A's, and the Chicago White Sox
before ending his career as the
announcer for the Chicago Cubs.
Harry Caray's Restaurant Group began when the first Harry Caray's Italian
Steakhouse opened in Chicago's River
North neighborhood in 1987. Located at
33 W. Kinzie St. it was once home to
the notorious enforcer of the Al
Capone gang, Frank Nitti. He lived in
an apartment on the fourth floor with
his wife Annette.
Harry Caray's Restaurant had been designated the Official Home Plate of
the Chicago Cubs. The bar is 60 feet,
6 inches long, the exact distance from
the pitcher's mound to home plate. The
restaurant houses 1,500 pieces of
baseball memorabilia, including items
from Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, & Ted
Williams.
"The Harry Caray's Restaurant Cookbook" was Published in 2003. Cookbook
authors Jane and Michael Stern have
taken 150 of the best dishes at Harry Caray's Restaurant and converted them
into recipes. "The Harry Caray's
Restaurant Cookbook" is divided into
these categories: soups, salads,
sandwiches, appetizers, side dishes,
sauces and dressings, pasta and
risotto, Italian favorites, seafood,
chicken, steaks, veal and chops, and
desserts.
Located in NYC, Mickey Mantle's
Restaurant opened in 1988. Inside, the
decor of sports memorabilia and art
made Mantle's one of the more popular
sports bars in the city. Burton
Silverman was commissioned by Mantle
to create the
artwork that appears on the cover of
the menus.
The original painting hung there for many years as well. Lithographs
signed by both Mickey Mantle and
Burton Silverman were also made
available for sale at the restaurant.
As stated on the bottom of one menu;
"Many of the works of art on display
are available for purchase. Please ask
your waiter or waitress for further
information."
Before checking into the Betty Ford
Clinic in 1994, the year before the
slugger passed away, Mantle was often
spotted schmoozing and sharing a
cocktail with fans inside his namesake
restaurant. The restaurant grossing
$3.9 million its first year, closed in
2012, due to increasing food prices,
shifting city regulations and landlord
interference.
Ozzie Smith's Restaurant & Sports Bar
opened at 645 West Point Plaza, in St.
Louis MO, in December of 1988. The
walls were adorned with dozens of
photos of Ozzie; St. Louis Blues and
Cardinal jerseys, game used bats, and
a one-of-a-kind mural showing him
batting, stealing, and a number of
other depictions of Ozzie in action.
Twenty-two television sets leaves no
seat without a view.
The Ozzie's Restaurant & Sports Bar Menu illustrations are done by Amadee
Wohlschlaeger. Amadee, as he signs his
work, was a St. Louis Post Dispatch
cartoonist. His work appeared
frequently on the pages of the
Sporting News.
The house specialties come under headings, accompanied with the
illustrations such as: "The Wizards
Specials" with Ozzie in magician
clothes; "All Star Steaks" Ozzie
turning a double play; "Gone Fishing"
with Whitey Herzog in a boat fishing;
"The Mexican Connection" with Ozzie,
Vince Coleman and Willie McGee dressed
as the "Three Amigos;" and "The
Knockout Burgers" with Ozzie doing his
famous flip. |
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Next Month Collecting Baseball
Themed Restaurant Placemats |
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