GC2651Y The Riviera Roadhouse (Traditional Cache) in Illinois, United States created by Team Quantumchaos

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Team Quantumchaos: The Roadhouse is gone :(

GC2651Y ▼

A cache by Team Quantumchaos Message this owner

Hidden : 4/4/2010

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Grats to boo 2 For The FTF!!!

Can you find this little nano on Historic Route 66?

Team Quantumchaos
Geocachers Of Northeastern Illinois Voting Member

Gardner's Gangster's Hangout

	The Riviera Roadhouse in Gardner has a fascinating history. Jack Rittenhouse mentions it in his guide book as a cafe at the intersection of the road into Gardner and Route 66. The Riviera Restaurant and Tavern was built in 1928. James Girot, a South Wilmington businessman, moved buildings from Gardner and South Wilmington and put them all together to form the Riviera structure as it stands today. The Riviera is a true roadhouse! Once movie legends Gene Kelly and Tom Mix regularly stopped here. This was a favorite haunt of Al Capone and was known as a gangster hangout too. Slot machines and booze were offered to the discrete customer during prohibition. In fact, there's a freezer in the basement with a heavy iron door that was used to hide booze and gambling machines in case of a raid.

Today the Riviera still serves the traveler a good home cooked meal and a stop at the Riviera is to step back in time to the 1930s and 1940s. Speaking of stepping back, while at the Riviera make sure to step out back and see the old Streetcar Diner. The Streetcar Diner is a preservation project of the Illinois Route 66 Association. The Preservation Committee rescued it from destruction and are in the process of restoring it now.

The streetcar is over one hundred years old and yes it truly was a horse drawn streetcar at one time. In 1932 George Kaldem purchased it with the intention of converting it into a roadside diner and moved the streetcar to Gardner. This was a no-frills operation, simple and to the point. A small sign on the exterior identified it as a diner, and its reputation for good food soon brought in the customers. For a while it was even used as an unofficial bus stop for the Greyhound line. The diner closed in 1939 but its history was not complete yet. Over the years it became a summer cottage, a children’s playhouse and rental property for workers at the Joliet Arsenal in W.W. II. In 1955 Gordon Gunderson who had married the daughter of Jim Girot, original owner of the Riviera Restaurant purchased the streetcar, and the streetcar was moved once more to its present location behind the Riviera.

It was used as a place for family reunions, picnics, lodging for fisherman and eventually a storage shed. Over the years the diner fell into disrepair until John Weiss, the President of the Illinois Route 66 Preservation Committee discovered it. Restoration then began on this historic streetcar and diner from the early days of Route 66. The dinner is not quite complete yet, but knowing the Illinois crew it will be soon! Thanks guys for preserving a part of our past in Gardner.