We recently took a spur-of-the-moment trip to northwestern Ohio and stopped for lunch at Kewpee Burgers in downtown Lima.
I loved the quirky, uniquely local, historic, and architecturally interesting building, but I also liked the fact that the classic Kewpee Burger so loved by Lima natives has an historic connection to a Michigan favorite of mine, Halo Burger of Flint.
Kewpee Burgers originated in 1923 as Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs. Sam V. Blair started selling burgers near the Kewpee Hotel in Flint, Michigan, building what became one of the nation's oldest hamburger chains (second only to White Castle, founded in 1921). Blair claimed to be the first to offer curbside service (and later drive-through service) and to use flat-top buns with his square hamburger patties.
The chain took its name (with a slight spelling alteration) from the Kewpie dolls popular at that time, and those roly-poly baby dolls still figure prominently at Lima's downtown Kewpee Burgers.
Hoyt "Stub" Wilson opened Lima's first Kewpee as a franchise in 1928, when he and his wife June began selling hamburgers there for a nickel each.
We opted to eat at Wilson's original, gleaming white, Art Deco-style diner with its campy Kewpie dolls presiding over the front entrance and in the 40-seat dining area.
I ordered my burger with sliced olives, and it reminded me of my beloved olive burgers from Michigan's Halo Burger. The burger, a side of fries, and frozen lemonade made for a perfect late lunch. Visiting on a mid-afternoon weekday also made it easy to grab a parking place on the street near the little diner tucked among tall, downtown buildings.
Kewpee Burger once dotted the Midwest with over 200 locations in cities like Toledo, Akron, and Sandusky in Ohio; South Bend and Muncie in Indiana; Benton in Illinois; LaCrosse and Kenosha in Wisconsin; and Flint, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo in Michigan. Many of the early Kewpee outlets were independently owned and featuring different menus and burgers.
An oft repeated story says Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, grew up eating Kewpee Burgers in Kalamazoo, which inspired him as he opened his first hamburger outlet in 1969 at Columbus, Ohio. One writer even claims that a Wendy's burger with mustard, pickle and onions tastes just like Kewpee's Regular burger, but I'm not buying that.
Kewpee Burgers in Lima takes particular pride in using only locally raised beef delivered fresh, never frozen, to the stores each day, where their employees grind it and form the patties.
Scarcity of meat during World War II drove many Kewpee locations to close.
Kewpee founder Sam Blair's retirement in 1944 and his death the next year didn't help matters.
Kewpee remained under control of Blair's estate until the 1950s. The estate sold the trademark in 1955 and put the estate-owned Kewpee Burgers up for sale in 1958. The sales resulted in situations like one in Flint, Michigan, where Bill Thomas purchased the Kewpee outlet there from Blair's estate, but changed the name to Halo Burger because someone else owned the trademark.
Further disputes over the trademark and franchising agreements saw the number of Kewpee Burger restaurants drop to nearly none by 1967.
In 1969, another group purchased the trademark and moved the company's headquarters to Lima.
Today, Harry Shutt owns Kewpee Inc., and the chain has five restaurants. Three locations in Lima include the downtown diner, plus two newer suburban locations. The other Kewpee Burgers are in Racine, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Michigan.
Lima natives seem to relish their Kewpee Burgers from what I've read online, and it sounds like there is a lot of truth to the sign I saw posted in the downtown Lima store that said "Your Grandpappy ate here".
I felt right at home because of the historic link to Michigan's Halo Burger, and the cheesy appeal of Kewpee slogans like "hamburg, pickle on tip, makes your heart go flippity-flop" that reminded me of Halo's "Seven days without a Halo Burger makes one weak!"
Be sure to check out my story History and olives on the menu at Michigan's Halo Burger.
Come back tomorrow for more photos and info about the Kewpies at Lima's Kewpee and the Midwest connection to these popular early 1900s dolls.
Want to learn more about Kewpee Burgers? Check out Hamburger America: One Man's Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation by George Motz, which includes a profile of Kewpee Burgers in Lima, or Remembering Flint, Michigan: Stories from the Vehicle City by Gary Flinn, which mentions the original Kewpee in Flint.
© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved
Once again, you've done a wonderful job of capturing Ohio's charm! Thanks for sharing your travels with us. Now, I'm suddenly hungry. Luckily there's no shortage of great places to eat here in Ohio!
Posted by: Roger Barker | May 05, 2011 at 12:24 PM
Thanks for the suggestion to eat at Kewpee, Roger :)
Posted by: Dominique King | May 05, 2011 at 04:31 PM
This is awesome, thanks for posting!
Posted by: Lindsay | October 06, 2014 at 10:44 AM
I am 68yrs old and yes my Grandpappy did eat at the Lima, Ohio Kewpee many many times.
We live in another state, but when we get to Lima we always eat at the Kewpee before heading back home.
It is a given. Thanks for the article.
Posted by: Nancy Hawk | November 20, 2014 at 09:48 AM
Nancy-we loved Kewpee and now we have several Halo Burgers open near us in metro Detroit! I've heard from other folks who have some great memories of both of these places over the years. Thanks for stopping by :)
Posted by: Dominique King | November 30, 2014 at 09:45 PM
I don't know if it still exists but there was a Wilsons in Findlay Ohio just 45 minutes north of lima that sold almost exact same menu as kewpee.
Posted by: David Heil | January 23, 2015 at 07:17 AM
Hi David, Thanks for stopping by! I haven't heard about Wilson's in Findlay before, but from what I can find with a quick Web search, there does seem to be a Kewpee/Wendys , and therefore Halo, connection. As of late last year, they were still getting reviews on Yelp, so they were still open at that point. I'll have to check it out next time I'm down that way. Thanks for the tip!
Posted by: Dominique King | January 23, 2015 at 02:12 PM
My grandpappy ate there!
Posted by: patricia Keegan | January 23, 2015 at 05:43 PM
Thanks for stopping by Patricia! Suddenly, I'm hungry for a Kewpee Burger this morning :)
Posted by: Dominique King | January 24, 2015 at 05:33 AM
I just left the Kewpee. The other night there were 25 cars in line at Kewpee West. On our 60 th high school reunion last summer we ordered in Kewpees and Kewpee malts for Friday night and everyone loved them. I am 78 and have been eating Kewpees since about 1939.
Posted by: Marilyn | January 24, 2015 at 02:19 PM
Thanks for sharing your memories, Marilyn! I love the idea of doing burgers and malts at your informal reunion evening on Friday. Kewpee Burgers certainly seems to have agreed with you all of these years :)
Posted by: Dominique King | January 24, 2015 at 07:58 PM
Oh wow! As a kid in Kalamazoo, MI waaaaaaay back in the 50s we had a Kewpees downtown. I had no idea why it's no longer there but your article gave me clues. I have a memory of a great burger AND a Wendy's type of "frosty" I have been telling people for years I always felt I had a frosty before I ever heard of Wendy's! :) I guess it was a Kewpee's malt, eh??? I see there's a Kewpees in Lansing.........road trip??? Jan
Posted by: Jan | June 17, 2015 at 06:06 PM
I found the Michigan connection to the Ohio Kewpee Burger pretty intriguing. Glad to help you prove your point about the "Frosty" :)
Posted by: Dominique King | June 20, 2015 at 07:49 AM
In the case of my grandson, who also loves Kewpees, his great-great-grandpappy ate there.
Posted by: Joe Landwehr | October 11, 2015 at 01:27 PM
Glad you could stop by . We in lima are proud of our Kewpee tradition. That said, I'm a little sad to see you didn't save room for a slice of sugar cream pie- team it up with a Kewpee Regular (mustard, pickle and onion) and a cup of Yuban coffee and you've got the full experience.
Posted by: Bart mills | October 11, 2015 at 07:27 PM
Wilson's in Findlay, Ohio was a part of the Kewpee chain, from what I was told. It was in one of the books on Findlay, that my Daddy read. They are exactly the same, and same slogan and all.
Posted by: Mary Prine | October 12, 2015 at 10:34 PM
My favorite burger is from Michigan is what I got out of that. No more Kewpee's
BuckeyeBoy
Posted by: cory rose | October 13, 2015 at 11:19 AM
Kewpee has fallen in quality, service, and most important stores are dirty. Harry needs to pay more attention to these details. I have enjoyed Kewpee hamburgers for over 55 years. Last year or so bad
Posted by: Dave | February 10, 2016 at 06:38 AM
I haven't heard bad reports about Kewpee and hope your experience was an anomaly, Dave. We lost the nearby Halo lately, so I haven't had a chance to check that out lately, either. Now I'm hungry for an olive burger...
Posted by: Dominique King | February 10, 2016 at 03:18 PM
Wilson's in Findlay is still open.
Posted by: Craig Moore | October 14, 2017 at 11:44 AM