Parsippany-Based Howard Johnson's Closes Its Final Restaurant

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Howard Johnson's Restaurants once touted 28 ice cream flavors, but now they have zero eateries in which they can serve them. The Parsippany-headquartered Howard Johnson closed its final restaurant in the nation, shutting the doors of the Lake George, New York, establishment.

In 1925, Howard Deering Johnson borrowed $2,000 to operate a small corner pharmacy in Quincy, Massachusetts. The soda fountain became the busiest part of his drug store. To keep the business afloat, Johnson created new ice cream recipes.

Johnson created 28 flavors, and the number would become his business's trademark. Howard Johnson's became the nation's largest restaurant chain in the 1960s and 70s, with more than 1,000 restaurants.

The Lake George restaurant became the final HoJo's after the Bangor, Maine, eatery closed in 2016. The Upstate New York establishment had been a local favorite — celebrity chef Rachael Ray even once worked there while living in Lake George as a teenager. But by that point, Howard Johnson shifted its focus to the hotel and motel business — now called Howard Johnson by Wyndham.

It's uncertain whether anyone will be able to eat any food from Howard Johnson's again. HoJo's previously discontinued its line of supermarket frozen foods, including ice cream. A Howard Johnson's frozen-dessert book — featuring the original ice cream formulas — sold for $838 in April on eBay.