Steak n Shake has been on the radar a lot, at least for me, because of their embrace of bitcoin. They've got something going on.
Last week I traveled through Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. I had a specific goal in mind: I wanted to stop at the original Steak n Shake location in Normal, IL. I knew that the original restaurant is there, but that it's actually no longer there. That is to say, it's there as a building, but it's no longer a Steak n Shake. It is now a Monical's Pizza.
A new Steak n Shake is out by the interstate that circumnavigates the downtown area. I went by the new location, but didn't stop in. Maybe I'll stop in another day and spend some sats. But, last week as I drove through, I was laser focused. I wanted to go to the original.
As a child, I'd eaten at the original location when my family stopped in on a very hot summer day. It was great. I still remember that roadside lunch fondly. How often do you remember a single lunch decades later? Combining that (a) I was traveling through the area and (b) the recent Steak n Shake embrace of bitcoin, I wanted to go back to that location.
"You Can't Go Home Again," yes, I know, Thomas Wolfe. So, I wasn't expecting to go back and see things as I recalled in my memory. Yet, I was determined. Like total tourists, I drive into the parking lot via the exit side. Then, my wife convinced me that the lane beside the restaurant was actually the correct way to enter. So, I would up driving wrong-way up the drive-through. I got some funny looks from inside..."some nitwit is going through the drive-through backwards." Fortunately, no one else the came toward us in the correct direction. Then after manipulating a 3 point U-turn and facing the car back around in the correct direction, we'd made it.
Kind of embarrassed from our entry, we got out of the car to look around. I somewhat expected to be disappointed. But, to be honest, I was happily pleased that the outside still had, "the look." Or, at least, it did to a degree. It had the correct design that I remembered - the building still has that low-and-flat prairie style ranch diner layout to it. I'd say it has sort of an Art Deco, Frank Lloyd Wright, sprawling, Edward Hopper "Nighthawks" look and feel about it. Maybe that's a stretch, but it could have that look and feel with a little squinting and imagination.
Photo by me, July 31, 2025. Compare it to the photo below, supposedly from the 1950s.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/comments/rma7f4/steak_n_shake_restaurant_1219_south_main_normal/
Source of "Nighthawks": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks_(Hopper)
Going in
My wife asked if I was going inside. I had planned to, but after my wrong-way driving, I questioned showing my face. However, I rallied my courage. I went inside. The woman greeted us (I don't think she saw my driving) and asked if we were there for dinner. A bit embarrassed, I explained we were "just passing through", which was very true, then got right to the point, "Is this the first Steak n Shake, the original one?"
Thankfully, she knew what I meant. "Yes, it is!" she said. I looked around and it didn't have any signs of Steak n Shake. I guess I was hoping there was be something on the wall, a little "museum" for lack of better terms. Even though the pizza place is a competitor, I still thought...maybe.
The pizza lady was very kind though. She asked if we were doing the "Route 66 thing." That hadn't crossed my mind, and I didn't even know that was part of Route 66, the famous Chicago-to-L.A. highway. I guess it's kind of a thing to travel Route 66 and hit certain spots along the way. I guess the original Steak n Shake is one of those spots. She explained there wasn't much left from the original Steak n Shake.
"We still have some of the original counter," she said. She explained they used to have some stools, but they got rid of them because they were taking up space. I'm not 100% convinced that that "counter" was actually in the old Steak n Shake, but, hey, that's what she said so I'll take it. Here it is:
Photo by me, the counter last remaining part of the original, so I'm told.
Below, another shot of the original restaurant.
Calling out the CEO of Steak n Shake...
Attn: Sardar Biglari, Steak n Shake CEO. There's a lot of folks excited about what you're doing with bitcoin and beef tallow oil. You've put Steak n Shake back on the map. Now, I'm issuing a call-to-duty:
Buy this Monical's Pizza, bring back the original Steak n Shake in all its Art Deco glory. It's Americana at its best and it needs to be immortalized as a living and working museum. Make it happen. Do it.
