This Defunct Restaurant Was Owned By A Major Hotel Chain But Started As A Humble Root Beer Stand
Rewind to 1927. While strolling down 14th Street in Washington D.C., you reach building 3218, and there it is: the newly-launched Hot Shoppes. This humble stand sells tamales, chili con carne, coffee, and A&W Root Beer. Hospitality is full of surprises — but looking back, nobody would have guessed that its leadership would eventually evolve into Marriott International.
The stand was run by the husband-wife duo, J. Willard and Alice Marriott, and was so successful that, by 1960, it expanded to 70 restaurants across seven states. Adding to its root beer, the menu grew to include the "Mighty Mo" double-decker hamburger, chicken boxes, seafood-based mariner's boxes, and even salads after wartime rationing.
One of Marriott's five core values is particularly telling: the company vows to welcome change,"and it's certainly upheld its side of the bargain. Have you heard about its Cancun hotel bar, where you can try more than 150 margarita flavors? Or the rooftop with a Texas-shaped lazy river, a definite contender for the best pool bars in the US? Marriott has a reputation for pushing the boundaries; still, it's mind-blowing to think that a root beer stand paved its way.
How Hot Shoppes went defunct
Nothing lasts forever. Marriott was moving from industry to industry at lightning speed. It dabbled in airline catering in 1937, shifted to hotels in 1957, and opened a fast-food chain with Roy Rogers in 1968; something had to be left in the dust. Unfortunately for Hot Shoppes, the culinary landscape was also changing at this time.
In 1940, McDonald's launched it's first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, which is now an unofficial museum that you can visit. By 1952, KFC had fought the odds to open a franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah. 1954 brought Burger King, and 1965 would wave Subway onto the courts. There'd been a dramatic boom in fast-food restaurants with speedy service, and Hot Shoppes had a cafeteria style that just struggled to compete.
Given the industry developments, Marriott couldn't afford to avoid another pivot. Hot Shoppes had a slow phase-out, with the company transforming many venues into Roy Rogers restaurants. The final shutters closed for good in 1999, and since then, it's been a fond but distant memory. What a strange story to reminisce on when booking your next hotel stay, or sipping a root beer — Hot Shoppes is a hospitality geek's Roman Empire.