George and Vivian Gerkin leased land for their restaurant from the local ballpark association. In the winter of 1958, the association sold the land to junk dealers, and the restaurant moved in the fall of 1959 to Lots 61 and 63 along DeWitt Avenue.

Business grew and, in 1964, we put in a speaker system and extended our orange-and-white canopy all the way to the sidewalk out front. We also bought several back lots on Moultrie Avenue.

In October 1967, we put in our first dining room -- now, patrons could park their cars, come in, sit down, and eat.

Our dining area grew again in 1978, and son Don Gerkin took over as sole owner. A desire to expand our menu offerings led Don to leave the A&W franchise in 1979 and we transformed into D&W Restaurant.

The 1980s saw many changes as we tackled more remodeling. In 1986, we bricked the exterior of our building, which now could seat about 135 people!

In 1987, we remodeled our kitchen and the dishroom, and we added drive-up service on our eastern side in 1989. Our drive-up service window is still in operation today. Give it a try some time!

As the 1990s rolled around, our orange-colored booths gave way to turquoise decor. Our canopy came down, and we enlarged again in 1993, adding new restrooms, new tables and chairs, new carpet, and new lighting. We moved our entryway to the west end of the building and we installed a new tile floor. We also put in new decorations, including etched glass divider panels featuring a variety of classic cars.

In 1995, we acquired property one lot over for an aluminum shed. We remodeled the dishroom again and our office, just in time for our big 40th anniversary celebration and car show. Anybody remember the vehicle named Best of Show (Hint: It was an emerald green and white 1955 Chevy Bel Air).

We made more improvements in 1996, when we repainted and wallpapered the dining room, added new curtains and lights, and put in new flower arrangements.

In March 1997, we changed our dark-colored tabletops to the light wood you see today. The following November, we purchased the lot next to the restaurant, moved the house that had been situated there, and put in a new parking lot to accommodate more patrons.

Our old sign came down in April 1998, and we replaced it with one we could use to advertise our specials. We installed a new computer system in March 1998 to make things easier and faster.

That summer, we embarked on yet another ambitious remodeling and enlarging project and, on Oct. 1, 1998, we opened our new dining room, featuring all new booths, carpeting, and landscaping outside. Our color scheme had changed again, this time to today's muted prints of blue, lilac, and teal.

In September 1999, we started construction on a new dishroom, complete with new flooring, a new waitress station, new prep room, and new employee restrooms. Since then, we've done construction on our new kitchen, adding flooring, equipment, and hoods.

Come see us -- you'll be glad you did!

1955


1957

1960

1962

1967

1978

1987

1992

Best of Show

North Dining Room

D&W today