Knotty Pine Inn – 3067 Dougall Avenue

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• It's a valid question. I'm sure at one time the calls had to be initiated by an operator, ie. you asked for "Yorktown 49810". We have some phone nerds on the forum who can probably go over that. :)

• I remember it being the Knotty Pine for a few years after I moved to Windsor in 1970. There was an old style drive-in AW next to it. I thought it closed because there was some scandal involving drugs and people in its kitchen although that may have just been a South WIndsor urban legend.

• A trip to the Knotty Pine was was reserved for extremely special occasions. Was the first place I ever ate Caesar Salad. Remember it like it was last week, although it was probably 45 years ago.

• The Knotty Pine was there well before the A&W was built. In the 50's, it was a narrow restaurant, panelled in Knotty Pine, with a wooden screen door. I seem to recall that there was a counter on the right hand side, and booths and tables on the left. Your basic diner. It grew, as the neighbourhood grew. But it seems to me that before Woolco was built across Dougall, and before the A&P was built at the corner of Grand Marais and Dougall, there wasn't much there, other than the motels across the road.

• Off topic, when the A&P on Dougal opened in 1958, there was a small stip of stores where the xpressway ramps are. I think one was a produce store (fruit & vegtables) owned by the Zakour family, and a resturant I think was called Ashtons, long time ago to remember.

• back to the phone. It was direct dial, no operator. If memory serves me, the WHitehall, CLearwater and YOrktown exchanges came in the early 50s. It's old but not so old that operators helped.

• Informative commend found elsewhere on IM, credit to RobS:

  "The history of the telephone exchanges is indeed very interesting. CL (25) for lines served out of the Goyeau C.O. YO (96) for lines served out of the Avondale C.O. WH (94) for lines served out of the Francois St. C.O. SE (73) for lines served out of the Tecumseh C.O. It’s interesting that these conventions still hold true for the older phone exchanges (969-xxxx, 966-xxxx phone numbers being served from the Avondale C.O. 944-xxxx, 948-xxxx phone numbers being served out of the Francois C.O. etc).

  The 2 letter exchange acronym of course no longer works for newer phone numbers. ’97? could be a 972 number in South Windsor (Avondale), a 977 or 971 number downtown (Goyeau), a 974 number in East Windsor (Francois), or a 978 number in LaSalle."

  re - http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=5552

• richard: Bud Zakoor did have a fruit and vegetable store at the end of the strip. he then moved further down Grand Marais, to the plaza at Longfellow. Ashton's had a lunch counter in the front of its motel. Leo Gordner's drug store was in that strip, as was a hardware store.

• I think at the north end of the restaurant, before the addition with the half moon windows was built, there was an outdoor garden area for summer season dining. A & W was sold in the early 70s and I think TBQ's Other Place bought the Knotty Pine and built the addition over the garden area and part of the A & W property. Does anyone remember the Knotty Pine's garden area?

• Tbqs purchased the knotty pine in 1972 and the chef was Emilio Salamone.Emilio stayed and worked for TBQs until he retired in November of 1995. I worked in the kitchen at the other place from 1985 becoming the chef in 1995 until it closed in 2000.I met my wife there who was a waitress in the rib room we've been married 25 years.