Illinois Route 66 - Ernie Edwards

     I was treated to many fascinating myths and legends while traveling the old two-lane highway, and Route 66 proprietor Ernie Edwards, owner of the Pig-Hip Restaurant, had some of his own. Leaning back on his chair and thoroughly enjoying himself, Ernie informed me that indeed, he had met Mr. Al Capone, former resident of nearby Chicago. He also complained to me that the Steakburger, featured menu item of the hugely successful Steak n' Shake chain, was actually his invention. He also let it be known that he had cooked dinner for Colonel Harland Sanders one night, way before the chicken man was ever famous. Another rambling story about the early days ended with Ernie punching someone in the nose, but I don't quite recall the details or the recipient. The most famous of Ernie's stories involves the actual naming of the Pig Hip Restaurant. As Ernie tells it, an early customer, a traveling salesman, stepped into the restaurant one day and asked for a sandwich "off of that there pig hip" after noticing a ham on display. Inspired, Ernie changed the name of his restaurant right then and there. 

     The 1946 Jack Rittenhouse guide book entry for Broadwell was quick and to the point: "Two-score homes surround a tiny depot and the grain elevators which bear witness to the corn growing ability of this region." The little town hasn't changed much since then, and it seemed to me during my visits that Ernie Edwards took the most pride in his voluminous visitors sign-in book, which offered evidence of the many world travelers who had taken the time to visit his little place in the middle of rural Illinois.