Tubby’s Restaurant: An Alpena dining experience
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ALPENA – Alpena has a legendary history of fine dining restaurants. These included The Owl Café which was located where Mangos Tequila Bar is currently, The Grove on U.S. 23 north near the site of the Ford and Lincoln dealership, and the Thunderbird just off State Street near the Starlite beach overlooking Thunder Bay.
For generations of high school and college students some of their choices for gathering and eating included the former A & W drive-in on U.S. 23 north, Luds and Tony's on South State Street, the Starlite drive-in where Pompeyos is currently located, and Dave and Jim's Pizzeria which was located on Ripley Boulevard near Mason Street.
With the pizzeria, Alpena resident, Ellen Eagan commented, "Pizza was an exotic foreign food that few people in Alpena had eaten in the 1950's, unless they lived, studied, or vacationed on the East coast."
For the better part of 25 years there was a teen and young adult gathering restaurant at 132 South Second Avenue called Tubby's. The restaurant was just a few blocks from Alpena High School.
Tubby's was a family restaurant with a standard menu along with three or four daily specials. Established by Howard and Rita Rigg in 1950, the restaurant operated every day of the week except Sunday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The restaurant was also a mecca for Alpena High School, Catholic Central High School, and Alpena Community College students.
Tubby's History
Originally from Ohio, the Rigg couple relocated to Alpena where Howard performed as a drummer and vocalist with the Benny Bowman Orchestra which played in the ballroom once above Alpena Furniture.
The couple had four children, three daughters and a son.
In a conversation with their son, Bobby he recalled his father opened the original Tubby's in a small building on South Second Avenue.
The restaurant was named after his father's nickname when he played for the orchestra.
He went on to add, "My father entered an agreement with Alpena businessperson, Howard French to design and build a larger restaurant to my father's specifications."
When the expanded restaurant opened, French operated an adjacent record and music store.
As you entered Tubby's, the cash register stand was near the door. To the right was a series of dining stools overlooking a long counter. In the middle of the floor were chrome tables and chairs with the right-side offering dining booths.
To the rear was the restaurant's kitchen with two windows for the servers to receive orders. Near the windows was a station for flatware, dishes, napkins, and related serving utensils.
The restaurant offered a juke box to play popular 45 rpm records with mini-juke box selectors at each booth. There was a cigarette vending machine with ash trays at every table, booth, and counter seating area.
With the kitchen area, Bobby stated, "There were two distinctive preparation and cooking areas. One for the traditional menu and the other for the daily specials. A unique menu offering was fried perch caught and prepared by my grandfather."
Bobby added, "Our father daily cut and prepared a variety of meats to his specifications." He continued, "All of the family's children worked in the restaurant."
As Tubby's grew in business, Howard made the decision to open an adjacent and smaller restaurant called the Snack Shack, designed especially for high school and college students.
Bobby commented," The Snack Shack menu was limited to hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, ice cream shakes and malts, and Cokes and other soft drinks. My father advanced me from the Tubby's dishwashing area to operating this mini version restaurant."
According to Alpena News accounts and conversation with Bobby, his father operated the restaurant up until 1965. Bobby commented that his father traded the restaurant operations to a new owner who offered him a Hillman, Michigan restaurant and bowling alley to own and operate.
The restaurant continued to be known as Tubby's until the new owner renamed it Great Lakes Café in mid-1980.
In the following years, Howard owned and operated a Stroh's ice cream parlor and the Hide-A-Way tavern and restaurant on U.S. 23 north.
In 1978 the City of Alpena purchased the Culligan building, at Chisolm and Second, for $165,000. By the conclusion of 1979 the building along with many adjacent Second Avenue buildings were demolished making way for downtown's community plaza.
Tubby's was torn down and now a memory.
Fond Memories of Tubby's
Current and former Alpena residents offered the following Facebook memories of Tubby's.
Kim Pfeiffer commented, "In second grade at Avery School, my teacher was Mrs. Rich. We were learning about the breakfast food pyramid. She took the whole class to Tubby’s for a field trip. Girls had to wear dresses and boys, a sport coat and tie (usually clip-ons). We had a full breakfast offering the whole pyramid. It was the best field trip ever."
Susie Martin stated, "Our big group of friends, from Catholic Central, would ride in the back of Gil Boilore’s pickup truck to all meet up at Tubby’s. I always loved Tubby’s, the Snack Shack and the nearby record store." She added, "I wish all three were still there."
Thelma White revealed, "Jackie Rousseau smoked there one day at lunch. Within an hour the whole school had heard about it. It was a great place to hang out, great burgers, fries, and juke boxes at your booth."
Marilyn Berglin who graduated from Alpena High, now residing in Fairbanks, Alaska recalled, "I remember Cokes were ten cents and if you wanted flavor like a cherry Coke, it was 12 cents."
Diane Heise, who worked at Tubby's recalls, "The employees smoked in the back booth. In the kitchen, to the right, was a big double sink next to the sink was the dishwasher. This was my job when I started." She added, "Nearby was a potato peeler machine and across from that big sink was steam table with the stove and ovens. They could serve from both sides of steam table. Nearby there were corner prep tables."
Long time Alpena resident and former Alpena High faculty member, Tom Atkinson reflected on stating, "Two of 1968 class freshman peers and I popped in from Alpena High during our one hour noon break. It was filled with upper classmen from both high schools. Smoke engulfed us two steps inside the iconic restaurant We did an about face and headed to Climie’s Bakery to invest in custard rolls and milk before heading back to Alpena High." He concluded, "I was there a couple of other times for a 49-cent hot beef sandwich but, never at lunch hour."
Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes feature stories and op-eds for various newspapers, magazines, and social media sites. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the Secretary of the Navy. He grew up in Alpena and resides in suburban Detroit.