1269 Peoria Street

Now the site of the Washington Family Restaurant, 1269 Peoria Street has been home to four restaurants, two buildings, and one fire.

In 1953, Raymond and Marie Leach built the RaMar Cafe at that spot, combining their first names for the unique restaurant name.  The Leachs were fresh off selling their most recent restaurant venture; the construction of The Busy Corner Cafe in Goodfield which they opened in 1947 and sold in 1951.  The town was inching westward with Essig Motors constructed in 1950, RaMar Cafe in 1953, and the Kroger supermarket in 1957.

In 1958, the cafe was sold to Frankie Johnston, who operated the A & W stand that preceded Unkle Woody's in the early 1950s. Frankie later purchased Marshall's Tavern from Hubert Lee in the early 1970s.

Johnston's tenure at the restaurant lasted approximately one year when it was purchased by Conley and Edith Tolley.

In 1967, the Tolleys sold the restaurant to Bernard Waldsmith, owner of the Cock-A-Doodle Doo Restaurant in Peoria. Waldsmith reopened it as the Rooster Restaurant. The Tolleys went on to own the Cliftwood Restaurant in Morton for over a decade. 

In May 1969, Waldsmith put the restaurant up for sale.  Ads ran in the Peoria Journal Star throughout the month.

On June 9, 1969, the restaurant was badly damaged by fire; the cause of which was later determined to be "a lit cigarette dropped into some rubbish" in the basement according to a news article.

The Waldsmith family did not re-open their Rooster Restaurant in Washington but continued the Rooster Restaurant & Lounge in Peoria.  That establishment evolved into what we now know as The Fish House near University and Glen Streets.  They also opened Jonah's Fish & Seafood House in East Peoria in the 1980s.  The building in Washington was demolished.

Twenty-Five Years Later......

In 1994, John Drury opened a Burger King franchise (one of nine he owned throughout the Central Illinois area) at the site.  The new construction received some criticism from Washingtonians for its cinder-block look.  Burger King would remain until 2005.

In 2006, the Washington Family Restaurant reopened at 1269 Peoria Street.  The previous version closed in 1998 and had been located just down the road at the old A&W Restaurant now the site of Pizza Hut.  The Washington Family Restaurant remains open and is a favorite stop among locals.  In 2024 the building experienced a makeover.