I though finding out information about Spottie’s Roadhouse was going to be easy. After all it’s the exact type of kitschy roadside attraction that was built a hundred times over along Route 66. To my surprise, I found Spottie’s Roadhouse was built outside of Cape Town, South Africa on the Polsmoor Road in Retreat.
The story behind Spottie’s Roadhouse is pretty interesting. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes built him to be a Hot Dog stand in 1938. Mrs. Barnes also served hamburgers, ice cream, coffee and became a weekend family destination for many Cape Town Residents. The building lasted until 1977 through several incarnations when it was hit by a truck and demolished.
Local residents helped to rebuild the building, but it’s unclear what exactly happened to the second version. The third version is up the street a few blocks and is now just a simple statue instead of a building. The Galetti blog mentions that it was briefly a fruit and vegetable stand.
Kind of cool that it looks like the picture above caught Spotty during this brief time. Can anyone identify the car sitting beside Spotty?
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