Little Chef Cafe Then and Now

306 E Wyatt Earp Blvd

As is usually the case, I stumbled upon an advertisement for the Little Chef Cafe when I was searching for something else. When I saw it was on Highway 50S east of town, I thought it must have been the place where Tacos Jalisco is now. It was not.

On January 2, 1954, the Globe reported a permit was issued to Frank Baird to move a steel building to 304 E Chestnut Street. That street number could have been a typo or the block, which was completely residential until that time, could have been renumbered. And since there were a few Frank Bairds in Dodge, this was Andrew F Baird who had been a blacksmith for the Santa Fe Railroad. Frank’s wife, Ann, was a bookkeeper for Bishop Oil.

It is unclear whether this was a new building or one bought used and moved from another site. Either way, I believe it was a Little Chef sandwich shop model made by Valentine Manufacturing, Inc. of Wichita. By 1947, Valentine had shipped their portable steel sandwich shops to 38 states.

Over the years, Valentine developed a complete line of buildings in various shapes and sizes. They came pre-branded with names such as Frigid Queen, Frigid Creme, Burger Bar, Nifty Nine, Big Chef, and Little Chef but buyers could also have the shops customized at the factory.

Financing was available and the buildings shipped fully assembled after the down payment was received. Owners would then deposit ten percent of their daily receipts in the Valentine wall safe to be collected by a Railway Express employee until the balance reached zero. Because they were portable, these buildings could be repossessed. However, I did find several ads placed by Valentine offering established businesses for sale at the site where they were operating.

The ten-stool Little Chef model was among the most popular layouts so there were Little Chef cafes, diners, etc. sprinkled all over the country. Everything owners needed to get started was included: cooler, restroom with outside entrance, air conditioning, furnishings, tile floors, and plumbing, etc. They just had to buy food.

At the time the Bairds set up their Little Chef, the building was set back from the street far enough to have a small parking lot out front. This was long before the widening projects on East Wyatt Earp.

The restaurant even had a basement with room for food storage.

This aerial photo with taped-on street labels was taken February 15, 1962. I added an arrow above the tiny cafe.

The Little Chef changed hands a few times in the 1960s and ’70s, ultimately being owned by Ed Bradley. Elsie Moreno renamed the cafe Taco Place in 1976.

Bradley listed the cafe for sale by February of 1977 and it then sat vacant. The lot was cleared sometime before 1981 and I’m not sure if the building was moved or simply scrapped. Being less than 30 years old, it should have been suitable for reuse.

This is how the site of the Little Chef Cafe looks today:

Since the building is long gone, it’s impossible to check for the Valentine branding and serial number. However, I feel confident the Bairds’ Little Chef was a Valentine because I found an image on the Kansas Historical Society website showing the same stripe pattern as the one in the 1956 Howdy guide. If anyone can verify this information, please send me a message or leave a comment!

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