I can not tell you the amount of joy this brings me to hear that such a classic food chain that grew up with me through my childhood is coming back.
Turns out that recently the Hot ‘n Now IP and assets will be changing hands as the Gun Lake Investments, this company happens to have ties with the Gun Lake Casino, however I am not privy on whether the investment company actually has their hands on that business as well. At the moment it seems that the roll out will see locations in West Michigan but a for sure one is happening in Alpena of which the current owner of B Cubed manufacturing, who specializes in modular drive thru locations such as Biggby Coffee locations, will be leading the charge in designing and manufacturing the locations which are speculated to be in the works of making that expansion possible this year, 2025. It is safe to say by geographical sense that one of the earliest locations will be Alpena. Which as a field tech, you know I am going to be finding an excuse to visit that location when I catch wind of it being open for business.
I remember when the location in Alpine township was my local locale. The very last memory I had was one I will never forget. It was 1999 and Star Wars The Phantom Menace was making its first appearance at the Star Theater, back when it was originally owned by Loek’s partners, It was an amazing experience. My family watched the evening show and I remember as we got done we went to Hot ‘n Now as it was on the way home and on the other side of the road. For some reason we weren’t the only ones that had the same agenda. There must have been 6 cars packed in the drive thru. As such, my father decided to park at the Menards located behind the restaurant and we proceeded to walk down the hill. Again, we weren’t the only peeps having that idea. we got our food and headed back up the hill. My dad popped the hatchback on the Chrysler T&C minivan. We ate as the sun was showing its last 30 minutes of light that day painting a purple and red marbled sky. At the time, I was 8, it was a rather moderate night, one that required a jacket but not a heavy one. My brother would be 14 at the time and we had a penchant for Frisby catch that year. So after wasting no time on the food we went to the parking lot to do some catch and lo and behold we attracted other kids to join. We must have had 5 kids including us. Craziest experience ever but one that as I write makes me smile. I am so glad that one day, hopefully, I can bring them to a location similar to the one I went to and be able to share some form of my childhood to them…even if its just the name that stays the same, to me, it will be the thought that counts.
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