What's happening at the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop is not complicated, but it is enduring. Preparing to celebrate 100 years in business, longtime owner Sam Quaisi downplays his product's specialness while providing a distinctive spin on why it is indeed special.
"There is nothing special about the recipe because it's the same. It's the same thing, over and over. You can taste it tomorrow, it'll be the same," he says of the sandwich first served there in 1924. "We keep the tradition going; there is no changing. No changing of the recipe. Or on how we handle the food, or how we talk to the customer."
He was talking about the signature "loose meat" Maid-Rite sandwich, made with ground beef and spices, topped with onions, relish and mustard. Reminded that one customer routinely ordered sandwiches with no onions, Quaisi said that is what he calls a "made-wrong" sandwich.
Other signature items on the menu board include homemade root beer served in a frosted mug and homemade shakes. Quaisi has added a Maid-Rite horseshoe sandwich and chilli (he uses the Springfield spelling of chili) in response to customers, and he won a Trailblazer contest in 2009 for having the best original horseshoe sandwich.
It's helpful to be on Route 66 and near the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Quaisi said. His guest book reveals people signing in from many states and countries. Mathieu Hofner, a television producer from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, visited the shop for a program he was filming for European audiences. The reach of Maid-Rite has a long arc, including favorable reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor.
In the early 1920s, two men from Quincy began the restaurant in a converted caboose in a time when east-west railroad tracks ran where Jefferson Street is now located. A larger dining area and air conditioning have been added, but it's still easy to observe the original atmosphere.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, when Clarence Donley owned the shop. The National Register application, prepared by chief city planner Charles Kirchner, describes Maid-Rite as "a relatively unchanged example of a movement begun in the 1920s to serve the dining needs of an increasingly prosperous and mobile American society," fueled by the rising use of the automobile by commuters.
Quaisi was living in Chicago when a friend encouraged him to move to Springfield. "He said, 'Come on, it's a small town, you would like it.' Then I came here, and I'm stuck here," Quaisi said.
He got married and worked for the state at the Department of Revenue, across the street from Maid-Rite. He said he was working with motor fuel taxes and collaborating with the secretary of state on stickers for semi-trucks.
He was also flipping houses and looking for a larger project when he learned that Donley was interested in selling. So Quaisi, after 12 years of working for the state, bought Maid Rite in 1996 and soon began managing the shop. He said he learned about food handling working at Illini Country Club, Sangamo Club and Maldaner's.
Although a national Maid-Rite chain with franchises emerged in 1926, Quaisi said the Springfield restaurant has always been independent, never part of the Iowa-based Maid Rite Corp. He said a franchise store opened on Springfield's west side in the 1980s, but then-owner Donley fought it until it closed. Quaisi has no plans for other locations, though about 20 years ago he did open a "horseshoe store" in St. Louis that did well for three years before losing its lease. His three adult children all live in St. Louis now.
Quaisi admits he has had to adapt. It's why he serves horseshoes and chilli and not just the original sandwich. He points to the bold "CASH ONLY" sign on his sliding drive-through window and explains he installed a credit card machine to handle customers who want frozen sandwiches shipped to them, which he does via FedEx.
"I try to keep it old-fashioned," he says, emphasizing he still prefers cash. Then he chuckles and says of his customers, "I tell them cash only and they don't listen. They want to use their credit card," which he readily accepts.
Perhaps one of the reasons Maid-Rite has endured for a century is because it has adapted with the times, while still preserving its original history.
Ed Wojcicki freelances from Springfield after retiring from both UIS and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
A century of Maid-Rite
The Springfield Maid-Rite is planning a 100th
Birthday Bash on Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. People are invited
to endorse a Route 66 theme by bringing their classic cars with no
pre-registration or entry fee. There will be music and plenty of room to park in
the lot across Pasfield Street.
