Manufacturer: Carr China Company
User: Lena-Lou Restaurant
Date of plate: circa: 1934 – 1952

Menu showing the exterior of the Lena Lou restaurant

1930 photograph of the interior of the Lena Lou restaurant showing owners Lou and Alena McCausey

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Notes: The Lena Lou restaurant near Ada, Michigan, was located on the M21 highway – at the corner of Pettis and Honey Creek Avenue and opened as a gas station around 1929. The owners, who combined their names in deciding on a name, were Alena Belle and E. Louis McCausey. In a Facebook post, the couple's great granddaughter, Laura Cook Brower, wrote: "It first opened as a gas station, but people that stopped and worked on the bridge always asking for a sandwich, so they started making them and then added more to the menu."

Mrs. McCausey died in November 1942, but the restaurant continued to operate up until the early 1960s. It was known for featuring live fiddle music and local, home style dining.

Glo-Tan body plate with Carr China's Brooklyn border pattern around the rim. At the top of the well in a brown stylized block font are the words "Lena-Lou" that travel in a slight arch.

Source:
Ada Historical Society – menu showing the exterior of the restaurant
Ada Village Facebook page

Contributors:
Ed Phillips: author