The coffee, as always, is served hot and stout, and the Frisbee-size cinnamon rolls are still warm and gooey. But the revamped Johnson’s Corner truck stop is now packaged for the 21st century, featuring a free wireless Internet connection for every customer and a Jacuzzi for truckers looking to unwind after a long day behind the wheel.
It’s all part of a modern $6.6 million makeover to keep the 53-year-old landmark relevant for today’s travelers.
After all, in an age of satellite radio and global positioning technology, you can’t have a truck stop that harks back to the CB radio era.
“The idea is to provide services – that’s what Johnson’s Corner began doing years ago – and we want to keep it on everyone’s map,” said owner Chauncey Taylor.
Other services are on the way – including a food-to-go section and a room for a chiropractor.
As many as 1,000 long-haul trucks a day gas up at Johnson’s. It’s a warm, familiar place for weary drivers to stretch their legs and plant themselves over a warm plate of biscuits and gravy, hot beef sandwiches, and other simple but filling food that nearby farmers, vacationing families and longtime locals have always appreciated.
“It’s fast, and there is plenty of food, and the coffee is good,” said Loveland’s Cathy Ugarte, who, with her husband, Ray, stopped in Monday for breakfast.
The restaurant, about 50 miles north of Denver just off of Interstate 25, already has earned national attention.
Travel & Leisure magazine calls it one of the top 10 breakfast spots in the world, and the Food Network declared Johnson’s Corner one of the top five truck stops in the country in 2001.
It has never closed its doors since Joe Johnson opened it in 1952.
“The grills have never been off, and the lights are always on. It’s like a living, breathing entity,” Taylor said.
He started as a busboy at Johnson’s Corner when he was 12. His mother worked as a cashier and later married Johnson, who died in 1981. Taylor’s mom made her son promise never to sell the place, and he’s kept up his end of the bargain.
“This whole expansion is motivated mostly by that promise,” he said.
Taylor and his wife, Christy, began revamping the business more than two years ago, resulting in another 8,000 square feet for the restaurant and truck stop.
The couple added a separate, ventilated smoking area and remodeled the gift shop, truckers’ lounge, showers and laundry.
Oklahoma trucker Dan Riley spent most of his Monday morning washing and folding his clothing in the gleaming laundry room. “It’s nice here. The last time I was here, the building was pretty old, but this is a big improvement.”
The decor and rounded style of the building mirror an earlier version of the restaurant, Taylor said. “We’re like an older version of Johnson’s Corner, but we’re also new,” he said.
Server Sara Eastin, among the 120 locals who work at Johnson’s, likes the improvements but still considers her customers the best part of her job.
“You see all different kinds of people here,” Eastin said. “Some come in twice a day. They’re like family.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
