Lifelong memories were forged there over the years. Millie Gahr was the head waitress and took over if the Pratts traveled. She worked there when Wanda Kolb started as a bus girl, and they still visit about the old days at the café.

Wanda Kolb later became a waitress at the old Wagon Wheel, and she remembers taking orders in the parking lot so that people wouldn’t have to wait too long. She also remembers starting to date her future husband Charles during this time. He was her best friend Laura’s brother. He was 17, and she was 15.  “After a while, whenever I worked late, he was always waiting to drive me home, and so we are still in one car, and he is still driving.  Been 57 years now,” she recalled.

Business was brisk, with locals and travelers stopping by for a great meal and the hospitality of owners Bill and Sadie Mae. According to Cuba’s 150 Years of History Book, at one time the Duncan Hines Fine Dining Guide for travelers included the restaurant as a recommendation. A red sign stood out front that boasted of the distinction. An old menu shows a filet mignon steak for $3.50 and a complete chicken dinner including beverage for $1.95.

Kolb reported, “I was on duty the day that we thought we were serving the Duncan Hines guy, and we turned the place upside down trying to make everything perfect. Turned out another guy was the Duncan Hines guy, but he was impressed with the fact that we didn’t fuss over him and treated him as one of many and that proved all that he had heard.”

The owner Sadie Mae had a favorite table in front of the fireplace, where she was known to enjoy a game of poker with friends during slower times. She was the heart of the restaurant and set the pace for everyone involved. Kolb remembers that Sadie Mae only allowed music on the jukebox that she liked. Ozark Music allowed her to paint her quarters with red polish so that they were returned to her when they picked up the money.

In 1954, Bill and Sadie Mae extended their hospitality that they established at the original Wagon Wheel Café to a new venture. The Pratts ran the “old” Wagon Wheel for about 10 years before establishing the “new” Wagon Wheel Restaurant at what is now the UU Exit of I-44 at 7006 Old Hwy. 66. Although many of the locals hated losing the coziness of the old Wagon Wheel and its rock fireplace, progress marched on, and the new restaurant established its own identity.

The location seemed perfect. Not only would they keep their old Route 66 customers and locals, but also they could snag the drivers that would travel the new Interstate 44 when that highway became a reality. They had also heard that the east lanes of I-44 would remain on Route 66 for a couple of years until the interstate was finished. The wedge of land between I-44 and Route 66 seemed a unique location with a lot of possibilities.

Clyde Inman of Salem owned the land. Inman, with Salem workers Cody Morton and John Duckworth, built the building, which they leased to the Pratts. At first, the Pratts lived in the upstairs quarters with a big outdoor second story patio. In the late 50s, the outdoor patio was used for a couple of years for rooftop dining, a first for Cuba and a seemingly elegant addition to the local dining scene. In later years, the Pratts reclaimed the upstairs patio and living quarters and would use the area when they worked late and didn’t want to travel to their main residence at Indian Hills.

In the 1950s and later, the new restaurant was the location of many special events in Cuba, as well as a location for many business lunches and dinners. Bill Pratt would usually come in for the morning rush with Sadie Mae coming in later in the day. Many Cuba waitresses, cooks, and other employees worked at the restaurant over the years. A Wagon Wheel Service Station was built next to the restaurant to serve travelers.

According to a customer Marge Fleming, who moved to Cuba in the early 50s with her husband Merle, “Sadie Mae greeted all customers on entering and kept a close handle on everything. She trained waitresses to a fine tune, each being adroit at filleting their famous rainbow trout, which was served with the head and eyes.”

The famous mile-high meringue pies by cook Wilma Buchka were a customer favorite, and she turned out biscuits by the thousands. The Wagon Wheel was also the place to get a good steak.

The Pratts were golfers and leaders in the social scene in Cuba. A newspaper from Cuba shows the Pratts in a golf cart at the Bill Pratt Open Golf Tournament at the Merrihills Golf Course, which was a fixture in Cuba during the late 60s and 70s.

Speaking of the Wagon Wheel, Fleming related, “It was the one and only gathering place for nice events in Cuba for a time. It was prior to Recklein Auditorium, so even dances were held there. Sadie Mae knew how to put out an elegant banquet and buffet table. She was the ‘hostess with the mostest’ in Cuba.”  

Norm DeLeo remembers Chamber of Commerce Factory Appreciation Dinners being held at the restaurant, as well as enjoying many lunches there with his wife and the Pratts, who were friends of the DeLeos. Joyce Stewart remembers many Peoples Bank dinners held at the restaurant. Others remember that Sadie Mae would visit each table during their meal to see if everyone was happy with the food and service.

Although the restaurant did a great deal of business from the 1950s into the 70s, in the mid 70s, the Pratts retired, and the heyday of the Wagon Wheel Restaurant was over.

Today, the unique location of the restaurant between Route 66 and I-44 once more beckons to restaurateurs who want to put the their own brand on the historic building. The Route 66 Roadhouse will put its own twist on restaurant hospitality. Watch for a future article detailing the new venture.