Depending on your age, you may know Main Street Sports Bar by its initials — MSSB — or the original version — J’s Pizza Garten that opened in the late 1960s. While the name has changed, the location — along North Main Street — remains the same. The menu like the restaurant has kept pace with the times. Back in the day, a large pepperoni capri pizza went for $2.60 and an aged T-bone steak dinner served with salad, toast and tater tots weighed in at $2.75. Today, MSSB serves a large Krissy’s Special with pepperoni, green olives and onions for $22. While steaks are no longer available, you can satisfy your beef craving with a French Dip or Philly sandwich.
— Kay Johnson
My story starts when my family — the Gutormsons, there were 12 of us — moved to Hutchinson in 1967. We ranged in age from 6 to 19. Dad, also known as Bob, was a self-employed carpenter. Through word of mouth, he got the job to remodel J’s Pizza Garten.
Those of you who knew my dad know that when he went to work on his first day, he said to the owner, Harlan Johnson, “I have a bunch of girls at home, if you need any help.”
It didn’t take long before Leann, 19, and I were employed. We joined the other young kids working there. My sister, Lani, 19, lived and worked in the Twin Cities. She would come home on the weekends, so it wasn’t long before she worked with her sisters, as well.
Our pay was 85 cents per hour plus tips — usually 25 cents. Back then, a large pizza was $2.60. It’s a big difference from today when they run up to about $29. The funny thing was, back then I didn’t know what a pizza was. My mom made real meals for us each day and with 10 children, we never went to a restaurant to eat.
As waitresses we had to wear black skirts and white blouses. Harlan gave us a black apron to wear with a pocket for the order pad and pen.
In case you wondered, there are benefits to working at a pizza place when you are young. All of us — three sisters — met lots of kids our age, especially boys. We also each married a guy that we met while working at J’s. Leann married George Niebler in 1968. Lani married Gary Brown in 1969, and I married Bob Paulson in 1971. And just for the record, Leann and George and Bob and I have been married for more than 50 years. Lani and Gary had been married 37 years when he died in 2006.
I remember when these crazy guys would come in on a Friday night and be silly. They’d bring their buddies and leave us tips under a tipped over glass or try to hide a pizza pan under their coat.
One very fond memory for us was working so late on Friday nights that the morning shift of bakers would be working at the Home Bakery — the aroma was wonderful. The owner would buy us a bunch of glazed doughnuts, still warm, to enjoy before going home. What a treat! We appreciated this tradition for many years.
Friday nights were very busy, especially when the State Theatre was playing a great movie such as “The Graduate,” “Easy Rider,” “To Sir With Love,” or “Valley of the Dolls.” A perfect date was a movie and pizza.
J’s Pizza Garten opened at 4 p.m. each day and closed at midnight. My dad worked on the remodeling during the morning hours. He moved his tools and table saw to the basement, so things were handy for him. He had to keep things clean and organized, so Harlan could open each day.
Saturday nights, Harlan would have his friends meet him around 10 p.m. in the backroom for “Poker Night.” We girls, would keep the place going for another two hours. Some of us made pizza. We each knew what had to be done. We knew one of us was to make sure the back room had what they wanted. Doing so, meant a good tip for us.
Elaine Soderberg and Sandy Lietz worked there longer than us, so they were in charge when Harlan was occupied playing cards.
By then we had another sister, Jackie, join us on weekends. It is so funny how different sisters can be. She didn’t take any guff from anyone. Back then in the late 1960s and early ’70s, J’s was a date night or drinking buddy eating establishment. It really wasn’t a family place yet. So on weekends, we, girls, heard a lot of silly talk such as “Hey cutie,” “Wait on me, I’ll leave you a big tip” and so on. This was back in the day before the #MeToo movement.
Harlan had trained us to tolerate the chatter unless it really bothered us, then he would step in. But no one was to touch us. If they did, they would get kicked out in a hurry.
Jackie, 16 years old, would tolerate just so much. Then she would tell the guy to shut up if he didn’t want a lap of hot coffee. She didn’t care if he left a tip or not. Leann and I were more shy and just let them talk. Lani was a strong young woman and put many guy customers in their place with her come-back lines.
Brother Tom and sister Terri started working weekends, too, then we older girls only worked “when needed.”
A pizza restaurant was a new attraction for Hutchinson in the early 1970s. So it really was a main weekend activity for many years. At this point a lot of people thought the Pizza Garten was owned by the Gutormson family. We had six kids working and our dad remodeling it by then.
Harlan sold his recipes and business to John and Maureen Bytart. Then it became a family restaurant — a favorite meal destination. There was no more poker in the backroom. They added placemats for kids to color on, and high chairs. Pizza was becoming a much-in-demand food choice.
J’s offered many great options including the Garten Burger. Their spaghetti and meatballs were wonderful, as was their French bread and meat sauce with or without meat balls. So, good! And the best part? They offered spumoni ice cream.
My brother Tom was a short-order cook and Terri washed dishes. Brother Greg started then as well. I am not sure what his job or title was except for “entertainment.” He kept everyone laughing and in good spirits.
With young high school athletes working there, more guys came to dine at J’s Pizza as well. Tom was in wrestling and Greg was on the baseball and football teams. With time, Terri moved up to waitressing and sister Renae became the dishwasher.
After awhile, we girls moved on. Lani started a job at Erickson Gas Station. Leann became a mommy and I got a full-time job across the street from J’s at Tiny Tiger, Hutchinson’s first discount store.
I often walked down a few buildings to Janousek’s Cafe for lunch. I learned to shake dice and to love hamburgers and fries.
Many years later, sister Renee returned to Main Street as part of the management team. She hired brother Tom’s son, Chris, to deliver orders.
It wasn’t that long ago that brother Tom was home from Colorado and sister Leann and husband George were home from Texas. A total of 21 of us Gutormsons went to Main Street Sports Bar to enjoy their pizza and burgers. We talked about the good old days at J’s — what had changed and what stayed the same.
We give MSSB gift cards to each other. Besides great food, we all have fond memories of that place. Our family has enjoyed J’s Pizza Garten and Main Street for more than 50 years.
