There was a time when the location of Nick & George’s Restaurant, at the intersection of State Street and State Line Road in Hammond, Indiana, was a prime site for a diner. It was minutes away from the town’s bustling center, which guaranteed a brisk daytime trade. Nighttime business was even better, because the diner was situated in the middle of the Sin Strip, a gauntlet of nightclubs, burlesque joints, and bars that Life magazine once called “the Barbary Coast of the Midwest.” Then the steel mills that were the basis of Hammond’s prosperity began to close in the 70s, taking the nightlife with them. Nick & George’s, which has been around under various names but the same family’s management since 1929, was one of the few businesses along the strip to survive. But now its continued existence is threatened, not by economic blight but by well-intentioned plans to revive Hammond.
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The restaurant, a modest white and brown frame building that seats 29, has provided a living for three generations of the Liaskos family. When Nick Liaskos, 72, came to Hammond from Greece as a teenager, the place was called Jim & John’s. Nick’s uncle John Liaskos put him to work parking cars for the restaurant’s well-lubricated nighttime clientele. Over time more than 30 members of the Liaskos clan have immigrated and worked at the restaurant–most just long enough to save some money and acclimate to American culture before moving on to start new lives. Nick and his wife, Helen, stayed on and eventually took over the eatery from John’s widow. Nick’s eldest son, George, has worked there since he was a teenager in the 70s. In 1996 Nick made George a full partner, but this didn’t entail changing the signs or menus because Nick’s previous partner, a cousin’s husband, was also named George.
In the last few years the city of Hammond has been working on revitalizing the downtown area and the strip. With real estate values and rents climbing in Chicago, planners in Hammond feel they have a good chance of turning their city into a hot spot, the next Wicker Park or Pilsen. Hammond is only 30 minutes from the Loop by car or train, but it has much lower property and sales taxes than Chicago.
Part of the problem is that the Liaskos family is leery about moving into a mall. “Before the city came along and used its power of eminent domain to take the property away from us we were planning to knock down the building and then build a new one that mimicked the old as closely as possible,” says Peter. “Nick & George’s looks like a shack and people like it that way. We’re not a cookie-cutter business and we’re worried about losing our identity. Look what happened when we played with the french fries 20 years ago; people still remember that. You can’t blame us for being suspicious about change.”
