You could build a drive-in for the cost of a chili dog, and a little more…in 1965

In the fall of 1965, Dale Rudy got a building permit to build a second A&W restaurant in La Crosse.  The original A&W in town is still open at 16th Street and South Avenue.  The second one, now called Rudy’s, would be built on La Crosse Street for just $12,000.  Rudy’s is well-known for its chili dogs and roller-skating waitresses.

The Holiday Inn on the pike was being expanded in ’65.  Owner Jake Hoeschler said the inn would add an L-shaped building for a dining room, banquet hall, and a cocktail lounge.  Banquets also were held next door at Holiday Lanes, the bowling alley which was later converted to offices for the Company Store.

The Blue Moon in Onalaska was serving a half-chicken dinner for a dollar.  Henninger’s on Jay, between 3rd and 4th Streets, had an all-you-can-eat German potato pancake dinner for 87 cents…52 years ago, 1965, yesterday in La Crosse.