Good-Bye to Bob’s Burgers/Coffee Cup

Bob’s Burgers Just Prior to Being Leveled

Some residents knew it as the Coffee Cup while others were familiar with the name of Bob’s Burgers. Whatever you called it, the eatery at the corner of South 5^th Street and West Oak came down in short order on Thursday, January 19^th.  Construction crews leveled both the small diner and the small house located directly to the south of it.

Demolition Underway on Adjoining House

The diner, which had served the community with low priced burgers and other sandwiches for so many years, has been vacant for easily a decade, if not longer. Residents of a local Lamar family had run the operation for a while, as well as Bob Barnes, the namesake of the diner for a period of time.  Some of the side windows had been covered with plywood as protection against the elements for quite a while.  Area residents recalled earlier years when, depending on with whom you spoke, you could purchase, ‘a bag of burgers’ at somewhere between either five for a dollar or three for a buck.  Another resident recalled that when Lamar Middle School let out, you had to get in early to place an order with all the kids that were lined up, ready to make their after-school purchase.

The property is privately owned by a local bank and an inquiry has been made if there are any immediate plans for the land now that the corner lot has been cleared. The demolition was separate from the on-going project of clearing derelict houses under the guidance of the City of Lamar.  The most recent demolition was a series of empty houses in the 500 block of North 11^th Street.

By Russ Baldwin