Archive for category: The Restaurant

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Awesome place

Menu 1978, Come and Get It!

Before the music, Tim and I were a team in the kitchen when it was on the north side of the restaurant. Tim would be cooking and want me to get him a drink, of course it wasn’t alcohol back then, but he’d turn around and yell “Dev, think fast!” and throw me his glass back to the area where I’d be washing dishes. If I wasn’t helping him cook, most times I caught it. But a few times I didn’t, and the glass got broken. He’d jokingly reply, “You know you’re going to have to pay for that!”

I’ll always remember him as an older brother. And I’ll always miss him. I have so many fond memories of the family, the restaurant, the music. The place just projected the atmosphere of a home in so many ways.

Shared by: Devereaux Wachtel

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Met my wife there, was closer with Tim than most

Scott Glenn and I were roommates in the early 80s. Mark and Pat still like brothers to me. Drumstick had a profound effect on me, from the music I listen to, to the way I treat others. Met my wife there. Great memories.

Shared by: Rick McMickell

My first time

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More than a Chicken Restaurant

I worked at the Drumstick as a waitress from 1974-79. Being a teenager, I grew up during those years. I enjoyed all the coworkers and customers. I learned to save money, to efficiently wait tables while having fun. I saw the changes through the years from restaurant to music venue. I would occasionally waitress the supper crowd then come back and help during the bands, early on. I took a full-time job after my high school graduation in ’78 and decided to quit working at Drumstick. I have great memories of cook/ waitress fun, moving the heavy tables and chairs to sweep and the occasional matchbook or folded up napkin to level the tables. I’ll never forget my vocabulary lesson of a “vestibule” better known as an entryway. Lol. I learned to work hard and to show up cheerfully for all my shifts. I remained friends with many of my coworkers, even today 47 years later.

Shared by: Sandie Smith

Article courtesy of Lincoln Journal Star, added by Cathy Lohmeier

Shared by: Sandie Smith

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Buck Naked

I took two ladies to the Drumstick to see Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys. We were sitting in the back of the place, and I had my back to the wall so could not see what was coming from the dressing room.

As soon as they both saw Buck, their mouths would not close. I knew Buck was coming out and the rest of the band followed. Was a great memory and show.

Shared by: Mark Grennan

Photo by: Mickey Mick, added by Cathy Lohmeier

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Playing The Drumstick!

TL was the BEST!
Upon our first arrival we immediately started partying, this was around 3pm-before set up and sound check!!!
He, his family and the staff treated us like family from that moment on.
They even invited us to their 4th of July back yard picnic,with great food,fireworks,music,drinks and tons of fun!
I will never forget it.
The Drumstick was ALWAYS a favorite stop,thanks to Tim,his family and all the many other Lincoln folks who took us in as well; always assuring that we had a great time and formed lasting memories!

R.I.P. TL – Thanks for all you did for ALL The Bands, The Drumstick staff and all who were lucky enough to share in “The Drumstick Experience” !

Kevin Mackey
Drummer – The Nelsons
Lubbock Texas

Shared by: Kevin Mackey

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Remembering

I worked there i the 1970’s and met my husband there.

Shared by: Barbara BRANT

1975-76 A Weekend Bussing Tables and Dishwashing at the Drumstick

I was a weekend busboy/dishwasher in like, 1975- 76.  Mark Lohmeier was my manager, he had a girlfriend named Josie, Greg Lohmeier was with Kim , Tim Lohmeier, Harry, & Dev cooked.  The waitresses were Luanne , Anne , Kim , Audrey , a blonde waitress, I forget her name, & her friend Monica too. Easter of 1975, we had sort of a party after the “late night bar rush”  shift.  Monica took advantage of me in her friend’s 1969 Camaro , I got my pipes cleaned , my virginity gone , she was 19 , I was, let’s just say younger than her. Never since then have I had THAT great of a work experience, and I think about it every time I drive past there! It was a much more laid back world back then . No pun intended!

Shared by: Tony Ellis

Memory for Restaurant

The Drumstick Restaurant was a family owned and operated restaurant in Lincoln, NE. It was located at 547 North 48th St.  It was already in business for some time before the Lohmeier family took it over.  The building originally housed the restaurant on the north half and a laundromat on the south half.  It was open 6am to 10pm at first serving Country Style Breakfasts with homemade batter pancakes, Hamburgers and French Fries, Steaks and Seafood.  But it’s specialty was Fried Chicken.  (This was before a certain Fried Chicken franchise from Kentucky started making its way across the nation.)  It was hand battered, deep fat fried and served with your choice of potatoes and a slice of freshly grilled Texas Toast with honey.  It was De-frickin-licious.  Utility workers, cowboys, doctors, teachers, grandmas and grandpas, young families all ate there and the people who ate there regularly became part of the family.  The Drumstick was one of the first places in Lincoln to stay open all night.  You can imagine how popular that was!  Eventually, the restaurant expanded and took over the entire building.  At night scores of people, (maybe hundreds?) would come in for a late night bite to eat and rarely did anyone leave with anything less than a smile on their face.

Shared by: Cathy Lohmeier

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TL and Family

Lincoln, NE in the 1950s was not too much different from what it is today.  It was just a different time.  Post World War II, former GIs were getting married and having families.  The Lohmeier’s were no exception. Tim Lohmeier aka TL, was the 6th child of 8 children from the parents of Jerry and Vicki Lohmeier.  Jerry learned to cook while in the Army and ran restaurants to support the family.  Vicki was a registered nurse who stayed home to take care of her children.  Jerry took over the Drumstick in 1966 and everyone in the family with the exception of the oldest brother, Steve, worked there at some point in their lives.  That is what gave that place the family feel that everyone grew to love.  Plus we were all foodies before that was even a word!

Shared by: Cathy Lohmeier

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