The story
Johnnie Haynes helped open and manage the Split-T on Western Avenue in 1953. He cooked burgers on a mix of gas and charcoal, which gave them a backyard-barbecue flavor. His son Rick said his father was the Split-T even though he did not own it.
In 1971 Johnnie and his wife Pauline opened the first Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler at Britton Road and Military Avenue. Rick, then 13, worked there with his father, brother and mother. Johnnie died in 2000, and Rick and David Haynes have run the restaurants since the early 1980s. The core menu is still hamburgers, onion rings and fries, and the Theta burger is topped with a hickory sauce shipped to fans worldwide. By 2016 the chain had more than a half-dozen metro locations. The Split-T closed on September 15, 2000.
What's There Now
The Britton Road restaurant is still operating as Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler.
Everything that was here
- 1971–present · still open
Johnnie's Charcoal BroilerRestaurant
Johnnie Haynes left the Split-T in 1971 and opened a charcoal burger drive-in at Britton and Military that became a local chain.
See the map in 1972 →
Did you know?
Nearby history
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