A Conversation with Gary Weston and 100+ Years of Lansing History
Sometimes the best Greater Lansing stories are the ones you weren't planning to find.
I recently stopped at Weston's Kewpee Sandwich Shop in downtown Lansing, Michigan
. While I was there, I had the opportunity to sit down with Gary Weston for about 10 to 15 minutes.
What started as a casual conversation quickly turned into something much more interesting.
Gary began talking about his grandmother, his family, and a restaurant tradition that dates back to 1923.
Gary's grandmother, Gladys Bowlin, was part of the early Kewpee story in Lansing. She developed the family's famous olive sauce, and the Historical Society of Greater Lansing dates the addition of Kewpee's olive burger to the menu to 1925.
After more than four decades working throughout Greater Lansing, I've watched our communities change in countless ways. Buildings disappear. Businesses come and go. Downtowns reinvent themselves.
So there was something special about sitting with Gary and listening to him talk about a family business that has remained part of the Lansing story for more than a century.
You Can See the History on the Walls
One of the first things you notice inside Kewpee is that its history isn't hidden away in a scrapbook somewhere.
It's all around you.
The walls are filled with old photographs, newspaper articles, awards, vintage signs, menus and reminders of the generations that came before.
There's an old Kewpee menu showing hamburgers for 30 cents, cheeseburgers for 40 cents and French fries for 25 cents. Nearby are decades of newspaper clippings and awards recognizing the restaurant and its famous olive burger.
As Gary and I talked, I realized I wasn't simply sitting in a restaurant that had been around a long time.
I was sitting inside a piece of Lansing history that the Weston family is still adding to today.
A Family Story Dating Back to 1923
Kewpee's history reaches back to the early years of hamburger restaurants in America, and the Lansing story dates to 1923.
During our conversation, Gary talked about his grandmother and the beginnings of the family's involvement with Kewpee. That personal connection is what makes the history especially interesting to me.
This isn't simply a business that has managed to keep its doors open for more than 100 years.
It's a family story.
Gary eventually became part of the generation operating the restaurant, and today his daughter, Autumn Weston, continues the tradition as the fourth generation of the family.
Four generations.
Think about everything Lansing has experienced during that period—and how uncommon it is for a locally owned restaurant to remain connected to the same family through all of it.
Kewpee Has Moved, but It Never Left Lansing
Today's familiar Kewpee location at 118 S. Washington Square isn't where the Lansing story began.
The original restaurant was located on Shiawassee Street near the former Lansing Central High School. That property was eventually affected by Lansing's urban-renewal efforts and was acquired and demolished during redevelopment in the 1970s.
For many businesses, losing their longtime location might have been the end of the story.
Not Kewpee.
The restaurant operated for a period on Pennsylvania Avenue before eventually returning downtown. In 1979, the family established Kewpee at its Washington Square location.
That history says something about both the family and Lansing.
Buildings can disappear. Streetscapes can change. Entire sections of a downtown can be redeveloped.
But sometimes the traditions people value find a way to continue.
And Then There's the Olive Burger
Of course, you can't talk about Weston's Kewpee without talking about the olive burger.
The olive burger has become part of Mid-Michigan food culture, and Kewpee holds a special place in that history. The family's distinctive olive sauce traces back through generations and remains closely associated with the restaurant today.
And apparently Greater Lansing agrees that Kewpee knows something about making one.
The walls display a remarkable collection of local awards for its olive burger, including multiple City Pulse Top of the Town honors.
But Kewpee's reputation has traveled well beyond Lansing.
In 2020, Kewpee took its olive burger to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash in Miami and received the Judges' Choice award.
There's something I enjoy about that—a burger with such deep Lansing roots traveling to Miami and earning national recognition.
My Own Kewpee Taste Test
I certainly wasn't going to spend time at Kewpee talking about olive burgers and then leave without having one.
Actually, make that two.
After I left the restaurant, I enjoyed two of Kewpee's QP olive burgers with cheese.
They didn't disappoint.
I've eaten plenty of olive burgers around Greater Lansing over the years, and I'll make this one clearly my personal opinion:
Kewpee makes my favorite olive burger in town.
If you've never had one, I recommend putting it on your Greater Lansing list.
And if you're new to the area, an olive burger from Kewpee is a pretty enjoyable introduction to a local food tradition.
More Than 100 Years of Lansing Memories
What stayed with me most from my visit wasn't a date, an award or even the olive burger.
It was my conversation with Gary.
When someone talks about a business that's been around for more than 100 years, it's easy to think of the history in terms of a timeline.
1923
The original restaurant.
The move.
The return downtown.
Four generations.
But when Gary talked about it, he wasn't reciting a timeline.
He was talking about his family.
That's what gives this story its character.
Over the decades, Kewpee has also become part of thousands of other families' stories.
Some people probably remember going there with their parents. Others ate there while working downtown. Some introduced their children to Kewpee, and those children eventually brought another generation through the doors.
That's how a restaurant becomes something more than a place to eat.
It becomes part of a community's collective memory. Note the Vintage Coca-Cola sign, old Kewpee menu and Weston family memorabilia.
Why Greater Lansing Stories Like Kewpee's Matter
When I talk about living in Greater Lansing, I frequently write about communities, neighborhoods, parks, housing, schools and local resources.
All of those things matter.
But they aren't the whole story of a community.
The people and locally owned businesses that remain part of a community for generations matter, too.
Weston's Kewpee is one of those places.
It's a story about family.
It's a story about adapting to change.
It's a story about downtown Lansing.
And, yes, it's a story about a pretty terrific olive burger.
Sometimes You Just Have to Sit Down and Listen
I'm glad I took the time to sit with Gary that day.
I hadn't planned on getting a 10- to 15-minute lesson in Lansing history. But sometimes the unexpected conversations are the ones you remember.
More than a century after his grandmother helped begin his family's Kewpee story, Gary can still sit down with someone and tell stories about how it all started.
There's something pretty special about that.
So if you're downtown, consider stopping at Weston's Kewpee Sandwich Shop.
Look around while you're there. Take in the old menus, photographs, newspaper clippings and memorabilia on the walls.
And, of course, try an olive burger.
You're not simply visiting another restaurant.
You're stepping into a small piece of Lansing history that is still very much alive.
As for me?
I'll have the QP olive burger with cheese.
Maybe two. :-)
“Expect The Best” Mike
Mike Bowler SRES, CRB, ePRO
eXp Realty LLC
517-755-8168
6639 Centurion Dr. Lansing, MI
Mike@MikeBowler.com
Website: MikeBowler.com
Visit My YouTube Channel
https://bit.ly/eXpRealtyMikeBowler
