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Leadership Otsego County 2022
Item 34 of 38
This is a contributing entry for Leadership Otsego County 2022 and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

This is the 9th of ten plaques placed on historic building by the Rotary Club of Gaylord in 2017.


Plaque describing the building's history

Font, Rectangle, Commemorative plaque, Wood

History marker placed on exterior wall in 2017 by the Rotary Club of Gaylord

Building, Window, Wood, Snow

Wheel, Window, Car, Building

Sugar Bowl restaurant in the 1950s

Building, Window, Door, Font

The Sugar Bowl was originally owned and operated by John Gocha. He sold the business to George Doumas and his brother Harry in 1919. At that time, the Sugar Bowl was a candy store and ice cream parlor. As the business grew, it transformed into a full-service restaurant.

The building underwent several expansions and renovations. The first expansion occurred in 1938, when the Doumas brothers purchased the the building to the immediate west of the Sugar Bowl. In 1964, a new bar and formal dining room were added added to the east in what had been the Glasser Drug. The pharmacy was relocated to the vacant building to the east that had once been the A&P grocery store.

 

George’s son, Robert, took over ownership of the Sugar Bowl in 1972 and operated the downtown landmark until selling the business in 2016. Just three years shy of reaching the 100 year milestone of being owned by the Doumas family, the Sugar Bowl was the oldest continuously operated eating establishment in Otsego County.

Today (2022) the iconic Sugar Bowl is gone and replaced by El Patron Grill.

 

 

Doumas, Robert H. Gaylord - My Father and I. Unpublished.

"George Doumas Marks 50th Year in Business." Otsego County Herald Times (Gaylord) October 22nd 1969. , 1-10.

Jergenson, Mary. "Sugar Bowl Celebrates 85 Years." Gaylord Herald Times (Gaylord) November 3rd 2004. , B sec, 11-11.

Parshall, Lorene. "Gaylord's Landmark Restaurant: Sugar Bowl Celebrates 90th." Gaylord Herald Times (Gaylord) November 4th 2009. , A sec, 1-4.