Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the Smoky Hill Museum. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."
By SALINA POST
The smell of the Cozy Inn Hamburger's greasy grill permeates North Seventh Street in downtown Salina and has since 1922.
Bob Kinkel first began frying onion-laden, coin-sized burgers in a tiny shop at 108 N. 7th St., where six metal stools still seat customers nationwide and occasionally worldwide.
According to the Smoky Hill Museum and the Cozy Inn Hamburgers website, White Castle, which recently opened in Wichita, inspired Kinkel to begin his own burger shop in Salina.
The hamburgers flew off the grill for five cents. Often, servers would slide the steaming burgers to customers at the end of the table, so many patrons began calling them "sliders."
The burger stand stayed open late for Salina's nightlife early in the 20th century — patrons could visit the restaurant after late-night movies and ballroom events.
The 1930s remained strong for the new business. When most restaurants closed during the Great Depression, The Cozy Inn provided struggling Kansans with a hot, inexpensive meal.
Once the decade switched to the 1940s, Smoky Hill Air Force Base and nearby Camp Phillips provided innumerable customers for the burger joint.
READ MORE: 📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Smoky Hill Museum - Vol. 15
The Cozy Inn thrived throughout the 40s and 50s, offering a quick meal for the thousands of young soldiers.
A new generation for The Cozy Inn
In 1960, Kinkel passed away and transferred ownership and legacy to his wife, Katherine Pickering. She and her second husband, Richard Pickering, took ownership of the tiny burger joint.
According to the Cozy Inn Hamburger's website, Katherine Pickering began the anniversary celebration "offering Cozy's at yesteryear prices and drawing long lines of customers."
The Pickerings also began revolutionizing business for The Cozy Inn, with customers forming across the nation and worldwide,
910KINA Radio Host Randy Picking told Salina Post he remembers when Cozy Inn hustled to get its famous burgers into customers' hands.
"Back when I was younger, people used to get them ordered and put on dry ice to be shipped all over the world," Picking said.
Salina downtown started renovations during the 1980s, threatening to turn The Cozy Inn into a parking lot. After public outcry, city planners listened to the community and spared the historic burger joint.
After 37 years of managing Cozy Inn, the Pickerings passed in 1997, and three Salina business people purchased the diner.
After purchasing the business, Max Holthaus, Gregg Boyle and current Saline County Commissioner Monte Shadwick committed to The Cozy Inn tradition. They reopened the walk-up window and added new souvenir items for customers.
According to The Cozy Inn's website, Shadwick left the business in 2001
A modern Cozy Inn
Once the 21st century rolled around, Holthaus and Boyle looked for new ways to add to Cozy Inn's tradition.
The pair added vintage outdoor seating with music to accommodate its steady stream of customers in 2005, increasing its seating space.
The website states, "The Cozy Inn is known nationally as one of the last remaining six-stool diners in America," which the owners leaned into its historic significance.
By the mid-2000s, The Cozy Inn found itself featured in travel books, newspapers and national food magazines, including Martha Stewart's "Living and Midwest Living."
The restaurant's current owner, Steve Howard, joined Holthaus and Boyle in 2007 as manager and co-owner. By April 2007, Howard purchased the business from Boyle and Holthaus, becoming the owner of the historic burger joint.
In 2009, Travel Channel's "101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down," featured Cozy Inn at number 69. The Travel Channel featured the burger joint on "America's Top Ten Hamburgers" as number six shortly after.
The following year garnered more accolades for the business, with USA Today picking The Cozy Inn as the "Best Burger Joint in Kansas" in October 2010. The tiny burger joint achieved a Diamond Award from AAA two years later.
Jess Blaze, an employee who began working at the Cozy Inn six months ago, said she enjoys meeting customers from around the globe. In the time she's worked there, she has already met a customer from Egypt.
"I really enjoy getting to meet all the different people who walk in," Blaze said.
In 2022, The Cozy Inn Hamburgers celebrated its 100th birthday, continuing the six-stool diner tradition for burger lovers nationwide and worldwide.