Blackstone Family Restaurant

05/25/2026

Happy memorial Day everyone. We have a burger, fries and root beer float today. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful day. Hope to see you here.

04/18/2026

Looking for a third shift cook. Come and apply or see me when I'm here. Have a good day, hope to see you soon.

03/13/2026

Friday the 13 th. Come and try our delicious fish fry. Only good things happening here. Have a great day

03/12/2026

We will be open for St Patrick's Day All night. Hope everyone has a great day and hope to see you there

01/26/2026

For those who don't know yet, we're closed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, from 10 pm. To 6 am. We're open the rest of the week 24 hours. Daily specials and all your favorites. Have a good day and hope to see you when

12/25/2025

We are closed today for Christmas,will be open at 10 tonight. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

12/25/2025

11/27/2025

We're open till 1 today. We are open at 10 tonight. We have turkey and the fixings today. Yummy. Stop in! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

11/23/2025

Exactly twenty years ago this evening, our shelter opened for the very first night. What better time to reflect about the six, determined and dedicated individuals who sat down over coffee and breakfast at a small diner on the corner of Walnut and Ashland to dream about what could be.

They saw men and women with nowhere to turn on cold winter nights and asked, “What if we did something?”

That “something” became the start of what is now St. John’s Ministries.

Last month, those six original visionaries gathered once again around a table at Blackstone Family Restaurant. Tony Pichler wrote a reflection about the special morning: "In a historic greasy spoon on the corner of Walnut St. and Ashland Ave., otherwise known as The Blackstone Restaurant, the people who had the initial conversation that explored the possibility of a new temporary emergency homeless shelter reconvened to mark the 20th anniversary of that event. Fr. Guy Blair, CSC, Susan Perrault, Steve Meyer, Karina O'Malley, Micah O'Malley and Tony Pichler shared food and conversation, recalling those days in 2005 when the dream of what would become St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter (with a first stop as COTS) were first verbalized and set into motion. It was a momentous occasion!

All these years later, what was once a broken down gym and kitchen in a broken down school building has grown into a multi-faceted, full-fledged non-profit that houses a number of entities that serve our unsheltered brothers and sisters. St. John's Homeless Shelter, the Micah Center, and Wellspring now serve hundreds of unsheltered persons with resources, both in terms of personnel and building and grounds that far surpasses those humble beginnings.

Yet, on a warm October Saturday morning, six people who have become friends were able to laugh, share stories, and remember days gone by. Here is to twenty more years of development with St. John's Ministries. I'm just not sure any of us will be having breakfast at a greasy spoon to remember those 40 years of history!"

11/10/2025

Open all night stop in after the game

11/10/2025

We will be open Monday late night for your food and enjoyment. Don't forget it's meatloaf Monday! Have a good day and hope to see you soon.