Zippy’s is gone

[By Marcia Milner-Brage in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA]

  Zippy’s was the go-to BBQ takeout in Cedar Falls. Truth be told, it was the only BBQ takeout in Cedar Falls. Some might have called it a BBQ joint. Takeout and joint were too highfalutin. Zippy’s was, as the sign said, a shack. Yes, was. Five days ago, my husband and I drove down Main Street and it was there as it had been for years, as drawn in this August 2010 sketch, funky and beckoning. Four years ago it closed, it became a ghost of its former self, yet still a landmark. Then, two days ago we drove by. I screamed: “It’s gone!!”.

The road was slippery. My husband jarred by my outburst, almost crashed the car. I was shaken. Zippy’s was one of MY places. One of the many I’ve drawn in town. If I draw a place it’s irrationally mine. I claim ownership. And now Zippy’s is gone, not even a sign or a plaque. Only a rectangle of gravel dusted with snow marks its footprint, Zippy’s is now my drawing and the memories.

Pork ribs were smoked in the stone oven out front. There was always a helter-skelter pile of hickory wood. We’d drive up to the drive thru and order a rack of ribs, decadently slathered with a mess of spicy, red sauce that was handed out in a Styrofoam shell through a small window. We’d get a side of fried potatoes and another of cole slaw. Some ate under the umbrellas with the smoker billowing and the traffic whizzing by on Main Street. We always went home to eat. The guy who owned the place was almost always there. Was his name Zippy? I never asked.  I’ll never know.