Melvin H. (Mel) Carl wasted little time after news came on December 5, 1933, that Utah had become the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending Prohibition in the United States. Carl immediately began laying plans to open a tavern in his hometown of Sedalia, Kansas, even though the state had not ratified the 21st Amendment. In early 1935 he applied for a permit to sell liquor at 211 South Ohio Avenue, and as soon as he had the permit in hand he opened Mel Carl’s Tavern. Business was so good out of the gate that by 1936 he decided to expand and redecorate his establishment so as to provide, the Sedalia Democrat observed, “larger food accommodations for the patronage which his place enjoys.”
Carl’s next move came in 1949, when he opened Beverly’s Snack Shop (named for his 11-year-old daughter) at 520 South Ohio Avenue. The following year he renamed it Beverly’s Snack and Steak Shop and, then, Beverly’s Steak House.
Carl’s big break came in 1954, when he arranged to lease one of three available spaces in the brand-new Broadway Plaza Shopping Center at 1705 West Broadway Boulevard, which was anchored by a giant Kroger supermarket. Closing the operation on South Ohio Avenue, he spent some $40,000 to equip and furnish his new restaurant, which featured a 30-foot soda fountain and counter on one side of the room, seven sets of booths on the other, several tables in the middle, and a bar with 15 stools in the back, for a total seating capacity of about 90. As they’d done before, Carl and his wife, Emma, decided to name the new restaurant after their daughter, now 17 years old, and all three would work there in the years ahead.
Beverly’s Drive-in Restaurant made its debut on June 15, 1954, with Carl dubbing it “The House of Fine Foods” in newspaper ads for the grand opening.
In 1957 Carl suddenly found his name in the news when a sandwich recipe he entered in a competition sponsored by the National Restaurant Association and the Wheat Flour Institute was judged one of the top 20 out of more than 700 submitted. Soon his recipe for “Mel’s Salami Treat” appeared in newspapers all over the country.
In 1959, with Mel’s health in decline, the Carls announced that they had sold their restaurant to Thurlow and May Belle Puckett, who for many years had owned a cafe in Sedalia. Aside from dropping the “Drive-In” from the name of the restaurant, the Pucketts kept things pretty much as they had been from the beginning, with steak and fried chicken at the top of the menu, and an assortment of pies (made by pastry cook Isa Cayton) heading the dessert list.
There were daily specials galore, like this one described in a 1964 newspaper ad: “Stewed Chicken with Dumplings, Potatoes, and Salad. Choice of Two Vegetables, Hot Roll and Butter, Coffee or Tea. Complete Dinner, 95 cents.” Plus: “We serve the only Rum Cream Pie and the tastiest Fresh Strawberry Pie in the Sedalia area.”
Mel Carl died in 1966 at age 64. The Pucketts operated Beverly’s Restaurant until 1978, when they sold it to Tony and Pat Rimel, who restyled it as Beverly’s House of Fine Foods. The restaurant closed in 1986.
A footnote: The state of Kansas has never ratified the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Mel's Salami Treat
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Loading...In 1957 Melvin H. (Mel) Carl, the owner of Beverly's Drive-In Restaurant in Sedalia, Kansas, suddenly found his name in the news when a sandwich recipe he entered in a competition sponsored by the National Restaurant Association and the Wheat Flour Institute was judged one of the top 20 out of more than 700 submitted. Soon his recipe for “Mel’s Salami Treat” appeared in newspapers all over the country.
Ingredients
- 2 slices rye bread with caraway seeds
- Butter
- 2 slices kosher salami
- 1 thin slice sweet onion
- 1 ounce cream cheese, softened
- Hamburger relish, to taste
Instructions
Heat a heavy pan over medium-low heat.
Butter rye bread on both sides. Place a slice of salami on one piece of the rye bread, then the onion. Spread the cream cheese as evenly as possible over the top. Place the remaining slice of salami on top of the cream cheese and spread with hamburger relish.
Top with the second piece of rye bread and place the sandwich in the pan. Adjust the heat so the bread sizzles gently and grill on both sides, using a spatula to turn the sandwich until both sides are crusty and the cheese is melted.
Notes
Mel Carl suggested serving this sandwich with potato salad, a kosher dill pickle, and stuffed olives. His original recipe called for a "slice" of cream cheese, but since sliced cream cheese is no longer available in the United States; the recipe has been adapted accordingly.
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