Minnesota lost a food icon Tuesday, when Gordy Lundquist died at the age of 93.
Lundquist was the man behind Gordy’s Hi-Hat in Cloquet, MN. Lundquist and his wife Marilyn opened their drive-in burger spot in 1960 and have operated the restaurant for 61 years.
The restaurant became famous outside of Minnesota after two appearances on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri. Gordy’s first appeared on the show a decade ago, and during the pandemic the show came back to shoot a new episode that aired in May.
On the original appearance on the show, Fieri said about Gordy’s famous burgers, “When you think about the all-American drive-in, that’s the kind of burger they’re talking about.”
According to the Gordy’s Hi-Hat website, Gordy and Marilyn Lundquist were both from Duluth and they built the first A & W Root Beer Stand in Eveleth, Minnesota in 1950. In 1955, they built the London Inn Drive Inn on London Road in Duluth, before opening up Gordy’s in Cloquet.
In later years, Lundquist would spend six months in Sarasota, Florida, and return every spring to the Hi-Hat for another season. Gordy’s was only open during the summer season.
Gordy and Marilyn were married for 71 years. In a Facebook post, the family said, “Gordy was a great father, grandfather and great grandfather. He took tremendous pride in his work, and all of his employees throughout the years.”