Taco Bell franchise didn’t last long at this Thornton’s, sighting “tight quarters and a lot of traffic.” The smaller, Hot Dog Extreme was less headache and the customers didn’t seem to mind the change.
Staff writer, Laurie Kokenes, shares a business update on the corner gas station in 1985.
In 1985 Thornton’s re-opened the E-Z Go Gas station with a rainbow color scheme (this black and white photo leaves one to imagine). At night the store at Harlem and Jackson was said to look like a “Forest Park Rainbow.”

Thornton’s Food Shop and Gas Station, open 24 hours a day, was rebranded with “quality fast food, and convenience of self-serve gas” in 1985.  This photo taken circa 1985, features regular gasoline for 93 cents, or premium at 97 cents, 79 cent beverages called “super guzzler” and Marlboro cigarettes for $1.23 a pack. 

 Thornton’s added hot dogs, corn dogs, burritos, chili, soda, slushies and pastries to their store when they replaced E-Z Go in 1985.  At night the store was said to “look like a rainbow,” according to the store manager, Henry Smith, at the time. 

 In 1993 this busy Thornton’s added a Taco Bell to its location.  This experimental restaurant- gas station combination, was one of only 19 Thornton mini marts at the time to add a franchised restaurant into it’s customer offerings.  It was predicted in a 1993 Forest Park Review article that restaurant franchises opening in high volume mini marts would be a trend in the industry for several years.  

 The Taco Bell turned out to be “too much hassle” for this location.  The chain operated just under a year, before the Tex-Mex chain was replaced with Hot Dog Extreme that served fresh hot dogs, sausage or sandwich.