Pontiac Cafe, aka "Just Jackie's"

Pontiac Cafe as described in the old brochure: On camp grounds, overlooking beautiful Bull Shoals Lake. Conveniently located near Pontiac Boat Dock. We do our best to please! Phone: Gainesville, Osborn 9-2160. Herb and Jean Noren-Operators.

The Pontiac Cafe is located in the Pontiac campground. The cafe was originally built by Herb and Jean Noren and Jean's sister, Ginger, in 1957 or 1958. Jean and Ginger were sisters of Sanford Robbins, who was the dock operator at that time. Jimmy Robbins, who built Jimmy's Court, was their brother as well. Sanford and his wife, Gerty, also had a couple cabins that they rented called Robbins Roost. The Robbins family had a lot of influence in the early development in the Pontiac area.

Sometime around 1960 the cafe was purchased by Clyde Oberlin, and the name changed to Green Trees Cafe.

 Green Trees Cafe, formerly the "Pontiac Cafe," in the early days

Oberlin loved the Pontiac area. When the Philippes decided to split up Lakeshore Lodge in to private homes, he purchased the first. He also bought the Coffee farm and added to it to create a large hunting area for him and his friends. The Philippes ran the cafe for Oberlin for a couple years, then my parents, Joe and Alice Morgan, ran it in 1963 and 1964. My brother, Dan, and I helped our parents in the business. We all pooled our tips and bought our first family boat, a 16' Lonestar aluminum boat, on which we put an 18 HP Johnson outboard.

(Above): Clyde Oberlin

I don't remember what was going on with the cafe during the late 60's and early 70's, but in 1976, after Johnna and I had moved back to Pontiac, my family entered into the restaurant business again. We purchased the building from Clyde and remodeled it. We converted the original living quarters to more kitchen area, took out the old counter and hired the best cook in the country, Argie Wilbanks. We wanted a new name, and my brother suggested "The Galley." Everyone pitched in again as seen in the picture below.

From left: Argie Wilbanks, Joe, Johnna, Joyce and Alice Morgan

We had a successful business, but all the extra hours were taking a toll on our family and the boat dock, so we sold the restaurant to Guy and Penny Resch in 1978. Penny's sister was Patty Smiley. Guy was part of my construction crew, and we did some building in the area back then. The Resches had a successful business but sold it a couple years later to Ed and Frances Baughman.

From left: Guy Resch, Ed Kolaks

The Baughmans struggled with the business, and around 1982 it was sold to a group of investors that included Don and Patty Smiley. The group leased the restaurant to Rory and Jan Smith, who did a good job with it. They later sold it to Larry and Dorothy Linn.

I don't really remember anything about the Linns' time there or if they had someone run it for them. But in another weak moment, in 1985, we bought it back. This time we were convinced barbecue was the way to go. We did extensive remodeling again, adding the smoker room on the east end of the building. A good friend of mine, Quentin Moore, found an old bakery oven that we purchased and installed in the smoker room. It was massive. It had eight long racks and was set up like a huge rotisserie. It had a large drip pan underneath. It was fired with hickory in a fire box outside the smoker and supplemented with a 200,000 btu LP gas burner. We could have fed the entire county. With Argie Wilbanks retired by now, we hired another great cook: Jim Clark. He was an excellent breakfast cook, and his prime rib was the best. But despite all of our efforts, we could not make it work. In 1990, we made a request to the Corps to let us convert it to four motel units. The Corps approved the plan, but just before the big change, we met with Chris and Bettie Geroff and Tom and Mary Cline. We all felt that there was a need to keep a restaurant in Pontiac, so we became partners. We did even more remodeling, enlarging the deck to its current size, built the existing bar, changed the menu and reopened as "The Landing."

We had a great menu and added liquor by the drink. Chris and I spent many nights behind the bar performing our version of "Cocktail." We had a very good business and had a lot of fun doing it, but after a couple years of working our tails off, we decided to let someone else have all that fun. We sold the restaurant to Ramona Easterling and Rodney Evans. Ramona was the worker, and Rodney was the silent partner. They did a good job and kept it going for a couple of years before selling it to Brian and Joyce Chance.

I couldn't find any records on how long the Chances owned the restaurant, but sometime in the 1990's they sold it to "Big Larry" and Mary Mueller. They changed the name to "Larry's Landing." I think Larry bought it so he could have a place to hang out when he was here from St. Louis. Food was available, but it was secondary with him. Sometimes Larry would show up with a bunch of steaks from the city, and steak would be on the menu. It was always a good time when Larry was here. He would tell a story and then laugh really loudly, and you just had to laugh with him. In 2002, Larry sold the restaurant to Jackie Klineline, and it became Just Jackie's.

Above: Just Jackie's from the front as it looks today

Jackie Klineline on the back deck, overlooking the marina cove 

Just Jackie's has a full menu, but as many of you know, her specialty is pizza. She is also known for her delicious homemade breakfasts, hot wings and cold beer. Just Jackie's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from Memorial weekend through Labor Day weekend. Her business has boomed over the years. On any given day during the summer you'll find a steady stream of boats coming and going to enjoy the food, drinks and fun at Just Jackie's. Weekends are generally packed in the summer, and every Friday night in the off-season, Just Jackie's is the place to be. The restaurant business is difficult - believe me, I know - but Jackie has continually maintained and improved the business. Over the winter she has worked on numerous projects - some you'll never see, like improvements back in the kitchen. And some you'll really enjoy - such as a new bar top that will run along the south side of the deck, where folks can sit on bar stools and overlook the marina and lake while enjoying their food and beverage. She is the best thing that has ever happened to this restaurant. We hope she stays put for many more years.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan