This Iconic New Hampshire Restaurant Sign Has Become a Local Landmark

If you don't know where this sign comes from, you might not be from the Seacoast of New Hampshire.

Located on Route 1 in Portsmouth is the Iconic Yoken's Restaurant Neon Sign

Yoken's restaurant was in business for years until it closed around 2002.  At that time, we almost lost the iconic sign.

The Time We Almost Lost the Yoken's Sign

There was a time when the sign was dark after the restaurant closed. There was, as you might imagine, a public outcry.

The sign was eventually restored and redone, complete with brand new neon and it stands proudly at 1380 Lafayette Road, a/k/a Route 1, in Portsmouth.

Remember Yoken's Gift Shop?

Right next to the restaurant was the cutest gift shop where you had to go in and try your luck with the Treasure Chest.  You won some sort of prize if your key opened up the chest, but mine never worked, so I'll never know.

The gift shop had other little gifts like stuffed lobsters, mugs, potholders, magnets for your refrigerator, etc.  It was like a souvenir shop for New Hampshire as well as the restaurant.

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The Yoken's Sign is Part of the Landscape, Much Like the Citgo Sign in Boston

With the re-lighting of the sign several years ago, the Yoken's sign has become part of the landscape of Route 1 in Portsmouth.  Neon, lasts for approximately 8-15 years, so it could be in the near future, we will be taking the sign down for another restoration.

What other signs around the Seacoast have become part of the landscape?