Wrink's Market

The Wrink's bologna sandwich is the single most famous menu item at any small market on Missouri Route 66, and ordering one has become a kind of pilgrimage ritual for serious Mother Road travelers. The recipe is deliberately simple: thick-sliced bologna cut to order on the original meat slicer, a slice of American cheese, yellow mustard, on plain white bread. The sandwich sells for a few dollars and comes wrapped in butcher paper. It is not gourmet, and it is not trying to be. It is the same lunch a 1955 family of four would have bought on their way from Chicago to California, and that is the entire point.

Beyond the bologna sandwich, the deli case at Wrink's offers ham sandwiches, salami sandwiches, cheese plates, and a rotating selection of homemade desserts like fudge, cookies, and slices of pie. Cold drinks include classic bottled Coca-Cola, Royal Crown Cola, root beer in glass bottles, and an ever-changing selection of regional soft drinks that nostalgic travelers love to discover. The market also sells locally made jams, honey, salsas, and Ozark gift items that make excellent edible souvenirs to bring home. Prices throughout are reasonable and consistent with what a small country store should charge.

Eating your sandwich outside on the picnic bench in front of the market, with classic cars occasionally pulling into the parking lot and the Missouri sun on your face, is one of the simple joys of a Route 66 trip. The family who runs Wrink's has resisted the temptation to expand the menu into anything more complicated, and the result is a stop that does one thing extremely well rather than many things poorly. Pair your sandwich with a side of chips, a cold drink, and a slice of fudge for dessert and you have a perfect three-dollar Route 66 lunch.

Glenn Wrinkle opened the market in 1950 at the height of post-war Route 66 traffic, when Lebanon was experiencing its own boom alongside the broader highway economy. The original building was small even by 1950 standards, perhaps fifteen hundred square feet total, and Glenn ran it as a one-man operation for most of its early decades. He stocked basic groceries, sandwiches, cold drinks, fishing supplies for the nearby Niangua River, and oddities ranging from work gloves to bottle openers. His role was as much social as commercial: drivers and locals stopped by daily to catch up on news, swap road information, and listen to Glenn's stories.

When Interstate 44 bypassed Lebanon in the 1970s, traffic at Wrink's slowed dramatically, and Glenn might easily have closed the shop. Instead he adapted, leaning into the Route 66 nostalgia market that began gathering steam in the 1990s. Foreign tour buses started including Lebanon on their itineraries specifically to meet Glenn, and his cheerful interviews appeared in documentaries from Germany, Japan, and Australia. By the time of his death in 2005, Glenn had become one of the recognizable faces of the Mother Road in Missouri, and his market had become a destination rather than just a convenience stop.

The reopening of Wrink's after a period of dormancy was a triumph for Route 66 preservation in Lebanon. Local historians, the Route 66 Federation, and the Wrinkle family worked together to ensure the building was structurally sound, the artifacts were inventoried, and the operation could function as a sustainable small business. Today's Wrink's is a working memorial that respects Glenn's legacy while continuing to serve the very travelers he served for fifty-five years. Stop in, sign the guest book, and leave a few dollars in the tip jar to support the continued operation of a genuine American treasure.

Wrink's Market is located on the old Route 66 alignment just east of downtown Lebanon, easily reached from Interstate 44 Exit 130 by following Business 44 east for a short distance. Watch carefully for the small white building on the south side of the road, as it is set back slightly and easy to miss at highway speeds. Parking is in a gravel lot directly in front of the store with space for perhaps eight to ten cars, plus an overflow area on a side lot for motorcycles and additional vehicles. RVs and tour buses can park along the road shoulder.

The market is generally open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sundays, but hours can vary seasonally and during family events. Calling ahead at 417-532-5330 is a good idea if you are making a special detour, especially during winter months when traffic is lighter. The market accepts cash and most major credit cards, but cash is appreciated for small transactions. Photography is welcome inside the store, and the family is happy to talk about Glenn and the history of the place if you express interest.

Pair a visit to Wrink's with stops at the Munger Moss Motel for sign photographs and the Route 66 Museum at the library for broader historical context. Together, these three Lebanon stops can be enjoyed in a leisurely three to four hours and add up to one of the most complete small-town Route 66 experiences in Missouri. If you only have time for one stop in Lebanon, however, Wrink's is the one that most consistently surprises and delights travelers because it remains a real, working, breathing business rather than a museum piece.