Opened in 1957, Waterbury was initially a stand-alone unit. For many years the franchised location was owned by Donald Christie. In addition to Waterbury he owned HoJo's Restaurants in Hartford and Mystic. Mr. Christie was a key player in the franchisee ownership group created after the Howard Johnson Company was dissolved. The group, Franchise Associates Incorporated (FAI), was charged with overseeing the Howard Johnson's restaurant brand and related signature food items. Christie was a member of FAI's board, and served on the executive committee as its secretary.

Perhaps he recognized his and his fellow cronies utter failure at maintaining the Howard Johnson's brand, and subsequently closed or sold each of his locations. The Waterbury Restaurant was the only one to survive--barely! A partnership purchased the eatery only to engage in a long-running dispute that was finally settled in judicial proceedings.