The Traveling Wheelchair

269 Thayer Street
Providence, RI 02906
Phone: 401-276-0003
http://www.johnnyrockets.com/

While traveling in Providence yesterday, my friends, Ric, Tony and I stopped to grab some lunch at Johnny Rockets. We were especially interested to see if this Johnny Rockets has wheelchair accessible seating since the Johnny Rockets in Braintree has no accessible seating.

This Johnny Rockets is located on Thayer Street right in the middle of the campuses of Brown University and RISD. Many college students shop and eat at places on this busy street. My dad graduated from Brown University and I have many fond memories of this area for before I was injured, because my dad often took my brother and me to the campus of Brown University and we often walked along Thayer Street.

There is only street parking available on Thayer Street. My friends and I couldn’t find a handicap parking place  so we parked in a regular parking space and walked/wheeled a good distance. You will need help with opening the single entry door for it is not automatic. Once inside, you will first see a customer service counter where you can place a takeout order or sit at a stool to eat a meal. This counter is NOT wheelchair accessible; it is way too high; the seats are permanently mounted to the floor and not removable for a wheelchair to fit.

The nice employee behind the counter told my friends and me to sit at any open table. The place has many booths and only three tables. The tables are located accross from the service counter; the aisle between the tables and service counter is very narrow and a tight squeeze for my wheelchair to fit. These tables are also located near the restroom.  The chairs on the inside of the table are permanently mounted to the floor. The only place for my wheelchair to fit is on the outside of the table.  The problem with this is that my wheelchair sticks out into the aisle and partially blocks access to all customers trying to get by me to get to the restroom. I was bumped by customers at least three times. I did find the table to be of a perfect height for my wheelchair.

We all thought the food was very good and our waiter was very kind, courteous and respectful.

Now for the restrooms! There is a single Men’s and Women’s restroom. You will need assistance with both entering and exiting the restroom because the restrooms are locked; you will need to get a special coin/token from your waitress/waiter. The coin operated lock is way too high for me to reach from my wheelchair. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see that it is quite a few inches above the area where a door knob used to be located. The door lever to open the door from the inside to exit the restroom is way too high for me to reach as well. Once inside the restroom, I was pleased to find it is very spacious and fully wheelchair accessible. The toilet is of a perfect height; the safety grab bars are located on the side and rear wall of the toilet at a perfect height; the accessible sink is easy to access; the pipes underneath are covered as is ADA required and the soap and towel dispenser are reachable. Another person will definitely need to open the door for you to enter and know when you need the door open to exit :<)

I give this Johnny Rockets in Providence TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Three Stars, they would need to: install an automatic entry door so a person in a wheelchair can enter independently; lower a section of the service counter to a wheelchair accessible height; allow a few of the stools at the service counter to be removable for wheelchair access; allow for the chairs located on the inside of the three tables to be removable so a person in a wheelchair can sit on the inside and not stick out into the narrow aisle; or relocate the tables away from the restrooms; lower the coin operated lock on the restroom doors to a wheelchair accessible height so a person in a wheelchair can enter independently; and lower the inside door lever on the restroom door to a wheelchair accessible height so a person in a wheelchair can independently exit the restroom. I wouldn’t want to see any fellow wheeler humiliated and stuck in the restroom because the lever is too high for them to reach :<)