MONTAGUE, MI - The owners of a White Lake area restaurant staple are looking for someone to continue a legacy 50 years in the making.

Dog n' Suds of Montague, located at the White River Bridge between Whitehall and Montague at 4454 Dowling St. has been put up for lease. The nostalgic, drive-in-style restaurant has been owned and operated by the Hosticka family for more than 50 years, but now, it needs new management.

"I've been running two restaurants," said owner David Hosticka, who also owns and operates the Dog 'n Suds in Norton Shores. "It's going well but it's a year-round location in Muskegon. I don't have family coming in to take over for me. By the time my father was the age I am now, he had me. I unfortunately don't have any children."

The Montague restaurant occupies a prime, waterfront location between the two towns surrounding White Lake. The location is immediately available for lease, fully equipped, and ready to open. Training is also available, but not required.

It is Hosticka's full intention to lease the restaurant to someone who will keep it running just as it has since his father Bill and mother Karen opened it in the spring of 1966.

"We want to lease it as a turnkey," he said. "We're basically just switching drivers. We believe it's kind of novelty with a lot of history. It's kind of a local landmark."

Bill and Karen Hosticka purchased the restaurant in the fall of 1965 after moving to the area from Chicago. David Hosticka, along with his two brothers, all worked at the restaurant for number of years as youths. David Hosticka moved back home from college and took over as the primary owner in 1994.

Dog 'n Suds is traditionally open from April 1 until the Montague Pumpkin Roll in early October, The traditional opening date may be in doubt, but Hosticka said it would only take a couple weeks to get the restaurant up and running once the necessary leases, licenses and contracts are signed.

Costs should be very reasonable, Hosticka said, since everything in the restaurant is ready to go.

He added that he's pretty open-minded when it comes to the type of person he's looking for to take over operations as long as they respect the history of the restaurant, know what it means to the community and have the fortitude to work during the summer months.

Hosticka's deadline to find new management is May 1. If no one is found, the restaurant will likely be boarded up. Hosticka is hopeful it won't come to that, and early signs are promising, as at least two or three different parties seem to be interested.

"It's a bittersweet thing for me," he said. "This place has been my life. My parents had it before I was born and it's something we would really strongly like to see continue. We will do anything we can to help make that happen."

Anyone interested in leasing the restaurant should contact David Hosticka by calling 231-206-5311.

Brandon Champion covers arts and entertainment, business, sports and weather for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at bchampio@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @BrandonThaChamp.