Forgotten Fast Food restaurants.

[wyldwolf]

Burger Chef. My home town had one before we had a McDonalds or Burger King.



Their version of the Big Mac, the Big Shef, had tarter sauce instead of thousand island dressing like the Big Mac does.

[ok_cpu]

1. The Red Barn

[IMG][/IMG]

[Canuckistanian]

52. I still see some of their buildings

Some are still restaurants, some are not. But you can't forget the shape of them.

[geardaddy]

89. Yes!

[nuxvomica]

2. Carroll's Hamburgers

I think they were acquired by Burger King. They had the best french fries of any of the chains, IMHO.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

3. Absolutely! n/t

[Angry Dragon]

4. Clark subs

[geardaddy]

195. I remember them.

[wyldwolf]

5. Long John Silvers is still around, but back in the early 70s they had some awesome fried drumettes..

... called 'Peg Legs.'

best things I'd ever eaten at the time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wafflewhiffer/4196907470/

"Long gone from the Long John Silver's menu is the beloved Peg-Leg Dinner. The best part was the giant bed of "crunchy stuff" underneath!

Perhaps a band of politically correct pirates were offended and forced their removal from the menu."

[RebelOne]

8. Yes, there is a Long John Silvers almost around the corner from my house.

I rarely eat from fast food restaurants, but it is nice to know that it is close by, because it is the only fast food that I would eat.

[madinmaryland]

6. Lum's Restaurant

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2009-07-03/business/0907020336_1_lums-restaurant-davie

[OriginalGeek]

11. Oooh, I remember them!

But I remember my dad always wanted to go there and I wanted to go to A&W.


Nowadays I'd love to have either one near by.

[madinmaryland]

15. There was one in Lima, Ohio that we went to in the 70's.

They closed sometime in the 80's.

[7wo7rees]

57. They still have Made-Rite?

In Greenville?

Right next to the Jolly Roger Donut Shop?

[RebelOne]

12. I thought Lum's was long gone.

My daughter's first job was at a Lum's in South Florida. My ex-husband bought stock in Lum's when it was going strong and cleaned up on the stock market. Too bad I wasn't married to him at the time.

[KamaAina]

125. I loved the Lums in Norwalk, CT, and was going to post it

but it was a sit-down restaurant, not really fast food.

[madinmaryland]

127. There was one in Norwalk, CT? I was there in the mid 90's and it was gone by then.

The one in Lima was a sit-down restaurant. I don't really remember how the food was.

[Arugula Latte]

7. Wetson's

(Personally I don't remember this one)

[union_maid]

31. We had one of those in my town

It was really terrible as I recall. Even by fast food standards.

[OriginalGeek]

9. We had one of these about 2 miles from my house when I was a kid

I don't remember if they were any good. I do remember totaling my first car into a telephone pole right in front of it.

[wyldwolf]

17. Yes, we had one, too. They used to give away cool tiger print masks...

... but if memory serves, they changed their name because 'Sambo' had racial overtones.

[OriginalGeek]

24. Yep, it sure did

And the Texas yokels didn't let you forget it. As a kid I was unaware of all that but as I grew into my teens it was pretty common for idiots to snort and giggle about it.

[energumen]

29. the ethnicity of sambo was indian

and the kid was pretty damn smart
he outwitted the tigers

[OriginalGeek]

35. lol, yeah, well nobody ever claimed racists were smart

One only needed to be different to be a target and racists didn't need to be historically accurate.

[wyldwolf]

68. Not at first

"... the chain soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo. Battistone, Sr. and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy, tigers, and a pale, magical unicycle-riding man called "The Treefriend." By the early 1960s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s

[energumen]

123. I was more referring to the story

as apposed to the restaurant. The story does not specifically mention India, however, the lady that wrote it was in India and the tigers natural range is basically Asiatic as apposed to African.

The information from Wikipedia states that the "... original illustrations by Bannerman showed a caricatured Southern Indian or Tamil child."

I expect that the transformation to a "light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban" may have been an effort to avoid criticisms of racism.

[Populist_Prole]

10. Is Arthur Treacher's fish & chips still around?

I haven't seen one in many years.

[RebelOne]

13. I think Arthur Treacher's is long gone.

There was one just down the street from me. I loved the fish and chips.

[madinmaryland]

16. There is one in Maryland off the beltway near the Wilson Bridge!

[Populist_Prole]

25. Cool, good to hear

Thanks!

[KamaAina]

126. And another at the Cheesequake service area

on the Garden State Parkway.

[Rhiannon12866]

65. That was my favorite! Used to go to the next town to find one...

There was one in Albany (I'm in NY) until a few years ago. The last time I looked them up, there still seemed to be some in Ohio.

[geardaddy]

90. I remember them

and H. Salt Fish and Chips

[woodsprite]

102. We used to call it "Arthur Creature's Fish with Lips" n/t

[dr.strangelove]

129. They joined with Nathan's in NY and Nathans serves their clams and fish n chips

It is still as greasy and good as ever.

[kudzu22]

134. I had such a craving for Treacher's the other day.

Found out there are only a handful left and none of them near me

[WhoIsNumberNone]

164. Not all of them.

I don't know if the chain is still around, but there's an Arthur Treacher's close to me.

I also remember seeing (and even once eating in) independently owned Burger Chefs long after the chain went under.

[OmahaBlueDog]

197. They'd been revived for a while in Miami Subs stores

However, they started disappearing again.

The "new" version had the fish right, but screwed up the chips.

[TheManInTheMac]

200. There are a few of them.

One in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. When my wife and I found it, we went there to have fish and chips and hushpuppies once...

Just once. I'm certainly no health food enthusiast, but, my God, you just don't feel good about yourself after eating that.

[Recursion]

205. NY Ave and 3rd St NE in DC

It's awful, though. The ones at rest areas are usually better

[LiberalEsto]

14. Mr. Bee

Central NJ in the late 1960s.

Buzzburgers.

[hay rick]

43. Somerville Circle.

Still there in the 70s...

[name not needed]

60. Place closed down a few years ago.

[LiberalEsto]

76. I thought they were long gone. nt

[LiberalEsto]

75. The one I knew was in the Somerset section of Franklin Township

around Hamilton Street and Franklin Boulevard.

Are you from that area?

The reason I knew about Mr. Bee was that they catered the lunches for our freshman orientation for Livingston College, Rutgers in 1969. I thought the name Mr. Bee was hilarious. The burgers, meh.

[hay rick]

82. From.

I lived in the Somerville area (Bridgewater, Branchburg) for several years in the 70's. Then I moved down to the shore, and recently, retired in Florida.

Remember the burgers- large and wet. The location was convenient and the food wasn't worse than McDonald's.

[LiberalEsto]

84. Oh cool!

I was in that general area around that time. I used to work for the Somerset Messenger-Gazette newspaper as a reporter,1974 through 1976. Lived on Weston Causeway near Zarephath, if you know where that is - it's part of Franklin Twp. Then moved to South Bound Brook for a couple of years.

[MiddleFingerMom]

18. In the early-to-mid-60's, our small Michigan town (30,000) had a Burger Chef on our side...

.
.
.
... of town and I think there was a McDonald's on the other side. McDonald's was far from the
monster franchise it has become (I'm pretty sure its (?) Served was in the single-digit millions.
.
I don't remember Burger Chef HAVING a Big Mac equivalent in the early-to-mid-60's (McDonald's
didn't introduce it nationwide until 1968). Big Boy restaurants had the original fast-food Big Mac
concept.
.
Hamburger at Burger Chef? 18 cents in the mid-60's. Fries probably about the same. Our Burger
Chef became a Burger King sometime around the late-60's-very-early-70's.
.
.
Germany mid-70's. One Pizza Hut (in Frankfurt, I believe) and one Kentucky Fried Chicken (in
Munich). Or vice-versa. By the time I left in '78, McDonald's were fairly common (the one in
Nurnberg had BLOCKS-long lines for a couple of weeks after opening). Deep discount if you could
recite the Big Mac ingredients-theme in German.

[wyldwolf]

22. tribute website

http://www.freewebs.com/burgerchef/

Some pages have the audio from Burger Chef commercials.

[MiddleFingerMom]

23. #25 was ours. They used to sell a "family-sized order of French Fries" -- ...

.
.
.
... a full pound of fries. One time MiddleFingerMomDad stopped (very, very rare occasion) at a
Burger Chef to pick up dinner for the family, to include a pound bag of fries.
.
When he got home and opened them, they were the worst, overcooked fries you've ever seen --
MANY of them blackened.
.
He was so pissed, he took it right back and demanded to see the person cooking the fries. When
the kid came out, MFMD dumped the bag on the counter and told him that "THIS is what you sent
home with me for my family to eat. I want to see you eat them." The manager came out and MFMD
stood his ground -- except now he wanted the manager to eat them.
.
He was never serious, but I do believe he made a lasting impression on those two fellas.
.
.
.

[energumen]

30. our burger chef became a hardees, burger chef was better eom

[MiddleFingerMom]

38. Hardee's had just two things going for it. A mushroom-Swiss burger that I would say was...

.
.
.
... better than any other I've ever had -- even in an "upscale" burger/steak restaurant.
.
.
.
And its breakfast biscuits -- not the sandwiches, but the biscuits themselves were
EXCELLENT!!!
.
.
.

[MadrasT]

69. Those were my Hardees favorites too

and they also had a hot ham and cheese that rocked

[energumen]

124. I no longer eat much at Hardees

You look at the calorie count on some of the burgers and its scary. They look great but i cant afford to eat 3 days worth of calories for a single meal. They seem to be the worst of the fast food restaurants in that respect.

I will admit the local Hardees is always very busy in morning.

[kudzu22]

135. I used to love the old Hardee's before they were taken over by Carl's Jr.

Now it's a game of see-how-much-fat-we-can-get-in-one-order. Ugh.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

201. Old Hardee's was awesome.

They had some really cool menu items.

As a kid, I loved the "Big Cookie." Not sure if the new Hardee's still has that, but I used to make my mom get me one every time we went there.

Unfortunately, the Carl's Jr./Hardees is but a shell of what Hardee's used to be.

[Initech]

19. Tastee Freeze

[blueamy66]

83. Still have some in AZ!

loved their FFs

[derby378]

116. Used to stop by the Tastee Freeze in Gilmer, TX when I was younger

There might still be one somewhere in Allen, but I haven't found it yet.

[Art_from_Ark]

20. Is Dog-n-Suds still around?

What about A&W drive-ins?

[fizzgig]

41. there's an a&w drive in not far from me

but it's been years since i've gone

[Art_from_Ark]

46. Interesting

The A&W in my hometown bowed out in the early '70s, and I don't remember ever seeing one on subsequent trips around the country. My mom took me there once to get a jug of root beer for my birthday and it was such a treat.

[fizzgig]

47. we recently got another a&w here in town

no car hop service, but a regular eat in place. i get there maybe a few times a year, nothing beats a cold a&w root beer.

[kurtzapril4]

50. There's a Dog-n-Suds in Grayslake, IL.

And there may still be one in Lombard, IL.

[Art_from_Ark]

53. The one in my hometown didn't last long at all

I think it came in around 1968 and then *poof*, it was gone. I don't think the commercials lasted very long, either. They started out "It was a hot afternoon near Springfield. The troops were hungry and thirsty. Then Dad uttered those immortal words 'Six root beers. Six coney dogs'".

[CrazyOrangeCat]

145. A brand-new Dog n Suds went up in Speedway IN . . .

in the mid-90's. Was quite good and was still there a few years back.

[PasadenaTrudy]

21. A&W Root Beer!

I loved the way you could park in the lot and eat a burger from a tray on the door. Frosty mug taste

[SteveG]

48. They still exist

http://www.awrestaurants.com/locations

[Common Sense Party]

86. Most of them today are a FAR cry from what they were in the heyday.

[1983law]

63. They are all over where I am.

No car hop service tho.

[RebelOne]

97. Many years ago, I worked in their main office

in Santa Monica, CA. I had all the root beer I could drink for free all day long. I eventually got sick of root beer.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

140. best hot dogs and root beer in the world

[Tabasco_Dave]

26. Pioneer Chicken

It was a huge chain and KFC's biggest competitor in So Cal. Popeye's bought them out in the 90's.

[wyldwolf]

27. Maryland Fried chicken

All I remember about them is their wet naps and rolls.

They're still around in some parts of the country, but not near me.

[Tom Ripley]

40. They had very good fried chicken

[GoCubsGo]

70. There is still one in Augusta, GA

I have never eaten there, but I have always wanted to try it.

[Phentex]

87. The fries! The fries!

They had the best, greasiest fries in a box. I think about this place from time to time but I had no idea there were any of these restaurants left.

[OmahaBlueDog]

187. Here's the history and a list of locations

http://marylandfriedchicken.com/history

[Tommy_Carcetti]

193. They had one down the street from my aunt's house in Orlando.

Never went there but as a native Marylander I always wanted to go there. Ironically, I never saw any of them around me in Maryland (I think they were more of an Eastern Shore venture)

[Tom Ripley]

42. "Yes, I know there wasn't a Pioneer Chicken Stand on Alvarado St...it's called poetic license"...

Warren Zevon

[JohnnyLib2]

28. Spudnut Shops

Sadly missed

[NoPasaran]

32. Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken

Not saying it was particularly good, but there was one a couple of blocks from our house in El Paso in 1969. It became a Whataburger.

[Tom Ripley]

44. Not even Keith Richard could keep them in business...

[femmocrat]

33. Remember Winky's?

"Winky's Makes You Happy to be Hungry"

Check out this old commercial (1976) :

[d_r]

34. Rax

and Burger Queen - I'd ruther go to druthers

[OriginalGeek]

37. Oh man, my wife misses Rax so much

When we first started dating we'd often skip classes and run over to Rax. I had grown up with Arby's so Rax was new to me and I wasn't as big on it as she was. Now all I have is Arby's and I'd pay extra for a Rax just to see the look on her face when I pulled into the parking lot.

[kudzu22]

138. Loved Rax

Per wikipedia they still have 14 locations. Probably not the same as it was.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

146. Rax was good. Had forgotten about them. n/t

[NoPasaran]

36. There was a Burger Chef inside the Cathedral of Learning at the U of Pitt in the late 1970s

I also remember one on Stanton Street in El Paso.

[Tom Ripley]

39. Yogi Bear's Honey Fried Chicken

I remember seeing those in the south

[Boomerproud]

45. In the 60's when I was growing up there were

Burger Boy Food O'Rama (I know-weird name)
Sandy's
Golden Point Drive-In
Guys Hamburgers and Subs

[UncleYoder]

161. Let's all go to the BBF!

and taking our appetite.

That was our weekend treat. Go get a fish sandwich (with cheese) at Burger Boy.
Had the coolest spikey sign. Much better than those golden arches.

[SteveG]

49. Kelly's and Gino's

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=kelly's+hamburgers&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Ikf4nA27FIzC7M&tbnid=Uk6yfIrROuxRDM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fboblemke.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Frico-petrocelli-for-kellys-hamburgers.html&ei=AYUQUZuNA4Ko8gSQg4CoDA&bvm=bv.41867550,d.eWU&psig=AFQjCNGReAW6XuNTqhoYbHwWMmYf9EIrPg&ust=1360123515435484

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino%27s_Hamburgers

[kurtzapril4]

51. Frisch's

I think they were in Indiana and Ohio.

[a la izquierda]

66. There's one near my house in Ohio.

[Eleanors38]

173. Ate at a franchise in Arlington, VA (1976). Big chunky fries.

[kwassa]

54. Lucy's Drive-In

The best chile verde burrito I have ever eaten, bar none.

They also make fresh carrot juice.

A little three restaurant chain in Los Angeles. I still dream about that burrito, and have never found as good in any restaurant at any price.

[Heddi]

55. Hot-n-Now

Drive thru only, early-late 90's. My first job, got hired the day I turned 16. Specialty burger was an Olive Burger...hamburger with sliced green olives on it. Not bad place. Could buy a burger, small fry and small drink for $0.99 total, $1.09 after taxes

[Mr.Bill]

56. H. Salt Esquire Fish & Chips

[Duer 157099]

64. That's the one I miss the most n/t

[geardaddy]

106. Yes!

I loved those. The only one I remember went away and they put an Arthur Treacher's in its place.

[hack89]

112. They are still around

http://www.hsalt.com/

[Manifestor_of_Light]

58. Chicken Delight.

Kip's Big Boy. Shoney's Big Boy. Different names for different parts of the country.

[El Supremo]

184. I used to work for Chicken Delight.

Made Pizza and delivered.

There may still be some in Canada.

[Flaxbee]

59. Der Wienerschnitzel, Taco Tia

Though I think Der Wienerschnitzel is still around ... but mostly in the west; I've never seen one out in the mid-Atlantic or northeast.

[truegrit44]

61. I would spend my last quarter for Der Wienerschnitzel chili dog

But haven't had one since I left So CA years ago, man I loved them!!!!!!!!

[Flaxbee]

99. both places have fond memories for me - my grandma and I, in her purple Chevy Impala

would swing through (and that Impala could really swing around corners) the drive in of both places for summer lunches.

Love and miss you, Grandma.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

147. They were briefly in Missouri in the 70's

And boy were they good! Went kaput for some reason.

[KamaAina]

133. Wienerschnitzel is alive and well on the Left Coast

I thought it had always been a regional chain, like In-N-Out or Jack in the Box.

[1983law]

62. Zantigo and Naugles!!!

Give a chilito or macho combo burrito.

[Flaxbee]

98. Naugles! Wow - that sent me straight back to high school

There was one on the corner across from our high school and we had "open lunch" - could go anywhere. I usually went there for a burrito. Loved 'em.

[geardaddy]

114. Zantigo, yes.

I remember them.

[Codeine]

188. The very first Naugles was just down the street from where I live.

It's a Del Taco now.

[1983law]

190. You can still get the macho combo there IIRC

I have to drive 200 miles for closest Del Taco.

[In_The_Wind]

67. Anyone remember: Big Boy Burger? ~~ >> eat 'em up - yum, B B B!

[img][/img]




I_T_W
[img][/img]

[ohiosmith]

71. I have a miniature BB on the bar!

[In_The_Wind]

72. I would love to see it someday.

[img][/img] [img][/img]

[ScreamingMeemie]

77. Still around (They were Marc's BigBoy in Milwaukee)

They're Elias Brothers in Michigan http://www.bigboy.com/locator/

Not as prevalent as they used to be in MI, but still around. Gone in WI. My father's first job was frying the chickens at the Big Boy on Grand Ave. in Milwaukee.

[In_The_Wind]

78. I'll be sure to look for one, if my work OTR allows time for a stop there.

[lastlib]

81. We still have 'em in KC MO

haven't been in one in decades, tho, so can't say how the food is. I only drove by it on the way to somewhere else.

[geardaddy]

105. Loved BB

In college my high school friends and I took the cube (like the photo cubes) that had specials, ads, etc. on it. We each went to a different college and so each year we'd trade off who got "The Cube" for the year. Somewhere between college and life "The Cube" got lost.

[a kennedy]

73. We had Kelly's.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70592215@N00/4673196652/ Kinda like this one.....I think they were out about the same time of Mac's. Didn't survive though.

[Jokerman]

74. I drive by the most notorious Burger Chef location all the time.

Four employees murdered and the case was never solved:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Chef_murders

They opened a new location down the street that still operates as a Hardies.

[Graybeard]

79. Nedick's

A chain on the East Coast famous for it's Orange Drink and a quick hot-dog. In NYC I think their demise was the result of the increase in street-carts all over the city. The carts had hot-dogs for .50 cents while Nedick's was charging a dollar.

[wyldwolf]

80. How about city/state/regional chains? Nu-Way, Macon, GA.

Not really a 'forgotten' fast food restaurant, but rather one that never really took off like it could have.

One of the few good parts about living in Middle Georgia, where I grew up, was Nu-Way.

From Wikipedia:

"Nu-Way is known for hot dogs (or wieners) – unique for their red color. As of 2009, there are 11 Nu-Way Weiner restaurants operating in the central Georgia area.

In 1916, Greek American James Mallis opened a hot dog stand in Macon named “Nu-Way Weiners.” Established the same year as Nathan's Famous hot dog stand in New York City, Nu-Way is one of the oldest hot dog restaurants in the United States.
By 1968, there were three Nu-Way Weiner restaurants, which expanded to nine locations by 1972. Nu-Way developed a clientele with a taste for its hot dogs with chili ("chili dogs&quot and hot dogs with cole slaw ("slaw dogs&quot . Because of that combination, The New York Times declared Nu-Way to be the "king" of the slaw dog "hill."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu-Way_Weiners

A clone called Johnny V's, opened by a former employee of Nu-Way, in the late 60s/early 70s but didn't last long.

From what I understand, Nu-Way dropped plans to expand nationally early on, allowing Nathans to essentially corner the market on dogs.

[abbeyco]

85. King's Food Host - home of the cheese frenchie

A tasty deep-fried sort of cheese sandwich and they had a tuna version, too. Their milkshakes where triple thick and to die for and you got to order your food from the phone at your dining booth. I don't know if this was local only to Colorado, but I think everyone should have experienced a cheese frenchie at some point in their youth.

I also pine for Little King's sub sandwiches - I found them in Omaha, NE and Ft. Collins, CO. I don't know of any around with the rise of Subway.

Good memories...

[geardaddy]

91. Is King's the place where you phoned your order

in from the booth?

When we visited my grandma in Des Moines, she'd take us there. I loved that place!

[abbeyco]

101. Yep - that's what you did

When we went with my Dad, he'd pick who got to phone the order in and that was such a huge deal to a kid who was 5.

I didn't know they had 'em in Des Moines and I hope you were lucky enough to enjoy a frenchie!

[Throd]

88. In SoCal there was a chain called Naugles

Their spokesman "Senor Naugles" died of a cocaine overdose.

[geardaddy]

92. Shakee's Pizza

I'm sure there are still some around, but not around here (Twin Cities)

[woodsprite]

103. I Loved Shakey's! Their sauce was the best.

In ours, you could walk up to a window and watch them making the pizzas and running them through the oven. Then they played those movies and all fall/winter had a huge roaring fire in their fireplace.

They turned the building into an Arby's. It's odd to go into an Arby's and sit by the fireplace drinking your mocha shake.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

141. Best sauce? wouldn't go that far. :>) ...but it was fun, for sure

[woodsprite]

156. Yeah. You're probably right.

I'm finding when I eat something that I remember fondly from my childhood, often it doesn't taste one bit like I remembered it.

Shakey's pizza was the 'go to' snack when my cousins came over to visit. They didn't have one in West Chester PA. I can even remember taking a slew of their pepperoni pizza's up with us when we went to visit them.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

158. Yes. The food we ate when we had good memories ! Some food in CT

still tastes EXACTLY the same. If you get up there...check out..

Shady Glen in Manchester - they make crispy cheese - frankfurters and burgers. Great ice cream and shakes






Harry's in Colchester - Best fried clams ever ! Only open in the summer

[Eleanors38]

174. As we age, and our tastebuds go south, we are FORCED to eat better food!! The horror!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

148. Shakee's was awesome!

KC had several.

[OmahaBlueDog]

186. Shakey's is still out in CA

Google Shakeys Pizza.

[progressoid]

191. Shakees! Apparently there are still some around.

Not here in the midwest though. First place I ever had a Hawaiian pizza.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

93. Burger Chef was awesome

Was more like Burger King than McD's.

[harmonicon]

94. I loved Mr. Fables.

It was only in Michigan. I weep at the loss.

[forestpath]

95. I loved Burger Chef's onion rings.

[4_TN_TITANS]

96. I had many a post-baseball game hamburger

at our local Burger Chef when I was a kid.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

100. Doggie Diner -

A Bay Area favorite that is, sadly, long gone.

[BlueCollar]

109. I remember one in San Francisco

out by S.F. State and if I remember correctly there was one down near Ocean Beach

[sakabatou]

143. Yup

I think there's still a head in SF.

[Doc_Technical]

160. There used to be one in San Jose

near the intersection of Winchester and Stevens Creek Blvd.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14696209@N02/4891255007/

[MiddleFingerMom]

104. Someone mentioned Shakey's Pizza. Tucson HAD 2 or 3. Sadly, they were gone by the time I moved here.

.
.
.
In the late 70's, there was one near Ft Campbell, KY on the TN/KY border. The ex-MsMFM
and I used to go there with another couple on a Friday or Saturday night for pizza and
pitchers of beer. Their "everything" pizza had just that -- virtually everything you could
think of on a normal pizza PLUS popcorn shrimp and pineapple (both very innovative
toppings at the time). Several minutes before your pizza was done, they'd pull it out
and cover it with thinly-sliced fresh tomatoes and put it back in. They marketed that
pizza as (I think) having 4 pounds of toppings. I believe it. We'd go with big appetites
and go home with plenty of pizza for breakfast.
.
They showed Spanky and Our Gang movies on the walls and, best of all, had a live
ragtime piano player who would get the crowd to join in for boisterous sing-alongs.
.
A FANTASTIC night out for young couples with minimal entertainment budgets.
.
.
.
I believe the original huge Shakey's in Chicago had a ragtime BAND for sing-alongs.
.
.
.

[geardaddy]

107. Yeah, I mentioned Shakey's

What's weird is when I went to Taiwan in the late 80s they had one in Taipei!

[geardaddy]

110. Didn't they also have fried chicken?

I remember the one we went to had both pizza and fried chicken.

[pinboy3niner]

162. There still are a lot of them in SoCal

You can search for locations from their homepage: http://www.shakeys.com/

[geardaddy]

108. Does anyone remember Farrell's?

The ice cream emporium?

[hack89]

113. Yes - Tacoma Washington in the 70's. nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

115. Farrell's Ice Cream - Almeda Mall, Houston.

Kip's, Frisch's, Shoney's Big Boy--don't know why the names were diff for diff parts of the country--same Big Boy.

A Weinerschnitzel is a german version of a chicken fried steak--Veal strips battered in egg & buttermilk, dipped in bread crumbs and deep fried in butter. Yummy!!!

[derby378]

117. YES!!!

Town East Mall in Mesquite, TX back in the 1980s - sadly, that location closed its doors a long time ago.

There's still Farrell's in California, and I think they've been talking about expanding again. Hoping for a location in the Dallas area!

[geardaddy]

118. I just remember going there for a birthday party

here in Minneapolis when I was kid in the 70s. They had a thing called "The Zoo" which was basically all of their ice cream sundaes or desserts in one big bowl. And if you ordered it they ran around with it on a kind of stretcher thingy and brought it to the table.

[OriginalGeek]

206. I vaguely remember Farrel's

I didn't get to the Town East mall that often though. In high school I worked at Red Bird mall outside of Duncanville. I left TX in the early 80s and have only been back twice and took the opportunity to visit some favorite BBQ places. Nothing like BBQ brisket smoked over mesquite wood for a day!

lol, I just remembered my best friend and I going up to K-Mart for lunch all the time because they had an actual diner in there making meatloaf and burgers and other diner food. Cheap and good!

And I wish I could remember the Dallas chain that had the fantastic chicken fried steak...I don't think they had more than 5 or 7 stores around Dallas but that's another place my friend and I went. They had brown gravy for the CFS and I loved that way better than the cream gravy. I can't remember their name but their version is what I shoot for whenever I try to make it at home...

[KamaAina]

128. One still exists

in Hawai'i.

[dr.strangelove]

130. Staten Island Mall

many a giant bowl of ice cream.

[seabeyond]

177. I loved that place as a kid. We have no real

Ice cream joints for kids today

[geardaddy]

194. You're right.

We don't have sit down ice cream places. DQ is rampant here, but that's because the HQ is here.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

111. I was stationed in Kansas City in 1969 and

they had a hamburger chain in town called Smak's.............

[CrazyOrangeCat]

149. I remember Smak's!

They had good fries.

[antiquie]

119. Nixon's!

First it was Nixon's, then his bro changed it to Whirly's. As kids in Whittier (it was on Whittier Boulevard) my parents took sister and me at least one Friday a month for fish and chips plus there was a 31 Flavors in the back where you parked to eat in the car. Great memories.

http://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2009/08/11/infamous-in-its-day-the-nixon%E2%80%99s-chain/

[Gidney N Cloyd]

144. Not there to kick around anymore, huh?

[antiquie]

157. He moved back to Yorba Linda.

Birthplace and restplace.

[musiclawyer]

120. Pup n Taco

Unpatted scrap ground beef burgers with mayo and two pickle slices standard

Mmm good ......for a six year old

[Trajan]

152. I was going to mention Pup'N Taco

because of the pups and tacos (dirt cheap and plentiful)

Their burgers never crossed my mind ...

[Grammy23]

121. Back in the 1960s my (future) husband worked at a place called

Colonel Dixie in Pascagoula, MS. It started in Mobile, AL, I think. They served Dixie Dogs (a hot dog), hamburgers and Dixie Dew (sort of like pink lemonade). Their sign was in the shape of arches and they were sued by McDonald's for their resemblance to the "Golden Arches". The guy who started it was indicted for murder (I think in the 1980s) for hiring someone to kill his wife. Went to prison and may still be there or perhaps died? Not sure about that part. Anyhow, the joint was a popular teen-age hangout. None of the restaurants are still around that I know of.

[surrealAmerican]

122. chock full o'nuts

Those places used to be everywhere when I was a kid (everywhere in New York City, anyway).

[dr.strangelove]

132. Still there

They went away for awhile, but the miracle of reoragniztions brought them back.
http://www.chockfullonuts.com/cafe-locator

[surrealAmerican]

137. They came back?

That I did not expect. I don't live in the area any more - I didn't know.

[KamaAina]

131. Wuv's

Ft. Myers, FL, mid-'70s.

[Auggie]

136. Borden Burger!

There was one in Athens, Ohio

[kudzu22]

139. How about Howard Johnson's?

Probably my first restaurant memory as a kid. Also a preferred late-night destination in college.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

142. best worst fried clam strips !

[geardaddy]

163. So true

I loved the all-you-can-eat fried clams as a kid.

[NoPasaran]

155. Howard Johnson's was a chain, but I wouldn't call it fast food

They had regular sit down service with waitresses like any other conventional restaurant. And the service was anything but fast.

[hay rick]

150. Horn and Hardart's Automat.

My mom always took us there when we went into Manhattan.

[RebelOne]

204. I am sure Horn and Hardart's is no longer in existence anymore.

But out of curiosity, I will Google it. My mother took me there as a child when we went to downtown Philadelphia. I always loved that place. It was so much fun to take the food out of the little windows.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

151. Mugs Up! Root Beer Stands

Chain started out in KC, and was clear to AZ there for a while.

Now there are only two left . . . but one of 'em is only a few miles from me.

Yum. Killer root beer. Same recipe, they mix it up on site.

[n2doc]

153. Blake's Lotaburger!

Still there in New Mexico. I miss the green chile burgers so much...

[Lasher]

154. Burger Boy Food-o-rama (BBF)

[Bombero1956]

159. Kenny Rogers Roasters

At one time there were 1000 locations.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

165. Interesting fact about Burger Chef

At the time of it's demise it was the #2 fast food chain in the country; Bigger than Burger King, bigger than KFC, bigger than Hardees. Bigger than Roy Rogers, who bought them out. It was purely a business decision on the part of Nestle (The parent corporation) who decided they wanted to get out of the fast food racket.

[wyldwolf]

169. DOH!

[WhoIsNumberNone]

166. here are a couple I remember from my childhood that I don't see listed yet:

Junior Hot Shoppes
Ginos
Roy Rogers

I also remember Red Barn, and Burger Chef was my favorite as a kid.

Last I heard they still have Jack In The Box on the West Coast, but they're long gone from my neck of the woods.

[whistler162]

181. Roy Rogers are still alive and well

especially on the NYS Thruway.

[MiddleFingerMom]

167. Howard Johnson's. Road trip restaurants -- ours was, as I think many or most were...

.
.
.
... at the intersection of two major Interstates. Distinctive bright orange roofs. Terrible
fried clams (Lum's were incredible -- with a beer batter, I think). Fantastic hot dogs
and/or hash-browns (if you drenched either with butter on the grill). GREAT and almost
separate and distinct ice-cream parlor section (my best friend Bobby's job title was
actually "soda jerk&quot . Ours got a bar and live music years after I worked there.
.
Ultimately failed, toppled from the status of enormous chain to few or none now.
.
Worked a year or so in highschool as a dishwasher, moving up eventually to short-
order night cook. We "built" a campsite in the woods near the intersection and had
fantastic after-work parties/sleepovers there. MUCH busboy-cook/waitress, umm...
"socializing".
.
Inexplicably, corporate sent both our day manager and night manager to longterm
training (a month or more) at the same time. These decent people to work for were
temporarily replaced with two fascist dickheads. Ours decided that the two night-cooks
would wear complete cook whites with the little white paper hats (like Army hats). For
years, our uniforms had been cook white shirts and jeans and hairnets (we both had
long ponytails). We believed (rightly so) that we'd look/feel like real goobers in the full
whites and refused. The assistant manager thrust our uniforms at us and ORDERED us
to go change into them.
.
We sat in the employees' washroom for 5-10 minutes discussing this. We went back
out to his office and told him we both quit. The look of SHEER panic on his face was
worth everything -- it was approaching Friday night rush-hour and we were the only
cooks.
.
"But-but-but-but... you CAN'T quit."
.
"Yes... we can and we do."
.
We went out to the parking lot and listened to music on the other cook's 8-track,
reveling in our bold act of defiance and smoking a joint or two.
.
We went back in about an hour later and had some of the bestest banana splits EVER
while watching the night manager hopelessly flailing and failing at keeping dinner
orders going out.
.
Then -- and all these decades later -- it was a GREAT way to leave a job.
.
.
.

[kudzu22]

168. Henry's Hamburgers?

We had one of these, but it was across town and closed when I was young.

[pinboy3niner]

170. Magoo's Pizza Parlor, Hollywood CA (on which Shakey's may have been modeled)

A great place to go in the '60s, but all gone now. There is a national chain headquartered in Hawaii (as well as a bunch of independents) that use the name 'Magoo's'--but none are connected to the original.

A quick search turned up this note on the original Magoo's:

R Pond
Sep 23 08 3:58 AM

Then we also had Magoo's Pizza Parlor on Hollywood Blvd. It was a precursor to the Shakey's and Straw Hat pizza chains that came later and based themselves on the popular Magoo's. This was the first of the 1920's nostalgia pizza parlors with non-stop silent movies being projected as a player piano complete with a huge selection of paper music scrolls the customers could play like a big jukebox. Magoo's, which was at Hollywood and Cherochee, burned down in about 1974.

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/19035

[Tommy_Carcetti]

171. Do they still have Taco Johns anywhere?

There used to be one in Maryland a long time ago that my family would frequently go to during summers after the swimming pool. Haven't seen any more since, though.

[kudzu22]

172. Yeah, they're all over the midwest

I love me some Potato Ole's!

[Aristus]

178. Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, an ideal day for a kid was Burger Chef for lunch.

(My Dad would run errands, including banking, and take along me and my brother, and then buy us lunch when the errands were done). And then Shakee's for dinner.

I had a wonderful childhood...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

179. Roy Rogers are all but gone.

According to this, there are only 13 of them left:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Rogers_Family_Restaurants

Back in the 1990s, there were hundreds of them along the East Coast.

They did provide me with my first, very forgettable summer job.

[OmahaBlueDog]

185. They still have a fairly strong customer base in MD, DC, VA

They just opened new Roy's in Burtonsville and LaPlata, MD.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

192. A new one in LaPlata, huh?

Last time I was in the area, the one in Solomons was still up and running.

Interesting how Roy Rogers and Hardees waned and waxed in a span of about 10 years.

In my town, we had a Hardee's. Then Hardee's bought out Roy Rogers and changed them into Hardees. Then Hardee's changed many of its Hardee's back into Roy Rogers, and changed some of the original Hardees into Roy Rogers as well (the one in my town included). Then Hardees sold off most of its Roy Rogers, keeping some of its original Hardees and the Roy Rogers franchise declined. And then you saw a decline of the number of Hardees in the Baltimore-Washington metro area as well (although I believe there are still a few there, and some on the Eastern Shore as well).

At one point though, due to the interwining nature of Hardees and Roy Rogers and takeovers between the two, I remember a situation in Waldorf, Maryland where there was a Hardees literally across the street from another Hardees--one an original Hardees, and another a former Roy Rogers that became a Hardees.)

On the subject of Hardees, I actually like Hardees a lot. They had a lot of interesting menu items. Then they sold the company to the Carl Jr.'s owners and it wasn't the the same since.

[OmahaBlueDog]

196. These might interest you

http://www.royrogersrestaurants.com/images/uploads/Roy_Rogers_LaPlata_Conversion_release_4.0_112012.pdf

http://www.royrogersrestaurants.com/images/uploads/Burtonsville.pdf

http://www.royrogersrestaurants.com/locations/#MD

(That "Maryland" list is actually the list of all of the stores)

It hasn't been all good in their rebound. They opened a store in Front Royal that disappeared pretty quickly, but they do well in western Maryland. I'm confident the Burtonsville store will print money.

Generally, I hit Roys pretty quickly when I hit the Maryland border. There's one right off I-70 in Cumberland. Frederick has four -- invariably I end up at the one on Buckeystown Pike. My favorite is the Double-R with equal measures of horsey sauce and Roy's sauce, and Roy's sauce instead of ketchup for the fries.

Someone upthread mentioned Gino's. I'm reliably informed that someone is trying to revise Gino's, and will be opening some stores in Baltimore.

The store that Mrs. OBD misses from that part of the world is Little Tavern. I think the College Park store was the last holdout.

Once upon a time, I enjoyed Hardee's. Truth be told, I have never gone there since they screwed up Roy Rogers. Yes -- I hold some grudges that long.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

203. Best thing about Roy Rogers was....

....the Gold Rush Chicken Sandwich. Chicken patty with bacon and a honey mustard sauce. I didn't really know about it until my brief 2 month summer sojourn working at RRs, but damn was it good.

They also had a strawberry shortcake that I enjoyed. Okay, really it was nothing more than a vanilla sundae with a biscuit and strawberry syrup, but it was pretty tasty nonetheless.

Roy Rogers also had (and may still have) fried chicken, but I wasn't a fan. KFC did a far better job IMHO.

[OmahaBlueDog]

208. They still have the chicken

It used to be called "Pappy Parker" fried chicken. The Marriotts used to own a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants called the Hot Shoppes. They then spun off a fast-food concept called Hot Shoppes Jr. They sold the chicken at Hot Shoppes & HSJ. At this time in history, the Marriotts also owned Roy Rogers. Sometime about '75 or '76 (IIRC) they turned almost all of the Hot Shoppes Jr. stores into Roy Rogers, but kept the chicken. Then they bought up most of the Gino's restaurants. This led to sitations where there'd be Roy Rogers on opposite corners of major intersections for a while.

I only get about one Roy's sandwich per year, and it has to be a Double R. However, the Gold Rush looks like the Lamborghini of chicken sandwiches. I've decided I'm getting one this summer.

The ice cream at most of the stores is Hershey's , which probably accounts for the sundae being so good.

Their roast beef sandwiches are also pretty popular.

[Texasgal]

180. Orange Julius

They had an awesome burger and the OJ drinks were made out of fresh oranges!

[wyldwolf]

182. I think dairy queen has absorbed them

The DQ in my town sells Orange Julius products now.

[El Supremo]

183. Pig Stand

The last one was in San Antonio. They had the best tater tots.

[rachel1]

189. I stopped patronizing fast-food restaurants a long time ago

because they mostly serve unhealthy junk foods despite some now offering healthier foods.

[OmahaBlueDog]

198. So why are you posting in a thread dedicated to fast food nostalgia?

[OmahaBlueDog]

199. In the MD/DC area -- Little Tavern

Mrs. OBD loved her some Little Tavern. Little burgers sold by the bag.

[Recursion]

207. Yes! The one in Laurel is a donut shop now

Good, but not the same.

[TheManInTheMac]

202. Sister's Chicken and Biscuits.

"You'll think chicken's special again."

[triguy46]

209. I loved Burger Chef

When I first got my license in 1968 would hit it two or three times a week. I recall burgers were about $.35 each. I know they existed in 1972 because there was one near where my university was, but it soon closed.

[triguy46]

210. For those from KC

Smak's.

Also: Griff's burgers, they were in Kansas and Oklahoma at least. Also Swiss Miss. started as ice cream only but soon branched out to to burgers.

[nytemare]

211. Little Tavern.

This was a small Krystal's or White Castle type restaurant in the DC suburbs of Maryland when I grew up.