Remember These Chain Restaurants ? They're Still Hanging On

[joeea]

That HoJo clam roll was not as good as you remember.

Fried clams strips without the bellies should be against the law.

 

[CardsFan]

Fried clams strips without the bellies should be against the law.

+10000

Grew up South of Boston, with grandparents on Cape Cod. Ate at Hojo's plenty, but NEVER got the clam strips. Clams have bellies, and they are the best part.

 

[scrabbler1]

I grew up outside Boston, and Friendly's was a staple for ice cream, in particular, but also a good burger.

Looks like there are still quite a few around, even on LI, according to this map: https://www.friendlysrestaurants.com/locate/ . All on the east coast, but I have noticed Friendly's ice cream, at supermarkets, even here in the mid-west.

There are still a few Friendly's around. I counted 7 in Nassau County, where I live. But I know of 7 Friendly's in Nassau County which don't exist any more, just of the top of my head. And it isn't like I traveled through the whole county eating at all of them back in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Buccees, the new and greatly improved Stuckey’s

 

[Moemg]

I used to like Don Pablo's but the last time we went they had the calorie counts on their menu . It was crazy bad .

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I see that the Chi Chi's Mexican restaurant chain made the article. They were big in Wisconsin, mainly because Packers "glory days" star Max McGee was one of the founders.

 

[FlaGator]

Two local coffee shop chains that went the wayside in the Phoenix area were Hobo Joe's and Humpty Dumpty's.

View attachment 31975

View attachment 31976

I remember both of them!

 

[Boho]

There's a Blimpie about three miles from me. I used to look at it while I was eating Chinese. One day I decided to try it. My walking in interrupted a conversation between a guy at a table and a guy behind the counter. That was already a small strike because it make it seem a little like a hang out. That never happened in Subway. I looked up at their menu and chose something. They didn't have it. I walked out.

The fear that my first several choices from the menu haven't available for like the last year and I'm the only one who doesn't know it is one reason I don't buy from food trucks. Something in my past ingrained that in me and it got reinforced with Blimpie.

 

[FreeBear]

White Castle!!

It's either a love or hate relationship; I'm of the former, maybe because I love the fried onions on the burgers and well, grease...

Good memories of sacks of sliders, onion rings and fries. One wonderful day, I nice mom even brought tons of White Castles for us in grade school. Saved from the infamous school lunch.

Someone mentioned Sizzler. How long has Golden Corral been around? We've been several times over the last few years, either on road trips or when mentoring hungry 20-somethings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the food was well, actually decent. In addition to the usual cheap, junky filler, they had endless sirloin steak and grilled squash.

It's interesting that no one has mentioned chicken or pizza joints. I'm getting hungry...

 

[USA]

Bobs Big Boy. Red relish on the burger, best Blue Cheese and Hot Fudge Cake.

 

[ImThinkin2019]

When I was a kid, we used to go to Kemp's Hamburgers for their $0.15 hamburgers.
https://i0.wp.com/burlingtonretro.c...08/img_92101.jpg?zoom=1.5&fit=1800,2610&ssl=1

Of course that was back while the Earth was still cooling, so likely nobody remembers them.

When I was in high school there was a Kemps right down the street with a big 15 cent hamburger sign. I often mention it when reminiscing about $.25/gallon gas, transistor radios, space food sticks, Carnation Instant Breakfast, tube tops, miniskirts, bellbottoms, granny glasses, shiny purple raincoats, and many of the other things that were notable back then but less common or gone now.

 

[aja8888]

White Castle!!

It's either a love or hate relationship; I'm of the former, maybe because I love the fried onions on the burgers and well, grease...

Good memories of sacks of sliders, onion rings and fries. One wonderful day, I nice mom even brought tons of White Castles for us in grade school. Saved from the infamous school lunch.

Someone mentioned Sizzler. How long has Golden Corral been around? We've been several times over the last few years, either on road trips or when mentoring hungry 20-somethings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the food was well, actually decent. In addition to the usual cheap, junky filler, they had endless sirloin steak and grilled squash.

It's interesting that no one has mentioned chicken or pizza joints. I'm getting hungry...

White Castle is still around in the midwest.

 

[audreyh1]

Dairy Queen’s still everywhere in TX.

Do see Stuckey’s occasionally on I10 TX. They always look isolated and forlorn and few cars if any.

 

[steelyman]

White Castle!!

It's either a love or hate relationship; I'm of the former, maybe because I love the fried onions on the burgers and well, grease...

Good memories of sacks of sliders, onion rings and fries. One wonderful day, I nice mom even brought tons of White Castles for us in grade school. Saved from the infamous school lunch.

Put me on the love side when it comes to White Castle. Lack of them in my adopted state is a drag! Forget the frozen supermarket variant (where’s the pickle??). I always make it a point to find original sliders when I’m back in the midwest.

 

[Spock]

A&W is still around BUT try and find one that still makes the root beer locally and serves it in a frosted mug. The one I know of is just North of the interstate in Baldwin WI.

 

[braumeister]

Dairy Queen’s still everywhere in TX.

There's an old joke about a TV reporter who was sent to cover a story near the town of Nacogdoches, in east Texas. He wrote up the report and realized he would have to deliver it live in the evening news program, but had no idea how to pronounce the name of the town.

So he went into a nearby restaurant, ordered something, and said to the waitress:

"I need to know how to say the name of this place, so would you please pronounce it for me, slowly and clearly so I can learn it?"

She gave him a strange look, leaned close, and said:
"DAY-REE KWEEN"

 

[DAYDREAMER]

I miss Herfy's Burgers, Farrels Parlor, Shakey's Pizza, and a local Mexican joint called Ricardo's (best greasy taco around!). Thinking back, maybe these joints weren't all that great, but as a kid-------YUMMY!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

... I was expecting to see Sizzler's on the list. Here on LI (NY), those steak houses were everywhere in the 1970s and 1980s and still hanging in there into the mid-2000s. I don't think they are on LI any more. They had transformed from being called to pick up your food at the kitchen pick-up counter to having partial waitress service to deliver your food, after waiting on line to order.

Sizzler had a big scandal in my area when a little girl died after eating fruit from the salad bar that was tainted with a virulent strain of e coli. The fruit had apparently come in contact with raw meat at some point. Fallout from the incident put them out of business in the Western Great Lakes states.

Overall, though, cheap steakhouse restaurants have lost favor with consumers. Ponderosa and Bonanza (the two chains have merged) have just a shadow of the presence they enjoyed in the 1970s.

The one exception is the Golden Corral -- they seem to be doing pretty well, especially in the South. They have enough of an ad budget to run commercials in the Milwaukee market, and their presence up here is relatively small.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Boston Market was hot for a while, then poof.

We still have a Boston Market on N side of Chicago that we used last month. Always amazed me that they sort of flagship Carved Turkey but of the side dishes offered they never have cranberry sauce.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We still have a Boston Market on N side of Chicago that we used last month. Always amazed me that they sort of flagship Carved Turkey but of the side dishes offered they never have cranberry sauce.

Do you remember when the company went public? It was the hottest stock in 1993, then came crashing down. Here's an analysis from the New York Post:
https://nypost.com/1999/12/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-boston-chicken/

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I can't say I ever followed Boston Market. When in mid 20's I bought shares in a steak house (ponderosa, sizzler I forget). It was taken private and a year or so later sold my shares on private market. Seems I got most of my money back and then suddenly that store I frequented on interstate travel was gone as well.
I've never worked in a food service job so my opinions of companies like MCD are just consumer based and I really don't trust my opinions of the statistics of a company beyond the quick ratio and what the 10 year chart is doing.

That was an interesting article ty.

 

[ncbill]

Market also Had an Ollie's Trolly here when I was a kid...also a Boston Market until a few years ago.

Used to see Tastee-Freeez everywhere when I was a kid, even in towns too small to have any other chains...now the closest is 3 hours away, with only 23 stores left.

from wikipedia:

Tastee-Freez was founded in 1950 in Joliet, Illinois, by Leo S. Moranz and Harry Axene (formerly of Dairy Queen)...Expansion of the brand was rapid in the 1950s; in 1952, there were 315 locations, and by 1957 there were nearly 1800 locations.

In 1982, Tastee-Freez was sold to the Denovo Corporation of Utica, Michigan, which also owned the Stewart's Restaurants and root beer, Dog n Suds Root beer and drive-ins and B&K Rootbeer drive ins, and Dairy Isle ice cream shops. In 1992, there were 340 locations."

 

[tmm99]

Sizzler had a big scandal in my area when a little girl died after eating fruit from the salad bar that was tainted with a virulent strain of e coli. The fruit had apparently come in contact with raw meat at some point. Fallout from the incident put them out of business in the Western Great Lakes states.

Didn't know. I assumed Sizzler was still everywhere. There was a Sizzler near my work in Sunnyvale, CA. It was full of seniors on weekends. I like their salad bar.

 

[CoolRich59]

Dog N Suds was one of my main hang outs in high school. Several of my buddies worked there and so it was the natural gathering place for us.

The owner used to host a touch football game every Thanksgiving that was an annual ritual for many of us even after graduating from high school.

 

[CoolRich59]

The mid-west had Little Black Sambo's. Haven't seen that in quite some time. Go figure.....

Wow. Yes, I remember them.

If I recall, they changed the name to just Sambos, then again to something completely different.