Long-Gone Restuarant Chains You Used To Love

[ASH]

Edited By Eric:

This was a thread that got posted in the wrong forum and abandoned, but I have adopted it and re-purposed it. I did so because of the very lovely lady's t-shirt below. It brought back a lot of memories.

Who remembers Shakey's Pizza. We went there so often when I was a kid that it was practically a Powell Family Food Group. It was cheap pizza, but it was GOOD cheap pizza. I haven't seen an open Shakey's Pizza since I was maybe twelve. My brother and I were just talking about Shakey's a couple of weeks ago. He loved the place as much as I did.

So, what are some restaurant chains that you used to love, that are long-gone? This isn't a case of the company being gone, but remember when Wendy's restaurants used to have all-you-can-eat buffets? It wasn't a big spread and it was cheap food, but something about the stuff was freaking addictive. I used to love going there. I haven't been to a Wendy's since they stopped doing their buffet.

How about you?

(For those of you who are little slow on the uptake, I, Eric Powell, have hijacked this thread)

Edited September 11, 2017 by Eric
Straightup Thread HiJacking.

[geeorge]

[n2g]

Ok, I'll bite, lol.  How about Del Taco?  My best friend and I used to grab a quick early supper there sometimes on our way to evening classes at college.  I liked their green burritos.  There may still be some Del Tacos somewhere, but they seem to be long-gone in this neck of the woods.

[Rabbi]

I honestly do not remembers Shakeys PIzza. 

 

I miss Steak and Ale. I loved that place as a kid.    

 

 

[Eric]

Who remembers when A&W had drive-in restaurants, kind of like Sonic? I've noticed that, in the last twenty years or so, A&W restaurants have been making a comeback, but it isn't the same. These new style restaurants are regular fast food dives. The food is greasy, basic and uninspired. I wouldn't walk across the street to buy a burger there.

The old drive-ins though were great. The food was greasy, basic and uninspired, but it tasted good! I used to love going there. You get get an A&W Root Beer, or Root Beer Float, in one of those frosted glass A&W mugs. The soda and the floats just seemed to taste better when they were served in an actual 'glass' glass and it had to be frosted. That was damned good stuff.

I've heard people say a couple of times that some of the original drive-ins survived, but I haven't seen one since maybe 1977 or 1977. I miss those places.

 

[Rabbi]

Well I'll be damned.....!  I just looked it up and they are bringing Steak and Ale back!!!!   

 

It got tangled up with Bennigans and went down with that ship (I liked Bennigans, they had a turkey pretzel sandwich that was really good)   

[Eric]

22 minutes ago, n2g said:

Ok, I'll bite, lol.  How about Del Taco?  My best friend and I used to grab a quick early supper there sometimes on our way to evening classes at college.  I liked their green burritos.  There may still be some Del Tacos somewhere, but they seem to be long-gone in this neck of the woods.

Actually, Del Tacos are having a comeback in the southwest. I believe they even have a couple in Dallas. There were a couple different types of Del Tacos though. Del Taco started out as a West Coast fast food Mexican restaurant. They are the home of such popular items as the Macho Taco. I think they are on par with maybe Taco Casa or Taco Bueno.

There was also a different type of Del Taco, although it was still the same company. I don't know if they were trying to change all the stores over to the new format, or if this type of Del Taco was a parallel offshoot. They were open here in Texas, back in the eighties. They may have been in other markets and at different times, but that is where and when I remember them from. In fact, I worked for a Del Taco of this different type, when I was in tenth and eleventh grades.

The store's colors were a little more subdued. Dark greens and browns and tan stucco. They had most of the same menu items as the original restaurants, the Macho Tacos, Taco Burgers, cheeseburgers, etc, but they were trying to be more of a sit-down cafe. They may have actually been called Del Taco Cafes. I don't remember. They had a number of menu ites that you wouldn't find at the original types of restaurants. Things like burrito dinners and chimichanga dinners. They were the first place I saw that sold a dinner salad in a fried tortilla bowl. They made fried apple Emeñadas that were outstanding. They had great enchilada dinners as well. They sold beer and wine coolers as well. The original Del Tacos certainly didn't do that! I don't know of ANY fast food -ish restaurants that were serving beer and wine coolers, then or now.

I worked for a guy who owned two of the Del Taco Cafe franchises, in Wichita Falls, TX. The places were very popular. I think people especially liked being able to have a beer or wine cooler with their meals. I don't know what happened to the restaurants. Some time in the early or mid nineties, the two locations in Wichita Falls closed down. The one where I used to work is now a Whataburger.

I really enjoyed working there. I made a lot of good friends there and the food was great. The guy who owned the stores was a good guy as well. I haven't seen one of those Del Tacos cafe-style restaurants since then. I was living in Phoenix, when De Taco started expanding back into markets outside of California once again. The clip art sun logo and bright oranges and yellows were back on their logos and decor. They were back to being the mindless California fast food crap that had been before. The food wasn't terrible and I ate there occasionally, but I truly miss the Del Tacos like the one I worked at in high school. Those places were great.

 

[Eric]

14 minutes ago, Rabbi said:

Well I'll be damned.....!  I just looked it up and they are bringing Steak and Ale back!!!!   

 

It got tangled up with Bennigans and went down with that ship (I liked Bennigans, they had a turkey pretzel sandwich that was really good)   

Most of Benigans food just was fairly forgettable, but I loved their apple pie. They made these single-serving apple pies, baked in a tiny little cast iron skillets. They put plenty of cinnamon  and brown sugar in them and they always tasted just great. Damned good stuff!

[JLA]

Used to love these places growing up....

[Sgt 127]

Bonanza steak house. And Western Sizzlin. Good cheap steaks, charbroiled. 

[Eric]

I'm not sure if the company still exists, but I haven't seen a Der Wienerschnitzel since I was a kid, at least the ones you pulled through, like the one pictured below. I think they are another company that tried to reinvent themselves into a different type of restaurant, but I haven't seen of one of those 'new' stores since the late 1990s. Man, I used to love those fresh corn dogs.

[KBKEITH]

1 hour ago, Rabbi said:

I honestly do not remembers Shakeys PIzza. 

 

I miss Steak and Ale. I loved that place as a kid.    

 

 

The wife and I used to enjoy Steak and Ale. There were two in our area up until maybe 7-10 years ago? Then they shut down. Twas a bummer!

[KBKEITH]

31 minutes ago, JLA said:

Used to love these places growing up....

Good God, I remember all three of those places. You didn't by chance grow up in metro Detroit, did you?

[KBKEITH]

1 hour ago, Rabbi said:

Well I'll be damned.....!  I just looked it up and they are bringing Steak and Ale back!!!!   

 

It got tangled up with Bennigans and went down with that ship (I liked Bennigans, they had a turkey pretzel sandwich that was really good)   

Just saw this after I posted. That's good news! Thanks for the info. 

[PNWguy]

My favorite restaurant in high school was Ted's Burger Express.  It was formerly an A&W drive-in restaurant.  The only picture I could find of it online doesn't show the other half, which still had the drive-in stalls like the one pictured below.

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Who remembers when A&W had drive-in restaurants, kind of like Sonic? I've noticed that, in the last twenty years or so, A&W restaurants have been making a comeback, but it isn't the same. These new style restaurants are regular fast food dives. The food is greasy, basic and uninspired. I wouldn't walk across the street to buy a burger there.

The old drive-ins though were great. The food was greasy, basic and uninspired, but it tasted good! I used to love going there. You get get an A&W Root Beer, or Root Beer Float, in one of those frosted glass A&W mugs. The soda and the floats just seemed to taste better when they were served in an actual 'glass' glass and it had to be frosted. That was damned good stuff.

I've heard people say a couple of times that some of the original drive-ins survived, but I haven't seen one since maybe 1977 or 1977. I miss those places.

 

 

[PNWguy]

When I was a little kid, my mom used to take me to a place called Arctic Circle.  It went away in the late 70's in our town, but apparently they still exist elsewhere...

 

[PNWguy]

Oh, and there were two pizza joints in town; Pizza Hut and Pizza Haven.  Pizza Haven went away in the early 80's, but I remember that I preferred them to Pizza Hut.

 

[Eric]

5 hours ago, geeorge said:

Don't any of you recognize the woman wearing the Shakey's t-shirt?

[KBKEITH]

24 minutes ago, Eric said:

Don't any of you recognize the woman wearing the Shakey's t-shirt?

Lynda Carter. Hot.

[dudel]

Lum's!  Schooner of beer with a burger (or a beer steamed dog).

 

[Grabbrass]

3 hours ago, JLA said:

Used to love these places growing up....

 

 

When the hungries hit, when the hungries hit, hit the Red Barn!!

 

Yeah the Red Barn was my favorite place as a kid. You can usually recognize their old locations by the distinctive building. Here's the one I remember as a kid.

Most people don't remember The Red Barn though. There's a cool nostalgia site at barnbuster.net. 

 

 

Also Eric, Shakey's Pizza is still kickin' in Japan. Mister Donut, too.

 

 

[furetto7]

H. Salt Esquire (another fish and chips place), Sambo's while politically incorrect nowadays not bad food and open 24 hours a day.

[Wishoot]

4 hours ago, KBKEITH said:

Good God, I remember all three of those places. You didn't by chance grow up in metro Detroit, did you?

I loved Burger Chef.  There was one right around 10 Mile Road & Evergreen (a mile from where I was raised).  

 

My absolute favorite was a small chain known as Carlos Murphy's.  There was one in Farmington Hills, MI not far from where I lived.  They has the absolute BEST TexMex food anywhere.  I ended up working for them as a manager and subsequently meeting my wife there as well.  

 

Forgot about another favorite in the Metro Detroit area:

 

Spent too many late nights sitting at their counter after partying.   My regular spot was the one on 10 Mile and Telegraph.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2017 by Wishoot

[Wishoot]

5 hours ago, Rabbi said:

Well I'll be damned.....!  I just looked it up and they are bringing Steak and Ale back!!!!   

 

 

In my younger days, that's where we took our dates for a fancy meal.  

Edited September 11, 2017 by Wishoot

[KBKEITH]

25 minutes ago, Wishoot said:

I loved Burger Chef.  There was one right around 10 Mile Road & Evergreen (a mile from where I was raised).  

 

My absolute favorite was a small chain known as Carlos Murphy's.  There was one in Farmington Hills, MI not far from where I lived.  They has the absolute BEST TexMex food anywhere.  I ended up working for them as a manager and subsequently meeting my wife there as well.  

 

Forgot about another favorite in the Metro Detroit area:

 

Spent too many late nights sitting at their counter after partying.   My regular spot was the one on 10 Mile and Telegraph.

 

 

Clock restaurant. I definitely remember that one! Seems like you and I grew up in the same general area. I was just north of you. I also remember Carlos Murphy's although I never ate there.