While growing up, living in Memphis and travelling to visit relatives in Detroit, I remember one time our family stopped at a fast-food place (likely in Ohio, but maybe Kentucky) called Judy’s. This place seemed EXACTLY like a Wendy’s, same kind of hamburgers, same kind of font lettering on the signs (that I recall). I think there was even a picture of a girl on the cup. The only difference I can remember was the color motif. Wendy’s used yellow on napkins, cups, etc., but this Judy’s place used light blue coloring on cups and stuff.
Can anyone corroborate such a place (chain) existed? Was it a chain? Was it an offshoot of Wendy’s? I tried googling, etc. and zilch.
At the risk of pushing my luck, I’ve got some old Archie comics and there are ads in there for an Archie’s Restaurant that was in Joliet, IL in the late '60s, early '70s. Any Dopers out there by chance ever been there and recall what the place was like? At the risk of going off-topic, if anyone has any weird themed defuct fastfood restaurant recollections, I’d be curious. Thanks.
My grandparents lived in the Ozarks, and the closest large town was Mountain Home, Arkansas. We used to drive there to get shopping-store type items, and we always used to eat at “Andy’s.” It was also identical to Wendy’s in every way - same square burgers, same decor inside (old-tyme newspapers laminated in the tables), same salad bar area, even a drink exactly like the Frosty. The Andy logo looked exactly like the Wendy logo, except he was a boy. (Picture Mr. Burns in flashback with his lollipop and curls).
My guess is that Wendy’s had some by-law in its franchising agreements that allowed a certain freedom when it came to creating a unique identity for the franchisee’s restaurant.
My hometown of Neenah, WI had a hamburger joint whose logo was an upside down golden arches. Its name started with a W, but I can’t remember what it was exactly, if it was a chain or just a local place. I’m pretty sure they were sued out of existence. The location then became “cursed” (like the Dream Cafe in Seinfeld), for the longest time a business would open up there and close shortly thereafter. But eventually a pizza place broke the curse and remained for a long time before they tore the building down and built a Walgreens there.
I don’t know if it’s still the case, but for years there were White Castles in the North and Crystal Burgers in the South. Same steamed sliders, same everything.
Hardees and Carl’s Jr. are now owned by the same company, and are slowly evolving into clones.
As I understand it, Tennessee is one of the few places that has the (mis?)fortune of having both Krystals and White Castles. I’m partial to White Castle myself.
I prefer Krystals. God, I love those things but have neither here in the PNW. If I want any, I have to get the microwavable kind and they just aren’t the same.
Wow! Small world! I don’t suppose you remember the name…
The memory of that restaurant made the McDowell’s Restaurant in Coming to America all the more funny…
Around that time, and down the road a piece, there was also a burger place called “Mars” that I think was a more conventional fast food chain. The building became a Hardees and is now probably a Carl’s Jr./Hardees amalgam.
Googling for Mars and fast food and/or restaurant turns up nothing, it appears as if it is nearly lost to history.
I remember the Mars chain and their spaceman mascot that you could get a stuffed toy of. I know there were at least two Mars restaurants in Oshkosh, One of them is now a Mr. Cinders. Or at least it was when I left 11 years ago. It was on the corner of Main St. and Melvin across from a gas station.
I think, and I could be wrong, that the store in Neenah was called Willards.
I vaguely recall such a place as well (I’ve lived in TN all my life). I never would have come up with too much detail, but if it means anything, when I read “Judy’s” I immediately had a flashback of light/baby blue and red as the restaurant colors, before I got to that part of your post.
There used to be a Judy’s in Memphis on jackson ave. I had a roomate that had worked there when Wnedy’s won the lawsuit that prevented Judys from being so similar and all of the Judy’s became Wendys. I would ask her for more details but she is no longer around, so I don’t know if Judy’s was a disgruntled offshoot or someone grabbing onto a good idea.
Out here we have Bob’s Big Boy restaurants, though not too many are left. But Chicago has, or had, someone else’s Big Boy Restaurants, and they were identical, right down to the ‘Big Boy’ statue in front. I can’t remember when I saw that; I visited several times between 1983 and 1994.
I remember Ollie’s Trolleys. They had great seasoned french fries and hot dogs and also sold a nice, cheap ice cream cone. When I was a poor student, they were one of the few places I could afford to go “out” to eat at. Then they went belly-up for some reason.
Similarly, there was Lum’s a great beer joint that folded for no reason I could ever figure out.
My town had one of the few remaining A&W drive-in hotdog stands up until a couple years ago when the franchisees had a dispute with the company. The company pulled their license, and the franchisees reopened as a “K&W.” The food tastes almost exactly the same (though I’m sure it’s not), and it’s still one of the very few drive-in only places I’ve seen that’s still around. Sort of a local landmark.
Big Boy licensed their concept to regional companies. There were/are Frisch’s, Bob’s, and Elby’s that I’ve run into. I’m sure there were probably others. But, since each was licensed by Big Boy, Inc. (or whatever it’s called), it’s different from places like Judy’s, that appear to have been unlicensed knock-offs.
I’m pretty sure Wendy’s also originally had a red, white and pastel blue color scheme. I can picture Wendy, with her long red pigtails, and a blue and white striped cup.
Most fast food burger joints have switched their color themes to some variation of red and gold or maroon and gold after studies showed that those colors gave people bigger appetites. I believe Wendy’s was one of the first to make this switch.
I do also vaguely remember a “Judy’s” in Tennessee, though.
