[Homer voice on] Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, the Carl’s Jr. billboard guy. [/Homer voice off]
Yeah, I hadn’t heard of Carl’s Jr. either, until I went to visit my girlfriend in California. They’re not bad… I then noticed that all the Hardees in the east had acquired the happy star logo. Interesting. I live in NY now, and there are no Hardees to be found, but I grew up in Ohio where there are tons. I don’t think Carl’s Jr. extends past the Mississippi, if that far. Kind of like Jack-In-the-box. Hardees, on the other hand, is strictly an east coast chain, AFAIK…but since Carl’s Jr and Hardees are the same company now, I guess that distinction is kind of blurred. Do you guys have White Castle out west? (not that there are tons out east). MMMmmmm…little greasy cheese and fat blobs.
Jman
Jman: There are no White Castles out west, or Hardee’s. There are Hardees in Michigan, and Ohio though, which aren’t exactly “east coast” states. Like you said though, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr, it’s the same food, different name.
I REALLY wish they would put a White Castles out here in Phoenix. Nothing like a couple of White Castles to satisfy that late night craving.
There used to be a White Castle in Long Beach CA, about 15 years ago…I dunno if it’s still there. Granted, that’s a long way to drive from Phoenix for the late-night munchies.
stupid Carl’s Jr…they bought Hardee’s…did away with the good chicken and brought in those nasty star shaped bits…
Stupid star
As far as fast-food goes, Carl’s Jr. is probably my favorite. I’m just sickened by the commercials.
Their fried zucchini is especially yummy.
We had Carl’s Jr in AZ… all over the place. Personally I wouldn’t go there because the owners discriminated against gays, but those commercials made me nauseous.
Another one that makes me queasy is the series of Chef Boyardee commercials with the teenage kid with food all over his face that says “Beefy!”… god they make me actually feel ill.
I hate those Chef Boyardee’s commercials too.
We have Hardees here in Tampa, but I have never heard of Carl’s.
Boston Market is thriving here. I go there about once a week to pick up dinner on my way to work. I get steamed veggies as my side dishes and it is much healthier than anything else I could get on a fast food basis.
Carl’s Jr. restaurants are one of the chains owned by the company now called (warning, this is a URL link) CKE Restaurants, Inc.. Started back in 1941 when Carl Karcher bought a hot dog cart in Los Angeles, it blossomed by the late 70’s into a fast food chain that existed throughout California. Touting mostly its “flame-broiled” burgers (as opposed to the grill frying used by McDonald’s and Wendy’s), it did well for two reasons: the food was good and the restaurants were company owned, meaning that quality control was considered very important. My ex-wife was for some time a manager in Sacramento for a Carl’s Jr., and back then the QA visit was a VERY important event.
In the mid-80’s, Carl’s Jr. managed some really dumb moves. First, the company went public, attempting to expand to a national presence (no doubt feeling the squeeze put on them by Mickey D’s, BK, and the TacoBell/KFC/Pizza Hut conglomeration). At about the same time, the company attempted to introduce fast food dinners; the menu included steak, fish and chicken, with stuffed baked potatoes also coming into play at the same time. The dinners went bust (too labor intensive), the chain started selling restaurants to franchises (to raise quick capital for expansion), and quality control started taking a dive. Agressive attempts to expand as far west as Texas and the Mississippi River were quickly curtailed, as the stock took a beating on the market (then known as Carl Karcher Enterprises).
In 1997, CKE bought Hardee’s Food Systems, Inc. from Imasco Ltd., which had invested in the chain as far back as 1976 and fully acquired the chain in 1981. Hardee’s runs as a complete subsidiary of the parent company CKE Restaurants, which also owns Carl’s Jr. and Green Burrito restaurants in the West, and Taco Bueno in Texas and Oklahoma. At some point in the mid-90’s, it also had ownership of some or all of Rally’s Burgers; the dreaded sloppy burger ad campaign was going on in Kentucky for that chain when I visited there in 1997. The web site doesn’t note when they divested their interest in Rally’s.
Slowly but surely (target date for completion is 2002), the company intends to convert all roughly 2900 Hardee’s restaurants into Star Hardee’s; the stupid Happy Star™ has been the logo for Carl’s Jr. for years. There are several Star Hardee’s around, now; I ate at one near Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia at Christmastide.
Advertising by Carl’s Jr. has always been a bit of a disaster. I vividly remember the 70’s campaign theme “Search for the Giant Chicken” or something like that when they introduced a deep fried breaded chicken patty sandwich. It was a joke throughout Southern California. There were other examples of mediocre advertising over the years; somehow CKE never could seem to hook up with someone with as much decency and flair as the Mickey D’s organization did. The long-lasting drip fest they are currently engaged in must be appealing to young viewers, because almost anyone over the age of 25 who sees the ads thinks that they are disgusting. I can’t find the press release, but I recall that Dennis Rodman was involved in the ad campaign at some point, the tattoos on his arm taking exception to being dripped on while he ate; if I recall correctly the company had to ditch Rodman from the campaign.
Additional interesting points of note from the CKE Restaurants site: Boston Market restaurants did not go bankrupt. What DID happen is that Boston West, the franchise holder for Boston Market locations in California DID file for Chapter 11 protection, then turned over operation of their restaurants to CKE Restaurants, which already had some franchise rights through Boston Pacific, another franchise holder. Also, I note that Carl’s Jr. has not only managed to sign an intelligent agreement allowing them to piggy-back Carl’s Jr. restaurants with Texaco gas stations (they both have the Star, get it?), but also they have opened in Love Field in Dallas, giving them entree to the Dallas area. Pretty soon, dripping noises will be everywhere.
For what it is worth, in general even now they are franchised, the food is pretty good. If they still sell a California Roast Beef Sandwich, you should try it. And they have great waffle fries. But those of us who ate there in the 70’s will always remember Frispos, the reconstituted, extruded fries they sold at the time, which stayed crispy for all of 30 seconds, then managed a unique state of soggyness that was either loved or hated, depending on your tastes.
Now, if you want a REALLY good fast food burger, go to California and eat at In-n-Out Burgers. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.
(MUNCH) (SLURP) (DRIP) (Wipe with arm)…(buuuuuurppppp)…
Uh, what’s the problem here?