Defunct restaurant chains

Remember Burger Chef? I had almost entirely forgotten about it until it was mentioned in this thread. (I do remember the “Burger Chef and Jeff” commercials.) It finally closed in 1996. Why, I wonder? What determines which restaurant chains live or die? Is it just the quality of the food? Or are these things decided by events that take place in corporate boardrooms or on Wall Street, far from the eye and beyond the influence of the consumer?

What other chains have gone under? Are there any you remember fondly?

I have vague-but-fond childhood memories of a chain called Lums, that served hot dogs boiled in beer. I think there might be one left somewhere in South Florida, but they all disappeared from Miami in the '80s.

I wouldn’t say that I remember it fondly, but there was Sambo’s. Probably best that it went under.

That was the first one I thought of. There was one here in Rhode Island we used to go to all the time.

I miss Lumburgers.

Sambo’s. The last nickel cup of coffee standing. Shame about the name, but changing it to “Sam’s” didn’t do anything but put off the end for a couple of years. I’m not sure whether continuing to associate their pancake specials with tigers helped it or hurt it.

You know, in the original story, Sambo is an East Indian, not an African-American.

Whether that makes it any better is debatable.

aaaannnd beaten to the punch by Hentor.

A dollar ninety-five for coffee? What’s the world coming to?

Yeh – I worked at a Lum’s in Tampa one summer, before college – 1981, I think it was.

Gino’s, home of the Heroburger.

Hardee’s bought out Burger Chef, FWIW…

Back in the '80s there was D’Lite’s, a fast-food restaurant (complete with drive-thru) specializing in healthy, lo-cal meals.

That lasted about a week and a half!

Howard Johnson’s. Technically they are not “defunct” as there are (according to Wikipedia) still four locations operating, but that’s a small remnant of the once ubiquitous orange-roofed buildings and their “28 flavors” of ice cream.

I never stayed at one overnight but they were often a roadside dinner stop. And I took in many a cheap late night meal at the HoJo’s in Times Square.

Defunct fast food chain: Gino’s - home of the Hero Burger…

I did know that, FWIW, but I also remember the kerfuffle back in the 70’s, that ultimately resulted in the demise of the chain.

I also recall reading a book, back then, about a black kid contending with racist jerks at his recently-integrated school. The title of the book was Call Me Charlie, and came from the fact that he preferred being addressed by his name to being called “Sambo.”

I remember it from early childhood in Buffalo. Loooved those hot dogs! (Still do.)

First introduced to this by a friend who does ALOT of antiquing. She had quite a bit of memoralbilia from the chain.

Coon Chicken

I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw the design of the restaurant @_@

I miss Kenny Rogers Roasters. They had the most deliciously flavorful chicken, and the corn muffins were great, also. I am not a Kenny Rogers ambiance kind of person, but oh, that chicken!

Hot 'n Now was pretty good food for the price, which was next to nothing even in the mid-90s.

My first job was at a place called Kenny Rogers Roasters, which again had pretty good food, but it’s all but defunct with a token store in California (probably to protect the trademark).

…and I was beaten by one minute. Figures.

There was a major subplot in the movie Ghost World about Coon Chicken and its shocking logo, but I assumed it was made up for the movie!