# Defunct restaurant chains
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 6, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004 "2006-12-06T00:37:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/1 "2006-12-06T00:37:55Z")
Remember [Burger Chef?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Chef) I had almost entirely forgotten about it until it was mentioned in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398526) 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?
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/2 "2006-12-06T00:44:16Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/3 "2006-12-06T00:46:42Z")
I wouldn’t say that I remember it _fondly_, but there was [Sambo’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo's). Probably best that it went under.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/4 "2006-12-06T00:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou]
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.
[/QUOTE]
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.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/5 "2006-12-06T01:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Remember [Burger Chef?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Chef) I had almost entirely forgotten about it until it was mentioned in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398526) 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?
[/QUOTE]
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.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/6 "2006-12-06T01:12:21Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99]
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.
[/QUOTE]
You know, in [the original story,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_black_sambo) Sambo is an East Indian, not an African-American.
Whether that makes it any better is debatable.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/7 "2006-12-06T01:12:40Z")
…_aaaannnd_ beaten to the punch by **Hentor**.
A dollar ninety-five for coffee? What’s the world coming to?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/8 "2006-12-06T01:22:08Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou]
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.
[/QUOTE]
Yeh – I worked at a Lum’s in Tampa one summer, before college – 1981, I think it was.
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### Author:  [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/9 "2006-12-06T01:25:45Z")
[Gino’s](http://members.aol.com/jsf0864/page1.html), home of the Heroburger.
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### Author:  [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/10 "2006-12-06T01:28:53Z")
Hardee’s bought out Burger Chef, FWIW…
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/11 "2006-12-06T01:28:58Z")
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!
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/12 "2006-12-06T01:29:02Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/13 "2006-12-06T01:32:11Z")
Defunct fast food chain: [Gino’s](http://members.aol.com/jsf0864/page12.html) - home of the Hero Burger…
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/14 "2006-12-06T01:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
You know, in [the original story,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_black_sambo) Sambo is an East Indian, not an African-American.
Whether that makes it any better is debatable.
[/QUOTE]
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.”
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/15 "2006-12-06T01:44:03Z")
I remember it from early childhood in Buffalo. Loooved those hot dogs! (Still do.)
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### Author:  [@Aunt\_Flow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aunt_Flow)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/16 "2006-12-06T01:47:49Z")
First introduced to this by a friend who does ALOT of antiquing. She had quite a bit of memoralbilia from the chain.
[Coon Chicken](http://hollywood.pdx.edu/html/coon_chicken_inn.html)
I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw the design of the restaurant @\_@
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### Author:  [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/17 "2006-12-06T01:53:01Z")
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!
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/18 "2006-12-06T01:54:13Z")
[Hot 'n Now](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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).
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/19 "2006-12-06T01:57:49Z")
…and I was beaten by one minute. Figures.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-restaurant-chains/383004/20 "2006-12-06T02:03:44Z")
[QUOTE=Aunt Flow]
First introduced to this by a friend who does ALOT of antiquing. She had quite a bit of memoralbilia from the chain.
[Coon Chicken](http://hollywood.pdx.edu/html/coon_chicken_inn.html)
I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw the design of the restaurant @\_@
[/QUOTE]
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!
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