You live in Casselberry?
I used to live there.
Darn it. I thought I had read this in Invention & Technology magazine, but their archives have betrayed me. I shall find my cite!
Different strokes. I love that cracker-thin, crunchy, salty crust.
Ponderosa still has a few locations under the “Bonanza” name. Actually, I could never tell the difference between the two. Were they ever really two distinct places?
There’s one on Colonial in Union Park, [del]just before where Wal*Mart used to be[/del] just East of the Little Econ. It’s been there for forever (unless it’s closed already, there never seemed to be too many people there.)
I’ll have to give other Cassano’s a try. I love that crust, too, but the Hannibal and Quincy locations couldn’t do that. Just that thick, greasy, soggy, half-cooked crust. Quite similar to the Great Alaska Pizza Company’s offering, who is not defunct but took over Little Caesar’s in Alaska.
Some that I remember from my youth that may or may not still be in business because I’m too lazy to look it up but I know have since left the Nashville area:
Pizza Inn (“For pizza out, it’s-a Pizza Inn!”)
Jolly Ox (bought by Steak and Ale, I think)
Wattaburger (there is a Flower Express in the old A-frame Wattaburger place)
Showbiz Pizza (taken over by Chuck E Cheese?)
Pargo’s
I asked about that one too, earlier. I still remember the logo – a pizzamaker throwing pizza dough into the air. The dough was shaped like an S on its side.
Showbiz was originally a knockoff/spinoff of Chuck E. Cheese and was eventually reabsorbed and all the locations were converted to Cheese. I liked the Showbiz characters better, though.
They were up here. I can’t ever recall seeing a Ponderosa…
Whataburger is, I would have to say, thriving. Locations are concentrated in the south, and Texas in general. Their page tells me that there are 6 within a 5 mile radius of my zipcode.
Out in Salt Lake there used to be a chain of Big Barn or Red Barn or something lik that. For all I know they still exist someplace, but they’re gone from SLC. Some of their signs showed up at an independent burger joint (with the trademark names, like “Big Barny”, crossed out). One Chinese restaurant I liked was made out of an old Big Barn. I didn’t realize this until I stood way back from it one day and noticed that the new facade covered the front of a barn-shaped building.
One chain tat seems to have disappeared is York Steak House, which used to be in the Northeast. Quick and inexpensive steaks, with nice salads and desserts. I kinda miss them.
What a nice walk down vague memory lane this thread has been.
Unfortunately, on the last page I read, Max steals my two main suggestions!
I was going to ask if anyone remembered Showbiz Pizza and Pizza Inn!
What I find odd (or sad) is that several of the restaurants tossed about in this thread are fairly common in my area.
New marketing slogan for my city, “WELCOME TO HOUSTON. WHERE BAD RESTAURANTS COME TO DIE!”
There are plenty of Popeye’s Chickens here (if you ever get a chance, eat at their sister restaurant Copeland’s in New Orleans. Try the crawfish bread!)
Church’s are everywhere, but more commonly the are popping up in larger gas stations.
I see Little Caesars making a come back in storefront locations. For a while they were only in KMARTS around here, but now we no longer have KMarts.
I think there is still a Morrison’s Cafeteria in Mobile, Alabama. It might now be a Picadilly’s, however. I can’t remember. I always got them confused.
Do they still have Boston Markets? The one in my area closed and I don’t see commercials anymore.
What about TCBY? Every now and then, I see one in an airport, but no more stand alones.
Black Eyed Pea is a favorite of my wife. The rolls and cornbread are incredible.
Steak and Ale is ok. The one I’ve been to is not on par with Bennigans. It is a more expensive place.
There was a place I ate at as a kid that was a mexican fast food joint that served Taco Burgers. It might have actually been CALLED Taco Burger.
Anyone remember this?
There are plenty of Boston Markets in the Boston area (duhh) and in New Jersey. (They started out as Boston Chicken, until they broadened their food choices).
All the free-standing TCBY’s I know have disappeared from the Northeast. Too bad – I liked their stuff. Their sugar-free, fat-free vanilla yogurt was the only sugar-free fat-free dessert I really liked, dammit! They still have them at the rest stops along the New Jersey Parkway, too.
Which implies that they didn’t compete with each other and supports my suspicion Ponderosa and Bonanza might just have been two different names for the same thing (like Hellman’s and Best).
They’re defunct? Yet another restaurant that my parents used to love and I didn’t like is gone! 
That’s my suspicion – I seem to recall Bonanza in Western Canada, and Ponderosa in Ontario, though I don’t recall seeing either since in the past ten years.
Thanks. I think that was the original location; glad to know it still exists. The one I went to was the newer one at Lindberg (Kirkwood) Road and Manchester, but I don’t think it is there anymore.
Ponderosa and Bonanza are the same restaurant. They’re still around, and currently owned by the Metromedia Restaurant Group, which also owns Bennigans and Steak and Ale.
Yes, I can tell that from the location listings at the Ponderosa Web site. The question is, were they always the same restaurant?