This is before my time, but I read about it in a book: Bullwinkle’s Pizza. Chuck E. Cheese-style chain with animatronic versions of Jay Ward and Total TV characters.
There used to be a small chain called All-American Burgers here in LA. Nothing special, and I don’t know if they still exist.
Funny, I used to live in Clearwater, FL and remember the Morrison’s at Countryside Mall had quite good food for a cafeteria chain. In fact, the Blue Jays players used to come in for dinner all the time during spring training.
I am truly enjoying reading this thread. I’m a native NYer, and reading about all these old chains really takes me back. Agree with the critiques of Wetson’s and Carroll’s --the most gawdawful burgers in the history of food itself! But some people must have liked it; I remember every year Mr. Wetson used to show up on the Jerry Lewis Telethon with huge donation checks. And the Automat --when my Dad would take me into the city, I used to beg him to take me there. I just thought that was the coolest thing going!
Anybody from the tri-state area remember a chain in NJ called Dutch Hut ? Great roast beef sammiches, IIRC!
I was surprised to learn that there are still Chicken Delight 's around. I remember another place called Chicken Holiday ; their chicken was a lot less dry than CD.
And someone earlier mentioned Nedick’s – best orange drink ever!
How about Bun & Burger ? Used to be lots in Manhattan. Or Zum Zum – pseudo-German type place, mostly in malls, pretty meh.
Re: earlier post about Tastee Freez – they appear to have resurfaced (here in Las Vegas, anyway) inside Wienerschnitzel franchises. Soft-serve is as good as I remember–not as good as Carvel, but better than DQ.
BTW, are there still Carvel 's in NY? We have a couple here, and I go as often as I can, ‘cause there ain’t nuthin’ better than Carvel vanilla soft serve! They have gotten kinda pricey, though.
I’m sure there are lots more, but I can’t think of them right now.
BTW, quick trivia question: what was the original name of Chuck E. Cheese (the restaurant, not the character)?
Now that you mention it, that is the case in the Pentagon.
indeed. I went back east to visit my sister in Boston last weekend, and I got a vanilla-frosting-filled donut. I have missed those so much since moving to the Bay Area…
And yes, I have had fresh, hot Krispy Kremes, and no, they’re not a superior or even adequate substitute (I know, I will get this thread moved to Great Debates, or even the Pit). I love living in California, but I do miss the thunderstorms and the Dunkin Donuts from back east.
All three are part of the same company, Dunkin’ Brands. I believe that the Togo’s name is being phased and and replaced with “Dunkin’ Deli”.
Well, the local one was originally Showbiz Pizza. But there was a Chuck E Cheese down the road when Showbiz first opened.
I believe **Showbiz Pizza ** was a competitor. Anyone else?
“Chuck E Cheese Pizza Time Theater” was the original name, but to me that’s not really different.
Ok, when was the last time anyone saw a Sizzler Steakhouse?
Austin has a free-standing TCBY.
The original Togo’s was in an old house just a few blocks away from San Jose State. Imagine the kind of sub shop that the guys in Delta House would have frequented. One of the wall decorations was King Crimson’s first LP with the words “I said NO PEPPERS!!!” coming out of it’s mouth. My mom was the one who turned our whole family on to Togo’s back in the early 70’s. Whenever she didn’t feel like cooking, we’d have a family size #3.
There is one within about ten minutes of where I live, and a couple more in the metropolitan area alone.
As for some others mentioned, there is a Togo’s and a TCBY at my college, an H. Salt downtown, a stand-alone A&W was around until it became an arson target earlier this year, and Church’s, Little Caesar’s, Popeye’s, Boston Market, and Jack In The Box all have several outlets in the area.
I can’t answer definitively, but I seem to remember the Appleton/Green Bay area of Wisconsin having both Ponderosas and Bonanzas back in the '80s so I’m thinking that perhaps they were competitors rather than “sister” brands at one point. You can find a lot of things on the web, but the 1985 Appleton Area Yellow Pages ain’t one of them.
Tonight, on my drive home from work. Brand new location, too, only been open for about two months.
I had thought of Sizzler earlier, but didn’t mention it because they haven’t gone away entirely. They’ve only localized (and increased density) to the west.
I came into this thread just to mention Rax. I also had thought about Showbiz (which, IMO was MUCH better than Chuck E. Cheese). These two establishments, both in Hattiesburg, MS, were favorites of mine and my husband’s when we were dating. In fact, we used to joke about how we kept the places in business, because we were there every weekend (I loved Rax roast beef sandwiches!!).
Oddly enough, that Showbiz closed down shortly after we got married and moved to Alabama. And Rax wasn’t far behind.
Maybe we DID keep them in business, who knows? 
There are several of them in Queensland, although they nearly went out of business not long ago because of two poisoining attacks within a few months of each other (someone putting rat poison in the food, IIRC).
Quiznos got completely buried by Subway here- there are only three in the entire State, and five in the entire country.
There was also a chain in New Zealand called Georgie Pie, which sold meat pies. They went belly-up in the mid '90s and got bought out by McDonald’s, who converted all the GP restaurants to McDonald’s restaurants.
Pizza Hut are a shadow of their former selves now, too- focusing mainly on deliveries, rather than sit-down restaurants. They’re still around, though.
Hmm, places I remember from Lexington:
Fresher Cooker, a sandwich chain that made healthy sandwiches and soups. In the mid-80’s. They didn’t last. Not to be confused with Cooker, a family sit-down restaurant.
G.D. Ritzy’s, a 50’s style hamburger shop. Last one I saw was in Bowling Green, KY. Really good burgers and shoestring fries.
Taco Tico, first mexican fast food place I remember.
Church’s Chicken is co-located with all of the White Castle’s here in Nashville. Big Boy is still all over Ohio, usually under the Frisch’s name. Shoney’s is still here, but they don’t operate under the Big Boy name, and have different food from Big Boy’s.
Ponderosa and Bonanza were separate restaraunts at one time, at least I assume so. I assume that because there was a Ponderosa across the street from a Bonanza in Lexington. Directly across the street.
Showtime Pizza was start by the guy that start Atari. Nolan Bushnell. We used to have both.
Seriously, if you want old places that you remember, drive to Bowling Green, KY. More fast-food places than any other city per-capita. It’s also a test market for restaraunts. When I was in college, we had NINE Subway’s. This is in a town of about 40,000.
It’s funny how so many of these places mentioned in this thread have just gone elsewhere, not entirely away. I haven’t seen a Sizzler in a good 15 years at least.