What? You never had a corned beef and cabbage enchilada? MMMM! 
IIRC Popeye is still here, but all of the former All American Burger locations have now become Coffee Bean and Tree Leaf locations.
The Mr. Donut in the town where I grew up is still a donut shop, and still makes the same donuts. It’s now called Spunky Dunkers, and it is the best!
I like a small franchise chain I saw in Florida-I called them up, and asked about opening a franchise in my state. They were very nice, but said they had no plans to expand outside Florida. Can I open the same style restaurant, and use their concept (but with a slightly differnet name)? Liek instead of McDonald’s, I call my place MacDunny’s?
Pizza Inn is still in the Dallas area.
ralph124c writes:
> I like a small franchise chain I saw in Florida-I called them up, and asked about
> opening a franchise in my state. They were very nice, but said they had no
> plans to expand outside Florida. Can I open the same style restaurant, and use
> their concept (but with a slightly differnet name)? Liek instead of McDonald’s, I
> call my place MacDunny’s?
I would say that you should make all the extraneous elements of your restaurant as different as possible. Choose the name of your restaurant to be as different as possible. Make the layout and the color scheme of your restaurant as different as possible. Make the names of the food items on your menu as different as possible, and make the ordering of the items on the menu as different as possible. The only points of similarity should be the choice and the quality of the food items, and even there you should try for some differences. You generally can’t trademark a style of cooking unless it’s utterly different from anything else in the world.
Sure, but if you do, be sure to use golden arcs– not arches-- for your logo, call your signature product the “Big Mick”, and don’t use sesame seed buns on it.
My husband just reminded me of a chain that is all but dead…a hamburger and ice cream place here in the Chicago area called Cock Robin. There used to be a bunch of them, but 2 that were near us recently closed, and I think there is only one restaurant left, in Brookfield, IL.
I liked it when I was a kid because the ice cream scoops were square!
I came in to this thread to mourn the loss of Ontario’s Mother’s Pizza, Red Barn, Godfather’s Pizza… but have been beaten to the punch.
Some chains I thought were dead are not – Suisha Gardens, Ponderosa, Kenny Roger’s Roasters…
Some defunct restaurants seemed like chains but might not be – Pizzapax, Great Scott Pizza…
I think there was a Burger Chain called Top Hat that is now defunct. I’m not sure, but I used to see them, never been in one.
There was also a Kewpee’s Hamburger franchise with locations in Ohio and Michigan that I think has gone the way of the dodo. Great, basic, burgers.
I’m trying to think of the name of a Steakhouse franchise from a few years back that I believe tried to take on Outback and lost. I think they no longer exist. They had great rib-in Prime Rib, skin-on “smashed” potatoes, even lambchops. It was a modern steakhouse ala Outback but I believe they had a “Yukon” or “Great White North” theme. A bit more pricey than Outback but they had better food. Anyone remember it?
If the steakhouse you’re thinking of is Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, they still have locations in several Eastern states. Their slogan – “Flavor of the Canadian Rockies.”
Nope, that was definitely not the name. For some reason, I want to say that it was named after somebody, I think it had a Proper noun in there. I’m gonna go nuts if I can’t think of the name! :smack:
There’s at least one in Livonia, although it’s not a drive up anymore. Livonia law prohibits eating in parked cars. As far as I’m concerned, Daly has the best salad bar in existance.
How about Bill Knapps? There used to be a few around here but no more. They’re big gimmick was that on your birthday you got a percentage off your meal equal to your age. So of course older people liked it better. All I really remember about the place was it served tiny portions. I always left hungry.
They had Sister’s in the Detroit area as well. When I was young and my dad and brother would go off to scout camp, my mom and I would always go to Sisters. I agree the rice was fantastic and also the spicy chicken.
In fact, the place where it used to be has gone through several other restaurants over the years. I always think of Sisters when I drive by.
Ah, I was wrong. They are still around. Yay!
A classic burger, you can taste the history in these burgers.
Prince,
Thanks for reminding me of this place. I thought this was among the least appealing name for an overpriced, run-of-the-mill family steakhouse. Among the last thing I want associated with my food is bugs! I’d like to see how THAT name got through the focus groups.
I also must have repressed that memory, because I thought I’d visited the apparently non-existent LaCrosse, Wisconsin location. I never would have eaten there on my own but I was traveling on business. And curious if complimentary Deep Woods Off® wipes came with the meal.
Cool. Ohio is the keeper of the classic burger.
I seem to remember a steakhouse, not unlike Hoss’, called BOSS. Beer Onions Steak and Salad. All you could drink if I recall. Did I dream this or did it actually exist?
I figured out the name of the The Steakhouse! It’s Mountain Jack’s. Again, it still exists, just not in my area anymore.
Did you ever go to Oliver’s Tavern in Essex, CT?:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=+"beer+onion+steak+salad"&btnG=Search