Defunct restaurant chains

Cafe Society
321

[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
I used to work near there, and I remember that place was ALWAYS changing hands back in the 80s-90s. Seemed like every couple of years it was something else. Don’t remember Grouper’s, but my family used to go to Bimbo’s Italian restaurant, kitty corner from there. I wonder if Bimbo’s is still there, and if they have changed the name! :slight_smile:
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Bimbo’s is gone. I remember it too! There is a small strip shopping center there (with a Starbuck’s). It is somewhat adjacent to the Home Depot.

322

[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
devilsknew writes:

> Ohio is the keeper of the classic burger.

When I was growing up in Hancock County, Ohio, we all thought that the hamburgers at Wilson’s Sandwich Shop in Findlay were great. I have no idea whether I’d think they’re great today. I haven’t had one for umpty-ump years. I didn’t even know whether the sandwich shop was still open now or even remember the name exactly until five minutes ago when I did a search on hamburgers and Findlay. I discovered the strangest thing:

http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=11069963

It’s a review of a restaurant in the West Village in Manhattan in which someone compares the hamburgers there to Wilson’s in Findlay.
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I can vouche that Wilson’s Burgers have withstood the test of time. I first had them a few years ago, and they are definitely a great burger to my adult tastebuds. As good as when you were a kid? I couldn’t say… nothing’s quite as good as a memory.

The taste of memories, that’s what this thread is really about. Most of the actual quality and taste of these franchises from our childhood or from years back is relative to the memories. The time, the place, the taste, the experience. I mean, how great can a Hamburger or Hot Dog really be? At one time and place, it was the best Hamburger or Hot Dog you had ever had and will ever have. It’d be great to relive it, but I doubt it will ever be the same. ((Indian Tear (70’s reference.))

I have a friend that’s from Findlay and she’s made some great memories for me of a little Dairy Queen that is run by some relatives of the Wilson’s Sandwich Shop clan, I can’t think of the name of the place off hand (Dietsch’s maybe, or Jolly Dipper?), but they have Hamburgers almost identical to Wilson’s. Delicious— sooo good! But I think what made them great was the person I was with and the memories I’ll always have of that time, smell, conversation, taste, place, and influence. Swoon…

Ever had Jac and Do’s pizza, Wendell? Good stuff.

323

[QUOTE=PooterMommy]
Bimbo’s is gone. I remember it too! There is a small strip shopping center there (with a Starbuck’s). It is somewhat adjacent to the Home Depot.
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Of course, there had to be a Starbuck’s, right? Too bad about Bimbos…that was some good Italian food.

In the strip mall down the street (on the other side of Dundee), there used to be a pizza place called Geppeto’s. They had good pizza, and their gimmick was that they showed old movies & cartoons (like The 3 Stooges & old Road Runner cartoons) in the dining area. They also had a bunch of pinball machines (no video games in those days!) We LOVED that place when we were kids.

Slight hijack because it wasn’t a chain, but some of the best places we used to eat in are gone. :frowning:

324

[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
They had good pizza, and their gimmick was that they showed old movies & cartoons (like The 3 Stooges & old Road Runner cartoons) in the dining area.
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I think Little Caesar’s used to do that too.

325

[QUOTE=acsenray]
I think Little Caesar’s used to do that too.
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Yea, they did. There was a huge Little Ceasars that I went to as a kid back in the 80’s. I mean, it was the size of a wedding hall, really big, nothing like the tiny shopfronts that Little Ceasers dispenses from today. They had movie nights on Friday or Saturday nights and showed old Abbott and Costello Movies, and Old Serials, and Cartoons on a big screen projector TV. It was Great! But even better than that, they had an early Electronic version skeet shooting game. They had a freestanding console with a pair of modified “shotguns” holstered on each side. A little projected light disk representing the clay pigeon would swoop across a big white screen on the wall across from the console. And you would take your shots and watch the light turn into a comics POW disintegration. The game would get progressively harder with more clay pigeons at faster and faster rates. That game was the shit! I loved it.

326

[QUOTE=devilsknew]
Yea, they did. There was a huge Little Ceasars that I went to as a kid back in the 80’s. I mean, it was the size of a wedding hall, really big, nothing like the tiny shopfronts that Little Ceasers dispenses from today. They had movie nights on Friday or Saturday nights and showed old Abbott and Costello Movies, and Old Serials, and Cartoons on a big screen projector TV. It was Great! But even better than that, they had an early Electronic version skeet shooting game. They had a freestanding console with a pair of modified “shotguns” holstered on each side. A little projected light disk representing the clay pigeon would swoop across a big white screen on the wall across from the console. And you would take your shots and watch the light turn into a comics POW disintegration. The game would get progressively harder with more clay pigeons at faster and faster rates. That game was the shit! I loved it.
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That’s so weird…I didn’t know Little Ceasar’s even had actual restaurants…I thought they were all just carryout/delivery!

327

[QUOTE=Fiddle Peghead]
Well, that’s a shame. I used to live right across from it on Rosedale Ave in Bethesdam and spent many a night there at 3am. I’m moving back to the DC area, and was planning on making a stop there, in the old neighborhood. Anyone know if Philadelphia Mike’s is still there?
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There’s still a Philadelphia Mike’s in Crystal City. It moved from 23rd & Clark (across from the Hilton) to the Underground.

328

The Bethesda location is still there, at least when this page was last updated.

329

[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
That’s so weird…I didn’t know Little Ceasar’s even had actual restaurants…I thought they were all just carryout/delivery!
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Not only that, but the pizza was served on a silver tier.

You know, the cool raised serving tray.

It was like… Awesome!

330

Hamburger and Onion for me and my dad, Pepperoni and Green Pepper for my Mom.
Just seems like a mentionable quirk…

331

[QUOTE=GaryM]
And I just realized that no ones mentioned Orange Julius. I see that they are still around, but bought by DQ in 1987 http://www.orangejulius.com/sec_about.html.

Had a good juice drink, but I don’t remember then selling anything but hot dogs.
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When i was growing up, my grandparents lived in Hawaii and we would go visit them every 2 years. One of the things we always did there was go to Orange Julius. I always figured it was a Hawaii thing until I found one nearby.

332

Bob’s Big Boys are starting to re-appear in the LA area. There’s one on Hawthorne near PCH in Torrance.

Last week coming back from Las Vegas I noticed that Bun Boy in Baker (home of the world’s biggest thermometer) has become a Bob’s Big Boy.

333

[QUOTE=Salem]
the wine came in a …bottle-thingy that looked like a vase and I can’t think of the name even though I served a couple of millions of them in college when I worked there.
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That would be a carafe.

334

[QUOTE=SkipMagic]
Rax (and the accompanying alligator mascot) left the Kansas City area years ago, so I thought it was no longer around; however, turns out (according to the Wikipedia article), there are 30 or so of them left.

Also, local Mexican fast food franchise, Taco Via, seems to be slowly dying out. Not quite defunct, but getting there. Which is a pity, 'cause where else can I get me some delicious (yet artery-clogging) taco dogs?
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I loved Rax! At Ohio State, I used to hit one every day after class when I was at Ohio State. 89 cent sandwiches rule!

335

[QUOTE=Neptunian Slug]
I loved Rax! At Ohio State, I used to hit one every day after class when I was at Ohio State. 89 cent sandwiches rule!
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Rax had fantastic milkshakes.

336

[QUOTE=acsenray]
Rax had fantastic milkshakes.
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I think those of us in areas with these almost defunct restaurants should be required to go eat there in honor of Dopers.

So, I could go have a milkshake at Rax and some fish ‘n’ chips at Arthur Treachers.

For the good of us all, of course.

337

[QUOTE=madmonk28]
Does anyone remember Roy Rodgers’ restaurants? You had to put your own toppings on the burgers or roast beef. I remember a competitor (Burger King?) had a pretty effective negative commercial about that: “Slow down, pardner. We don’t fix your burger, you get to fix it yourself.”
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I remember it quite well, though we never had them around here. But when we went on our 8th-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., one enterprising kid (our town’s first punk) thought it would be funny to go up to the counter and order a Trigger Burger.

338

So far I don’t think anyone has mentioned Swensen’s, where I had my first job. It was a great turn-of-the-20th-century style ice cream parlor that also served mediocre diner-style food. I worked at the one in Evanston, IL, but there also used to be one on the NYU campus which is now gone, and I don’t recall seeing one in years. But I googled it just now, and apparently they are still very much alive and kicking, though the concept seems to have morphed somewhat.

Their stupid website doesn’t appear to show locations - does anyone here have a Swensen’s nearby? I used to make kickass malts there, and they had a great sundae involving chocolate and coffee ice cream, hot fudge, and butterscotch topping. We would make anything to order, though. I quit when they kept scheduling me until 11 pm on schoolnights (I was a high school junior), and later worked at Baskin-Robbins (which similarly violated child labor laws), but Baskin-Robbins just wasn’t as good.

Eva Luna, 3rd-Generation Ice Cream Professional

339

[QUOTE=Eva Luna]
Their stupid website doesn’t appear to show locations - does anyone here have a Swensen’s nearby? I used to make kickass malts there, and they had a great sundae involving chocolate and coffee ice cream, hot fudge, and butterscotch topping.
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Called something like Black Gold or Klondike Rush?

We used to have a Swensen’s about 45 minutes away, but I guess it’s gone.

340

[QUOTE=GaryM]
And I just realized that no ones mentioned Orange Julius.
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I stopped going to OJ when I did some experimenting and found out that mixing a litle sugar, vanilla and egg white extract (cosmetic, for foam) with ordinary orange juice in a blender, I could make a Julius myself. Tasted exactly the same.