Really? It’s a Michigan chain originally and they are everywhere here. The owner/founder of Little Caesars owns the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings.
It’s a huge chain.
Pizza, Pizza!!
Can’t believe I forgot that!
Working my voodoo zombification magic on this rotting, maggot-ridden thread to add mention of Steak and Ale and Shells. Always liked Steak and Ale, though it was a bit overpriced.
Church’s is still going strong in the Houston area. But I haven’t seen Sambo’s/Sam’s in years.
Steak & Ale still exists, at least in two locations that I know of. One near Easton PA, and one near Wilmington, Delaware. And they are still a bit overpriced.
Zombie thread! I’m sure it’s been stated already is this thread, but the last existing Sambo’s is here in Santa Barbara where it all started. It’s run by the son of one of the founders and actually has a sort of upscale menu that is well regarded locally. The kid also ran a hipster restaurant called Chad’s where they had catatonia inducing martinis and a happy hour full of hot hot women.
Corporate Steak & Ale is bleedin’ demised, but the franchise operations are still going.
Back in the early 70s, I was one of about 7 kids in my Dallas elementary school that were picked to sing the jingle for a Herfy’s Hamburgers commercial, even though the chain was in Houston. If I remember correctly, our music teacher, Mrs. Johnson, was recommended to the commercial company by the school district, and she had two seventh graders, two sixth graders, two fifth graders, two fourth graders, and myself from the third grade called into her classroom to audition for the guys. The song she had me sing to audition (she didn’t know that I had the single at home and knew the song by heart) was Bobby Sherman’s “Seattle.”
We were all selected, and here’s the jingle…
“It’s the magic at Herfy’s. Herfy’s Magic Meal. It’s a hamburger, french fries, and Coca-Cola and it comes with a magic surpri-ise!”
I wonder if that’s still on tape somewhere out there.
Last time I was home in Ft Worth, TX, there was still Church’s Fried Chicken.
That was the first chain that I remember being able to get regular or spicey fried chicken.
There was a chain that catered to zombies.
The brains were delicious.
I worked at Steak & Ale in Dallas and in San Antonio. Back then it was one of the chains run by the Brinker family of Dallas. S&A Corp also ran Bennigan’s and took over Chili’s early on. Many of the menu items were the same at Steak & Ale and Bennigan’s, so the wait staffs and cooks could cover for each other’s Christmas parties.
There’s an Arthur Treacher’s in Franklin Mills Mall in Filthadelphia. It is AWFUL!
Shakey’s Pizza on Northwest Highway in Dallas was my absolute favorite place as a kid. A trip there was my reward for a great report card. Haven’t seen them since the mid-70s, although Wiki says there are still about 68 in the US (almost all in California).
Houlihans is still going strong in this area (northern suburbs of Filthadelphia). A new one opened up about 2.5 years ago in Warrington, PA, and that parking lot is quite full every night.
Post, post, post, post, post!
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, chcrawfish, we’re glad to have you here.
Please note that, until you re-awakened this thread, the last prior post was over a year ago (Sept 2008), so don’t be surprised if some of the people posting don’t respond – they may no longer be posting here, they may not be reading the thread, etc.
Anyhow, there are lots of other interesting threads and discussions as well, so we hope you’ll explore around a bit and make yourself at home.
SmellMyWort: I’m not quite sure what to make of your comment, it’s not exactly a nice way to welcome a newcomer to the boards, is it? This is a long thread, and it’s not surprising that a new poster would make multiple posts. It’s neither a sin nor a rules violation. 
That’s where I fell in love with Malt Vinegar. They were better than Long John’s.
CK,
I found this thread through a Google search for Herfy’s hamburgers. A co-worker had pulled up a website with commercials from the 70s and 80s, and it just got me thinkin…
Wow, they just opened a Maid-Rite less than a block from my office (Chicago suburbs). Tasty, odd sandwiches – I didn’t realize they were actually old. I figured they were faux-retro.
I definitely miss Chi-Chi’s. It was the only Mexican I got as a kid, and I miss their particular brand of inauthenticity. The sombrero-shaped menus really made it feel genuine when I was 7.