# Hardees/Carl's Jr Rallys/Checkers....Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649 "2014-09-16T13:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/41 "2014-09-17T21:28:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Before Hardees was assimilated by Carls J-R, they used to have a different menu. More sourdough bread sandwiches, and ham combinations, I believe. I think they still don’t have the exact menu. They used to have the best fast food fried chicken. Popeyes, KFC, Church’s, none of the other chains come close to Hardee’s fried chicken. And they had (still have, actually) great biscuits too. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/42 "2014-09-18T00:38:34Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > They used to have the best fast food fried chicken. Hardees had a great hot ham and cheese, plus a really good roast beef too. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/43 "2014-09-18T01:32:43Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > What I don’t get about Checker’s is the double drive-thru. I mean, I _get_ it, but it seems inefficient to have a dedicated passenger-side drive-thru lane rather than 2 driver-side lanes. Frankly I’ve rarely, if ever, seen anyone in the passenger-side lane. In-N-Out here in California has double drive-thrus. The passenger-side lane is just as busy as the driver-side. Even if you are alone, you can usually reach far enough to use the passenger-side lane. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/44 "2014-09-18T01:37:53Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > They used to have the best fast food fried chicken. Popeyes, KFC, Church’s, none of the other chains come close to Hardee’s fried chicken. And they had (still have, actually) great biscuits too. Hardee’s has always had the best biscuits. No contest. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Hardees had a great hot ham and cheese, plus a really good roast beef too. When I was a kid (70’s-80’s) Hardee’s had Arby’s type roast beef sandwiches but I haven’t seen them in years. Apparently, some locations sell them but I haven’t seen them around here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/45 "2014-09-18T02:22:09Z")
I totally understand not changing your name to “Big Boys.” It’s a silly sounding name, with a silly looking mascot. The local Shoney’s never claimed it even was a Big Boys; it just had the mascot in some pictures inside, and it looked so kitschy. I always thought that it was funny how stupid everything looked back then. **Big Boy** ’s sounds like a it’s a kids’ restaurant, and the mascot looks like something kids would hang out with. Yeah, Shoney’s has its Bear, but he seems to be specifically for the kids, while Big Boy was always shown to be more like Ronald McDonald, a general mascot. ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/46 "2014-09-18T06:43:01Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > (snip) > When I was a kid (70’s-80’s) Hardee’s had Arby’s type roast beef sandwiches but I haven’t seen them in years. Apparently, some locations sell them but I haven’t seen them around here. Yeah they did! My Dad used to love those. I thought I was one of the only people on Earth who remembered. When I mention those, and sometimes the chicken, I just get a blank stare from most folks. It is Hardee’s here in North Carolina but who knows what would have happened if this guy had won his case? We just might have become a Carl’s Jr. state. **From the Fayetteville Observer ([fayobserver.com](http://fayobserver.com) _snerk_)** > [@](#): > > Posted: Sunday, February 25, 2001 12:00 am > > Ronald Cheeley and his wife, Queen Williamson Cheeley, filed suit in Alamance County Superior Court earlier this month asking for more than $20,000 in damages. > > Cheeley claims he ordered a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit at the drive-through window of a Hardee’s in Burlington last August. > > When he began to eat the biscuit, he bit into a rotten human tooth, the lawsuit alleges. > > Cheeley claims that when he walked into the restaurant to complain, employees began to laugh and point at the cook who was preparing the biscuits. > > Cheeley said he asked the manager to contact him, but no one did. When he returned the next day, the manager told him the cook had been fired after admitting the rotten tooth was his, Cheeley said. > > Cheeley wants to be reimbursed for mental anguish and medical costs. > > His wife is also asking for damages, claiming that the incident caused her a loss of companionship and sexual gratification. > > Hardee’s investigated the incident and found it to be without merit, said company spokeswoman Sharon Hamilton. > > “We will defend ourselves vigorously,” she said. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/47 "2014-09-18T12:21:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I always thought that it was funny how stupid everything looked back then. And one day, all the things you remember of your youth will be derided as stupid-looking by some youngsters. Big Boy was never a kid’s restaurant, in my experience. It was a family restaurant with a more pronounced emphasis on distracting the kids so that the grownups could maybe catch a break. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/48 "2014-09-18T14:59:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Hardees had a great hot ham and cheese, plus a really good roast beef too. We don’t have Hardees here in Phoenix metro, but I can get a similarly good ham and cheese at Arby’s. I never seem to find it on the menu, but they make it for me. I guess I just can’t see it - must be buried somewhere. Now if only they could make decent fries. I hate their curly fries. I went to an Arby’s somewhere in the Midwest, and that franchise still had normal fries. I wish I could get the one by me to do that. Were you Wisconsin born and raised? I think Marc’s Big Boy is the only true version. I loved it when we went to Milwaukee so I could get a Big Boy burger. Then we found the one in Oshkosh, and I got to go a lot more often. Arizona had “JB’s”, which, despite being part of the franchise, just wasn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/49 "2014-09-18T15:33:38Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > They used to have the best fast food fried chicken. Popeyes, KFC, Church’s, none of the other chains come close to Hardee’s fried chicken. And they had (still have, actually) great biscuits too. Agreed. It was basically the same as Roy Rogers which I seem to keep talking about on the boards lately even though I haven’t had it in probably 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/50 "2014-09-18T16:13:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now if only they could make decent fries. I hate their curly fries. Try Arby’s potato cakes. You might have to wait a bit for them to make them, but they are pretty good. > [@](#): > > Were you Wisconsin born and raised? Pretty much. Marc’s is my standard for Big Boy. They’re all gone now. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/51 "2014-09-18T16:15:20Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Agreed. It was basically the same as Roy Rogers which I seem to keep talking about on the boards lately even though I haven’t had it in probably 20 years. According to Wikipedia, it was the same recipe as Roy Rogers. > [@](#): > > For a few years in the early 1990s, Hardee’s outlets sold the popular fried chicken recipe acquired from the Roy Rogers fast food chain, hoping it could compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. > **[Hardee's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee%27s)** > > Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960 in North Carolina. > In April 1997, CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr., paid $327 million to Montreal-based Imasco Limited for Hardee's. The merger created a chain of 3,828 restaurants –... ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/52 "2014-09-18T16:37:14Z")
> [@Eddie\_F](#): > > One thing that is unique about the Frisch’s Big Boy franchise - or so I’ve been told - is that they use their own brand of tartar sauce (quite simply, the Condiment of the Gods, which can be purchased by the jarful at the restaurants and in all supermarkets in the region) to slather their Big Boys and Super Big Boys with. I think at all other locations, including the original Bob’s, they use the same thousand island-ish sauce that McDonald’s uses. In all the Bob’s locations I’ve ever been to (SoCal area), there has always been a red relish on their Big Boys, not a thousand island’s sauce. That’s what made it better than a Big Mac. Another Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s difference - some of the restaurants offer both Carl’s/Hardee’s food as well as some Mexican items. In Carl’s territory, the Mexican menu is from The Green Burrito, which was a chain in the SoCal area for a while. For the Hardee’s stores, they call it The Red Burrito. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/53 "2014-09-18T17:28:50Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > According to Wikipedia, it was the same recipe as Roy Rogers. > > [Hardee's - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee%27s) A few years in the early 90s? Hardee’s sold fried chicken for a lot longer than that, going back to at least the mid-80s. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/54 "2014-09-18T18:49:51Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > And one day, all the things you remember of your youth will be derided as stupid-looking by some youngsters. > > Big Boy was never a kid’s restaurant, in my experience. It was a family restaurant with a more pronounced emphasis on distracting the kids so that the grownups could maybe catch a break. I remember loving to go to Bob’s Big Boy in SoCal because they had free comic books. With Big Boy, and Dolly (my parents wouldn’t let us buy real comic books, so he was the only superhero I really got to look up to\*)! \*And Reddy Kilowatt. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/55 "2014-09-18T19:40:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I remember loving to go to Bob’s Big Boy in SoCal because they had free comic books. With Big Boy, and Dolly (my parents wouldn’t let us buy real comic books, so he was the only superhero I really got to look up to\*)! I had completely forgotten about those comic books until you just now mentioned them! So, of course I had to go looking online for images, of which [there turn out to be plenty](https://www.google.com/search?q=big+boy+comic+books&safe=off&biw=1440&bih=698&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=uDMbVJ3yJPX_sASYoYAQ&ved=0CEAQsAQ), and inadvertently run across the fact that [early Big Boy comics were written by Stan Lee](http://www.bobs.net/blog/article/-stan-lee-and-bob-s-big-boy). ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/56 "2014-09-19T02:10:12Z")
There was a place in my college town that switched back and forth between Hardee’s and Roy Rogers a couple times in the 90s, but they always seemed to have the same menu. ---
**Author:** ![tbpavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@tbpavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbpavi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/57 "2014-09-21T16:24:16Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Hardee’s is in the South. The only places I’ve seen Carl’s Jr. is in the Western US. Agree. Pretty much all Hardee’s in North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/58 "2014-09-21T21:25:44Z")
Hardee’s Wikipedia page has a map that shows the locations of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. > **[Hardee's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee%27s)** > > Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1961 in North Carolina. > In April 1997, CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr., paid $327 million to Montreal-based Imasco Limited for Hardee's. The merger created a chain of 3,828 restaurants –... ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/59 "2014-09-21T22:14:36Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Hardee’s Wikipedia page has a map that shows the locations of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. > [Hardee's - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee%27s) What magical lands must Wyoming and Oklahoma be, to have both within their borders! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649/60 "2014-09-22T01:24:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s also Checkers in Illinois. Used to love them, but it’s hard to find them anymore. Their big push in the Chicago market, at least, was some time in the early 90s. There used to be a bunch of locations, but now I can only think of one (although supposedly there are three total in the **Chicago area** , according to their store locator.) And more all the time. A truck drove by yesterday carrying a big illuminated store sign and a couple drive thru signs, and I drove past the Bellwood store today. BTW, there are currently FOUR stores in the “Chicago area.” You city boys always forget about how the burbs are include in the area. If you don’t mean “Chicago AREA” just say “Chicago,” 'kay? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardees-carls-jr-rallys-checkers-why/698649.md?page=2)