# Long-lost regional restaurant chains **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572 "2003-06-09T02:25:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/61 "2003-06-10T02:57:58Z")
Speaking of New York City-ish chains, at one time there used to be a ton of **Carvel** stores around Buffalo. They were known as “the Jewish ice cream parlor,” apparently because they promoted their Kosher certification and Bar Mitzvah ice cream cakes heavily in a city that was otherwise dominantly Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Watcher\_of\_the\_Skies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Watcher\_of\_the\_Skies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Watcher_of_the_Skies)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/62 "2003-06-10T03:49:50Z")
Yes, we had Carvel in Philly too - we went to one in Glenside PA for as far back as I can remember. And how about those lame tv ads in the 70’s for Cookiepuss etc. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/63 "2003-06-10T03:55:34Z")
**H. Salt Fish & Chips** Are any of the **Poppin’ Fresh** Pie pantries still open? How about **Village Inn Pizza Parlor**? I played my first video game there, Pong. I guess all of the **Woolworth’s** lunch counters are closed now, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/64 "2003-06-10T04:39:33Z")
**Village Inn Pizza Parlor**! I had my eleventh birthday party there, in Bozeman, Montana. Are they really gone? Phew…an online telephone directory still gives a listing for that one, at least. How about **Showbiz Pizza**? I think they have all been changed to Chuck E. Cheeses and have gotten rid of that bizarre, drugged-out looking, animatronic band. The **A&W** in Fridley, MN still has a drive-in! ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/65 "2003-06-10T04:49:26Z")
Say **Watcher** , Wilmington DE had a Steer-In too! LOL I remember my Mom taking us there for dinner, because the hamburgers were only 15 cents. With 5 kids, you had to look for some place like that. 😉 Also, Watcher, after I was in college (early 70s), my parents moved to Elkins Park, so I’m sort of familiar with the Glenside area (my brothers all graduated from Cheltenham :)). I too have fond memories of the Horn & Hardart in downtown Philly. Lums did have terrible food though! ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/66 "2003-06-10T13:35:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hugh Jass \* > \*\*Also in the D.C. area was a sub shop called Jerry’s (not the same as Watcher’s). \*\* Jerry’s is still very much around - they push their cheesesteaks, mostly, and have radio commercials with truly horrendous Bill Clinton and George W. impersonators. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/67 "2003-06-10T14:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tamex \* > \*\ ***How about Showbiz Pizza? I think they have all been changed to Chuck E. Cheeses and have gotten rid of that bizarre, drugged-out looking, animatronic band.** I definitely remember **Showbiz Pizza** , I LOVED that place as a kid. Now, I believe you are right in that they have all been turned into Chuck E. Cheese’s, and some have closed. I took my little brother to Chuck E. Cheese a few weeks ago, and was disheartened to find that none of the original I charmed I remember from my youth was still there. Yes, I thought the bizarre animatronics were great. Now, the place is just a big arcade. . .Showbiz Pizza without the distinctive personality ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/68 "2003-06-10T14:59:49Z")
Sacramento has an H. Salt downtown. Carvel’s is on the web, and, according to their website, have 5,500 locations (it would appear, however, that most of these locations are supermarkets and that ilk). There are Village Inn Pizza’s in North Carolina, Kentwood, Michigan, and Champaign, Illinois, according to Google. Finally, there’s still a Beefsteak Charlie’s on 8th Avenue in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/69 "2003-06-10T18:02:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > \*\*Are ‘The Keg’ steakhouses only in the Toronto area? They’re still around (in Oshawa, Etobicoke, for example) and are easily indentifiable by their buildings, which had a ‘traditional farmhousy’ look, with a tower over the entrance). I get the impression there were more of them though. > \*\* So they’re steakhouses? They just opened a restaraunt named ‘The Keg’ in Plano, TX. I’ve only seen it from the tollway, and assumed from the name that it was a brewpub or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/70 "2003-06-10T18:58:35Z")
I was going to mention **Pup ‘n’ Taco** , but I just did a Google search. Turns out that **Taco Bell** bought them up and converted all of them. So I guess in spirit, they live on… ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/71 "2003-06-10T19:06:37Z")
I used to live in So. Cal–and I remember the Pup’nTaco jingle: Pup and taco, pup and taco, 29 cents, drive through! They had really small frankfurters…about half the size of standard dogs! ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/72 "2003-06-10T19:28:48Z")
Still a large HoJo on 46th in Times Square. Kept intact, with Simple Simon and the Pieman on sign, formica everywhere, a Cocktail Lounge, and genial 50s atmosphere. Always crowded. The few Boston Markets left in Boston and NY are always crowded AFAICT. I also see several White Castles around; there’s one down the block from the Empire State Building on 5th. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/73 "2003-06-10T20:10:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > Speaking of New York City-ish chains, at one time there used to be a ton of Carvel stores around Buffalo. They were known as “the Jewish ice cream parlor,” apparently because they promoted their Kosher certification and Bar Mitzvah ice cream cakes heavily in a city that was otherwise dominantly Catholic. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Watcher of the Skies \* > Yes, we had Carvel in Philly too - we went to one in Glenside PA for as far back as I can remember. And how about those lame tv ads in the 70’s for Cookiepuss etc. They’re still an institution on Long Island. Perhaps their Jewish reputation is the reason why they’re still considered the pinnacle even long after their gravelly-voiced founder Tom died. My brother’s mother in law had a Carvel franchise down in Florida. She lost it after company inspectors discovered she was using non-Carvel ingredients. You gotta love the now discontinued Cookie-Puss and Fudgie the Whale. I used to love to bring Cookie Puss Ice Cream Cakes to my grandmother’s and have the kid working behind the counter draw on a big phallus on him in leiu of “Happy Birthday Nana” every September. Other than a vibrator I gave her last Xmas, I haven’t come up with anything since that gets her that beet-red. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/74 "2003-06-10T20:27:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mehitabel \* > \*\*I also see several White Castles around; there’s one down the block from the Empire State Building on 5th. \*\* There are still at least a couple closer to you in da Bronx. The one that comes to mind is right near the Rosedale Ave section, my the new Mobil station off the Bronx River Parkway ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/75 "2003-06-10T20:39:01Z")
Wow, **Elmwood** , are you, like, reading my mind? I’ve had the same thought about Maryland Fried Chicken in Orlando (i.e. looks like it hasnt been renovated in about 50 years, not that that’s a bad thing.) And I used to go to the Your Host in Fredonia in the late 70s/early 80s, and remember the juke boxes (although I DO remember them having a Loverboy song, so they were merely stuck in…ohh, the early 80s! :D) It seemed a lot…warmer in there, visually, than almost any other restaurant i’ve been in. Comparable only to a small, quiet, dim, Chinese place. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/76 "2003-06-10T20:53:03Z")
Hey, all the ones I thought of were already named by other people! Let’s see… I remember Burger Chef from my youth - I remember it as a place with good hamburgers, and toys (back before all the chains had kid’s toys). I would probably be dissappointed in the food now anyway. China Coast (listed by **5 time champ** ) was one our family really liked, and I was sorry to see it close. Anyone know if those are still around? I remember Farrell’s (which **Shirley** mentioned) from El Paso. Good to hear there’s one in San Diego - I go there occasionally, so maybe I’ll try to hit it next trip. Some of these aren’t gone. I think there are still Grandy’s and Jack in the Boxes in Texas, and I seem to recall a White Castle in Kansas City. And there’s an A&W in Salem, NH, close enough for me to eat lunch at from work (although it’s combined with a KFC, of all things). Of course, there could be a whole hijack about places that are somewhere in the country but not, dangit, near me! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/77 "2003-06-11T06:45:12Z")
NE Texan, why hijack a perfectly good thread to talk about favorite regional chains when [you can just link to one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=115107)? Also, any Seattle Dopers remember **Clark’s**? ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/78 "2003-06-11T12:56:07Z")
In the DC area I’ll second the **Little Tavern** memory. I loved the one in downtown Georgetown. My folks would take me down there to walk around for the day and get some little burgers then have an ice cream soda at **Swenson’s**. We still have a few **Carvel** ice cream stores around. The ice cream cakes are good but the soft ice cream is BAD. Boy do I miss **Shakey’s** , too. Loved their pizza, the one in Fairfax had live entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays, all you can eat hot bar with stuff like ravioli and spaghetti, and some kind of fried potato things called Mojos. I can still taste those. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572/79 "2003-06-11T12:59:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bump \* > So they’re steakhouses? They just opened a restaraunt named ‘The Keg’ in Plano, TX. I’ve only seen it from the tollway, and assumed from the name that it was a brewpub or something like that. I expect ‘The Keg’ is a difficult name for anyone to get wide-ranging exclusive rights to. I’m sure there have been more than a few bars, pubs, and restaurants of various sorts with that name. In fact, my uncle ran one such establishment thirty years or so ago in a small Kansas town, in between his earlier career as a cattle rancher and his later one as a pawnshop owner. His “The Keg” was a bar and pool hall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-lost-regional-restaurant-chains/180572.md?page=3)