A Zantigo opened up in Fridley, MN a few years ago. I wasn’t very impressed.
Well, I don’t really remember the food. I remember the milkshakes–the blueberry milkshake tasted, strangely enough, like sugar. It wasn’t really overly sweet, but it had the flavor of sugar. The restaurants had a pretty classy look for a fast food restaurant, too. I also remember my father saying that it was a poor substitute for Arby’s, but we still ate there quite a bit. I haven’t thought of the place for years, though.
Hardee’s is now a dying breed, at least in the Twin Cities.
Any Minnesota Dopers remember Bridgeman’s ice cream parlors?
What Happened to “HOWARD JOHNSON’S”-it was the first nation-wide chain of restaurants? They started in Quincy, MA, and spread up and down the east coast. They had excellent ice cream! Also, they were the first chain to sell "tender sweet " friedclams-these were awful! (They were strips of quohog clams, not full soft-shell calms. The hoJo versions tasted like breaded, fried strips of innertube.
How about Geno’s in the South Jersey/Philly area? For a while, it was a pretty tough competitor with McDonald’s. There was one on Rte. 38 in Mount Holly next to the old Shop Rite.
Heh. A lot of this list sounds familiar. One of my mom’s first jobs was as a waitress at Howard Johnson’s. She said when it got slow, all the waitresses used to eat the ice cream. Probably why they went under. My sister used to work at Rax, before the one in Charleston became an Arby’s.
I used to live for Godfather’s Pizza. My parents would take us there, because they could buy one pitcher of beer for $2. (The short pitchers.) Their pizza was pretty good, as far as I can remember.
HoJo’s are something I definitely miss. The one closest to where I live became a Benihana, and there’s another one not too far away which is now a Cingular Wireless store.
There was also a chain here called Pewter Pot. I seem to recall them having fairly decent food, and the big thing was that their Freedom Fries were cut like pickle chips.
There’s a Godfather’s Pizza (but I’m sure it’s not probably the same chain) in Gainesville, Fl. There’s also a Grandy’s near the 34th st/Newberry cross in Gainesville.
Orange Julius has stores in Puerto Rico, the most memorable in Plaza las Américas.
I really thought I had a good one with Geno’s, but dantheman is the man. I also remember Burger Chef from this area, and a Lums we used to stop at around Hartford when we went on vacation to Maine.
I haven’t seen anybody mention Jack in the Box. I have no idea if that was a chain from some other region or if it was based here, but they had at least a couple of locations around here in the 70s. Anybody know if it’s still alive anywhere?
dantheman, I feel like I should know you. Did you grow up in Burlington County in the 60s/70s? You must be about as old as me if you can remember those businesses in Mount Holly, since they’ve been gone for a very long time.
Jack In The Box is still very big, mostly on the west coast. 823 locations in California alone! Here’s a map of their locations. I was very surprised when I moved out here to find them still alive and popular, as I thought they’d all disappeared years ago as well. If you stick with their finger food (jalapeno poppers and the like) they’re not half bad, for fast food. More importantly, though, they’ve got great commercials.
Orange Julius is commonly forund in malls around the Toronto area. HowardJohnson’s exists as a hotel chain in the Toronto area, but I’m not aware of any freestading restaurants under that name around here.
Anyone remember Bonanza? They were a western-themed steak-and-potatoes place, with relatively-inexpensive and very decent food, served cafeteria-style (trays and all). You’d get a plastic number for the entree, put it on your tray, and a server would bring it to you later. I seem to remember that they were the first place I’d seen with a ‘salad bar’.
Bonanza used to be quite common in Southern Ontario, but apparently the major francisor went under and most of the restaurants closed. A few under different ownersip survived; a couple of years ago I went to the one in Belleville, Ontario. I’ve also been to ones in North Dakota and Michigan.
Anyone remember freestanding A&W restaurants? These seem to be exclusively in mall food-courts now, at lewast in Toronto. I have seen advertising for new freestanding A&Ws in Ontario, but mostly outside Toronto. And I have a memory of a drive-in A&W in the late sixties in Peterborough, Ontario. It was just off Water Street, where it split into two one-way streets to go through downtown.
Red Barn still exists? I remember going to them as a kid in Erie. They all closed up there when I was pretty young. What I find fascinating is that it doesn’t seem like any of the barn-shaped buildings were torn down. I know a couple of the ones in Erie were converted into a used car lot and some kind of medical supply company. I see a few in Northern Virginia too - one is a dry cleaner, another is still standing but unused, and a third is now the Tandoori Kabob House (after being a Roy Rogers for several years).
I also remember Rax (one opened in Erie and closed about a year later), Arthur Treacher’s (seafood), and Bonanza (which I remember as being pretty similar to Ponderosa).
There was also a place called McBeth’s (I’m not sure about the spelling) that was open for about a month when I was in grade school, followed by the building remained unused for about a decade. Does anyone know if this was part of a chain?
We also used to have Rax here. Its stay was short-lived and two of the locations became Taco Bells. I remember the food was okay, nothing to complain about. I had only eaten there once, though.
There also used to be a local (perhaps it was regional) chain of fast food restaurants called Red Steer. They were all over town in the 70s, about as ubiquitous as McDonald’s was at the time. Then, one by one they began shutting down and turning into other places. The food was good, but they always got our orders wrong, no matter where we went. The last one remained standing until the mid 90s when it was torn down to make way for a Jack in the Box.
There was also a chain of pizza parlors called Keystone Pizza. It was mediocre pizza, edible but not my first choice by a long shot. They, too, disappeared one by one during the 80s/90s.
Not so long-lost is Boston Market, whose presence only lasted about a year. I think they’re still around in other areas, but about five years ago they opened several new outlets and were too aggressive and ambitious with opening new stores in new markets, so they closed them all up. Ditto for Kenny Rogers Roasters. I miss both of these places.
PaperBlob: Jack in the Box is alive and well, at least in my area. There are seevral of them around town with new ones opening every few months or so.
Boy, Gino’s brought back some memories! I remember several Gino’s in northern Delaware; they were also the outlet for Kentucky Fried Chicken at one time. Here’s a link to a site about Gino’s, for anyone interested:
Some of those old Ginos went on to become Sizzler steakhouses. I kinda miss them–less expensive than Outback.
Roy Rogers went out of business in my area (DC suburbs) several years back; I liked their roast beef, but I’ve still got Arby’s; I love Arby’s roast beef, especially the horseradish sauce, YUM!
There are a lot of them around here. I prefer Spudnuts, but I like being able to get 28 doughnuts for $9.99 (total) from Winchell’s. (I only buy doughnuts when I bring them in for the office.)
I believe I went to an Orange Julius in a mall in Louisiana. . .probably somewhere around Morgan City? I don’t remember all that well, it was a long time ago.
I remember Burger Chef as well. . .there was one in a mall in Cape Girardeau, MO when I was a kid.
Also, I remember Rax, faintly. I think there was one in either Carbondale or Marion, IL. Definitely somewhere in that area. I just remember thinking it was pretty gross, and it didn’t last long.
There are plenty of Jack in the Box and White Castles in St. Louis. We also have several Lion’s Choice of which I’m aware. Also a couple of Boston Markets.
Interestingly, someone mentioned the Howard Johnson’s restaurants. There is a hotel in St. Louis (Kirkwood) at Lindbergh and I44 that used to be a HoJo, and is now a Best Western or something. However up until just several months ago it still retained the Howard Johnson’s restaurant. They made sort of a little big deal about it closing. . .I don’t remember if they said it was the last one, or the last one west of the Mississippi River, or whatever, but it was at least one of the few. The place closed some months ago, but the sign was still up the last time I drove by.
P.S.–Are Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. the same thing? I’m familiar with Hardee’s, and all I know of Carl’s Jr. is when watching baseball games the star logo is often displayed in the stadium, much the same way Hardee’s logos are displayed here at Busch Stadium, and the star logo looks the same. Is this a regional thing?
Wow, some of these places mentioned are still alive and kicking. There is a Rax still in operation south of Altoona, PA. Farrell’s was the site of a San Diego Dopefest last year. And A&W is still alive, and owned by the same company that owns Long John Silver’s.
One place I miss is Mr. Steak. We had one in Williamsport, PA, but it and all the other franchises died off. Also, there was an excessively cheap, but good taco place, called something like “Taco House” or something like that, that was a chain. There was also one in State College. But I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. (All I can remember right now is their mascot, “Taco the Cat.”)
My sister used to work at Rax, before the one in Charleston became an Arby’s.
I remember several Gino’s in northern Delaware; they were also the outlet for Kentucky Fried Chicken at one time. Here’s a link to a site about Gino’s, for anyone interested: