# Restaurants of the Past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756 "2015-08-24T19:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [August 25, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/41 "2015-08-25T12:49:02Z")
The [Laughner’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughner%27s_Cafeteria) cafeteria chain of Indianapolis was rather nice. It closed its last restaurant in 2000, after over 110 years in the business. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/42 "2015-08-25T12:50:52Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Swiss Chalet chicken and Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips are two I remeber fondly from my childhood. I loved Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips when I was a kid. We only got to go there about twice a year when mom took us shopping for school clothes at the big Marshalls in Manchester, CT (which I believe is now a courthouse). I loved breaking off a corner of the blazing hot piece of fish and dribbling in as much malt vinegar as the rest of the crust would hold. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/43 "2015-08-25T13:00:47Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Forgot about Arthur Treacher’s; thanks to **IvoryTowerDenizen** for mentioning that. > > Also just remembered [Red Barn.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_(restaurant)) I only saw one Big Barn – in Rochester, NY. When I got to Salt Lake City, I learned that Red Barn had been there – and gone. One local burger joint repurposed one of the Big Barn over-the-counter menu displays for their own fare. And another got converted into a Chinese restaurant. It wasn’t until I stepped back, ignored the new Chinese decorations out front, and took in the building as a whole that I realized it was a giant “barn”! ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/44 "2015-08-25T13:25:04Z")
I remember many trips to Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurant during high school. The place always seemed to be packed every time I was there. Then the whole chain disappeared extremely quickly. According to Wikipedia, they can still be found in Europe and the Middle East. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/45 "2015-08-25T13:29:34Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > There used to be a chain of pancake restaurants in the Chicago area known as Golden Bear. We had a Golden Bear in Springfield (IL) when I was growing up (1970s). We went there fairly often for pancakes. Also a Ground Round, which closed sometime toward the end of the 90s. I remember the peanuts, but other than that, it was decent but nothing particularly special. Also a Big Boy (which locally was Topp’s Big Boy). All long gone. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/46 "2015-08-25T13:30:42Z")
When I was growing up, **The Matterhorn** was the nice restaurant around and when our parents took us there, it was time to dress up! We’d hear Frank Pellico play the organ while we ate. This was in Palos Park, IL - there wasn’t a whole lot to choose from back then in that area - at least not until I got to be high school aged. Then we had Chi-Chi’s in Orland Park, as well as a Cattle Company - those were always nice for really nice date nights. My first husband and I went to those two places quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/47 "2015-08-25T13:32:29Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > I remember many trips to Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurant during high school. The place always seemed to be packed every time I was there. Then the whole chain disappeared extremely quickly. According to Wikipedia, they can still be found in Europe and the Middle East. Ahhh, the green onions hepatitis situation. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/48 "2015-08-25T13:42:34Z")
I remember a Red Barn restaurant here, when I was very young. I remember they had fried chicken, unusual in that it was hot and crunchy, but not a drop of grease, almost dry. I remember and miss that, haven’t found any chicken ever again like the Red Barn’s. There was one of those much-discussed little local hole-in-the-wall restaurants here (actually not that little) that people are always raving about (because, “evil chain restaurants are taking over”). Aunt Josie’s, family style Italiano, complete with fat Mama Josie in the kitchen stirring a vat of sauce all day. It was just OK, overpriced sour tomato sauce and two meatballs on spaghetti for $15. Finally closed down to weeping and wailing throughout the land, and it stands there empty, with a huge sign still up, years and years later. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/49 "2015-08-25T13:45:23Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > I remember many trips to Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurant during high school. The place always seemed to be packed every time I was there. Then the whole chain disappeared extremely quickly. According to Wikipedia, they can still be found in Europe and the Middle East. We had Chi-Chi’s, and Fresno’s, and probably another similar ‘Mexican’ restaurant, all closed down (and one still standing there years later, closed) because they were poisoning the customers with things like salmonella. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/50 "2015-08-25T13:46:31Z")
Yes, the Ground Round and Bill Knapp’s. Miss them both. Also H Salt Fish and Chips. About the only time you can get good fish and chips now is at our church Lenten fish fries. Then there was Burger Chef. I know it’s cool to trash ChiChi’s, but I for one liked their food. Howard Johnson’s used to be a safe choice when traveling, don’t miss them too much as their food was quite ordinary and their service less than ordinary. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/51 "2015-08-25T13:48:40Z")
I remember fried clams and Indian pudding at Howard Johnsons, and 28 ice cream flavors. Good times! Now its burgers burgers burgers and fries fries fries. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/52 "2015-08-25T13:54:36Z")
Jerry’s, basically a Kentuckiana chain of “Big Boy”-ish restaurants, which were not part of the actual Big Boy family. It’s fried fish got so popular, it spun off Long John’s Silvers, which later was bought by another corporation while Jerry’s died out except for a very few scattered venues. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/53 "2015-08-25T13:58:03Z")
I think I must be from the same city as the OP, since I also remember Scottie’s. I likewise remember the Golden Bear. When I was a kid, we used to go there for breakfast every Sunday morning after church. How I loved the Golden Bear! I almost got into a fist fight with a kid from school when he said that their food stunk. 🙂 It wasn’t really a restaurant, as such, but there was a little place right behind our house called the Crescent Dairy. It was really more of a convenience store, but they did have a counter that served sandwiches and fountain drinks. You could get cherry cokes there. Not the canned “Cherry Coke” they have now, but actual soda fountain cokes with cherry syrup mixed in. Because it was in a little strip mall right behind the house, it was one of the few places I was allowed to walk to without parental supervision. My friends and I would go there all the time when we wanted a coke, which cost 15 cents if I remember right. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/54 "2015-08-25T13:59:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [The Southern Kitchen](http://phorum.dallashistory.org/read.php?2,41951,page=2) on the Circle in Dallas. There were two of them, but this is the one i remember. Sumptuous food and plenty of it. Friends and I ate there in the early '70s when we could afford it. Here’s a [picture](https://www.flickr.com/photos/racphotography/473103265)and the comments here will give you an idea of what the food was like. +1. Represented high-end dining to my family. On one of the rare trips in the late 60’s I saw Jack Nicklaus as the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament was taking place at the time. Cinnamon rolls were to die for ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/55 "2015-08-25T14:02:06Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I remember fried clams and Indian pudding at Howard Johnsons, and 28 ice cream flavors. Good times! Now its burgers burgers burgers and fries fries fries. Not merely fried clams, but _Tendersweet fried clams_. Advertising is all. They apparently had a deal with some Massachusetts clamming brothers. I never tried the clams, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/56 "2015-08-25T14:19:21Z")
When we visited Florida as kids, my brother and I would beg our parents to take us to [Taco Viva](http://www.tacoviva.com/index.html). As Taco Bell’s popularity grew, theirs dwindled; soon they were only in malls (with subpar quality IIRC) until they finally succumbed. El Scorcho, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/57 "2015-08-25T14:22:50Z")
I miss the Your Host diner in Fredonia at the D+F Plaza. They had individual juke boxes at each table. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/58 "2015-08-25T14:23:41Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > We had Chi-Chi’s, and Fresno’s, and probably another similar ‘Mexican’ restaurant, all closed down (and one still standing there years later, closed) because they were poisoning the customers with things like salmonella. [Hepatitis.](http://www.marlerclark.com/case_news/view/chi-chis-hepatitis-a-outbreak-pennsylvania) > [@](#): > > Ultimately, over 650 confirmed cases of hepatitis A, both primary and secondary, were linked to consumption of green onions at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi’s. The victims included at least 13 employees of the restaurant, and numerous residents of six other states. Four people died as a consequence of their hepatitis A illness. In addition, more than 9,000 people who had eaten at the restaurant during the period of potential exposure, or who had been exposed to ill Chi-Chi’s customers, obtained immune globulin shots to prevent hepatitis A infection. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/59 "2015-08-25T14:35:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Howard Johnson’s restaurants? Plenty of people remember them. In the 1950s-1960s they had a “lock” on a lot of the rest stops on turnpikes and the like. I grew up eating at them on trips. Nowadays McDonalds and other fast food places have taken over. HoJo’s clamburgers; one of nature’s perfect foods. 😉 We also had a chain around Pittsburgh for a while; All-Pro Chicken. I believe they were one of the first to push minority ownership but I remember them best for having these unique almost-coated fries that really were pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756/60 "2015-08-25T14:49:40Z")
Omaha might be the only place where this type of restaurant exists, but we have Italian Steakhouses. They sell normal Italian style dishes like Lasagne and such, but also sell steak dinners. A typical order would be: Fresh, warm bread hits your table when you sit down. Then fried ravioli with marinara and a carafe of the house red wine, steak with a choice of baked, fried or hash-brown potato, salad, a side of either spaghetti or mostaccioli with spumoni for desert. My first job was working for one of these. There were half a dozen families running places like this. The Caniglia Family, (who I worked for) at one time had six locations. The last Caniglia restaurant, Piccolo’s, will close New Year’s Eve, after 81 years. This will leave us with Gorat’s and Cascio’s. The fourth or fifth generation of these families just don’t seem to want to continue in the restaurant business. Warren Buffet eats at Piccolo’s and Gorat’s really often… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-of-the-past/728756.md?page=4)