OT: Do you remember these defunct restaurant chains?

[Berkstater]

15...I read that Carroll’s I saw now Burger King. I remember Carroll’s as a kid and Burger King showed up a little later....maybe true. Look alike a Vega to me too

 

[rohrmd9]

I don’t miss a single one of those.

 

[Obliviax]

Red Barn had awesome chicken.

Chi chis had awesome fried ice cream.

There is an A&W not far from my house. Awesome root beer floats.

 

[AWS1022]

There still are some A&Ws around the country, but just a few.

There are a bunch of A&W's in Kentucky.

 

[anacreon3]

CF Lion or anyone else, what kind of car is that pictured at Winky's . Looks like a late 60's model, maybe 68, but I don't know what make. Chevy Nova?

Looks like an early 70's Chevy Vega. The car to the right is a mid-year Vette.

 

[Phil's Rug]

And the food is gross at that Bonanza

Haven't been in it. Haven't actually ate at there since the 90's. Heard some horror stories about the place along 30 when it was still Ryan's

 

[ILLINOISLION]

My all time favorite ice cream place is Swenson's. The interior was reminiscent of a bygone era with tall tin roof ceilings, marble counters/fountains...
There was one in Allentown but closed on 9/10/91 (the very day my son was born - wife and I went there on their last day before she went into labor)

There are still some franchise locations around the globe and one out in California and Miami. But most of the shops in this country all closed. What I wouldn't give to have some Swiss Orange Chip ice cream. The best. (sorry Berkeys)

We moved as kids from Camp Hill to the San Francisco suburbs in 1959. Took my Dad only a few weeks to take us into SF and this great ice cream place called Swenson’s.

We had one in the Chicago suburbs probably 15-20 years ago, hadn’t thought of their ice cream for a long long time. Mint chip!

 

[Phil's Rug]

They just opened a A&W in Orbisonia a little bit ago.

 

[Tri-Power65]

It's most definitely an early '70's Vega. Probably rusted to oblivion by the mid '70's...

As for the restaurants, A&W and Bennigan's are still here in North Texas.

 

[Lion84]

I think the Steak and Ale might have been a Beefsteak Charlies at one point. For some reason I remember the salad croutons as being fantastic.

I worked at the Beefsteak Charlie’s in King of Prussia when I was in high schools - there is a Wal Mart there now.

 

[Mile High Lion]

Taken from USA Today. Of the 30 named, I recall patronizing 12 of them. Who can beat that?
1. Sandy's
2. Pioneer Chicken
3. Red Barn
4. Claudia Sander's
5. Rax Roast Beef
6. Wetson's
7. Carrol's
8. A&W
9. D'Lites
10. Pop 'N' Taco
11. Henry's
12. Druther's
13. Naugles
14. Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
15. Ponderosa/Bonanza Steakhouses
16. Bennigan's
17. Bob's Big Boy
18. Mr. Steak
19. Burger Chef
20. Gino's
21. Valle's Steak House
22. Steak and Ale
23. Lum's
24. Chi-Chi's
25. White Tower
26. All-American Burger
27. Minnie Pearl's Chicken
28. Kenny Roger's Roasters
29. Sambo's
30. Howard Johnson's

And there is still one Sambo's left, the original in Santa Barbara.
https://sambosrestaurant.com/#home

 

[phillybillyreprise]

Red Barn on Sundays for a Big Barnie which was a greasy Big Mac.
Wednesday dinner at Howard Johnson’s for the all you can eat fish fry with a HoJo cola.

On a trip to Florida there were Henry Johnson’s. They were a ripoff of Howard’s. Red roof instead of orange.

 

[Alphalion75]

Taken from USA Today. Of the 30 named, I recall patronizing 12 of them. Who can beat that?
1. Sandy's
2. Pioneer Chicken
3. Red Barn
4. Claudia Sander's
5. Rax Roast Beef
6. Wetson's
7. Carrol's
8. A&W
9. D'Lites
10. Pop 'N' Taco
11. Henry's
12. Druther's
13. Naugles
14. Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
15. Ponderosa/Bonanza Steakhouses
16. Bennigan's
17. Bob's Big Boy
18. Mr. Steak
19. Burger Chef
20. Gino's
21. Valle's Steak House
22. Steak and Ale
23. Lum's
24. Chi-Chi's
25. White Tower
26. All-American Burger
27. Minnie Pearl's Chicken
28. Kenny Roger's Roasters
29. Sambo's
30. Howard Johnson's

No

 

[RochLion]

What?! No Wuv's? Off route 46 in NJ. Good burgers and fries.

 

[Norm Petersin]

I remember 15 of them, 16 if you add Winky's.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

Howard Johnsons ice cream was a standard turnpike stop during my youth.

For our family, too.

Late this past spring, I had a good time hiking part of the abandoned Turnpike that was bypassed when they rerouted over Sideling Hill. There is an old HoJo site along the way. The parking lot is still there, and the lines for the parking spots are still visible. In the middle of that, where the building once stood, is a patch that has grown over and it looks like there are probably some critters living in there.

It was too early in the year for any snakes to be out, but I bet they like to sun themselves on that lot.

Made it to the entrance of one of the tunnels that day, which is all graffitied up. People camp there and probably hunt and fish from that spot.

 

[LuvDaLions]

I used to go to the Tastee Freeze when I was a kid.

 

[Woodpecker]

Well, for 28, I only know it from

 

[rudedude]

15...I read that Carroll’s I saw now Burger King. I remember Carroll’s as a kid and Burger King showed up a little later....maybe true. Look alike a Vega to me too

We had one right up the street from our house in the Minooka section of Scranton. Ah, a Club Burger!

 

[kgilbert78]

Not all

Taken from USA Today. Of the 30 named, I recall patronizing 12 of them. Who can beat that?
1. Sandy's
2. Pioneer Chicken
3. Red Barn
4. Claudia Sander's
5. Rax Roast Beef
6. Wetson's
7. Carrol's
8. A&W
9. D'Lites
10. Pop 'N' Taco
11. Henry's
12. Druther's
13. Naugles
14. Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
15. Ponderosa/Bonanza Steakhouses
16. Bennigan's
17. Bob's Big Boy
18. Mr. Steak
19. Burger Chef
20. Gino's
21. Valle's Steak House
22. Steak and Ale
23. Lum's
24. Chi-Chi's
25. White Tower
26. All-American Burger
27. Minnie Pearl's Chicken
28. Kenny Roger's Roasters
29. Sambo's
30. Howard Johnson's

Not all of those are completely dead. Rax for one. Ditto A&W--they have partnered with KFC and/or Long John Silver in some markets in a single building (there are still 1,200 of them according to Wikipedia). I've eaten at at least nine of those listed. And I think there may still be one HoJo's left. Geno's was recently revived too.

I'll add a couple to this list: GD Ritzy's, Dog n Suds, and Sisters Chicken. There are some locations left of some of these.

 

[kgilbert78]

Also one on North High St./Columbus Pike/SR 23 in Worthington, Ohio just north of I-270.

Not a Bob's but a Frisch's Big Boy. Same parent--slightly different chain.

 

[kgilbert78]

What?! No Wuv's? Off route 46 in NJ. Good burgers and fries.

Was one once in State College.

 

[Phil's Rug]

Well, for 28, I only know it from

 

[CF LION]

Apparently Rax still exists in Ohio.

 

[throw2oj]

I used to go to the Tastee Freeze when I was a kid.

There's a Tastee Freez in Bennington, Vermont.

They brought back Gino's a couple of years ago in Baltimore. Even had one inside Camden Yards. It didn't take.

The last White Tower I knew closed less than 10 years ago. It's now a Subway.

 

[Art]

Reports of Charlie Brown's demise are premature, sort of. Went belly in 2010, came out in 2011. Closed more than 40 locations, but still operates 15-20, mainly in NJ with a couple in NY.

 

[BowieLion]

We had one right up the street from our house in the Minooka section of Scranton. Ah, a Club Burger!

Ahhhh I remember those! There was also a place called "Stop and Go". Was that just a local franchise? I tried googling it, but all I get is some nutrition guide and a Stop and Go Chicken in Vietnam!

 

[rudedude]

Ahhhh I remember those! There was also a place called "Stop and Go". Was that just a local franchise? I tried googling it, but all I get is some nutrition guide and a Stop and Go Chicken in Vietnam!

Stop & Go was in Scranton on Lackawanna Ave

 

[JJTopp99]

Anyone remember Frugal McDugals?

A cheap hamburger joint chain. There was one near the Tavern Restaurant on College Ave. It didn't last too long perhaps a year or so (about 1971-2 if memory serves me correctly). Food was pretty bad; French Fries as hard as nails, LOL.