Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill

http://www.dickclarkproductions.com/html/restaurants.html

Only five resturants !! And four of them are in airports !!
Interesting there isn't one in Philadelphia since that is where Bandstand got his start. Did that one closed because for some reason I remember hearing from some surce that there was one there. Also wasn't there one in Michigan too? I think that was featured in that Michael Moore flick Bowling For Columbine.

Has anybody checked them out? Price/menu wise, looks really not that much different than say a TGI Fridays.

There used to be one here in Cincinnati, at the Kenwood exit off I-71.

Nothing of any note served there, I'm afraid.....

There was also one at Northwest Plaza in St. Louis. I guess this chain has hit its peak long ago.

The one in the Molly Pitcher Service Area was open when I was through there in September. Looks like they need to update their web site.

The Dick Clark's American Bandstand location in Overland Park is strictly for tourists visiting Kansas City. It's right near the OP convention center, in the heart of suburbia. The food is crap, and overpriced.

It's conveniently located next to the KC Masterpiece restaurant, though, so the tourists can also stop there and pretend that they ate "real" Kansas City BBQ.

I thought there was one in Philly at the King of Prussia area? I may be mistaken. If it is, I have been there several times but the food was average at best.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I remember passing the AB Grill at the big mall complex in King of Prussia several years ago. While Verizon still has a listing for them, I tried the number and got a "disconnected" message. ChefMoz reports that restaurant in King of Prussia is closed.

There is one at the Molly Pitcher service area on the New Jersey Turnpike, operated by HMSHost. They used the concept for the full service restaurant at that service area:
http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/nj-vcenter-molly.htm
The time I was there, it was practically empty. The high prices charged for food on the New Jersey Turnpike probably turned off a lot of people. None of the items on the menu grabbed me. With so many great Roadfood places in New Jersey, why pay a fortune to eat company cafeteria food prepared by kids surrounded by rock and roll trinkets?

HMSHost also has an outdated webpage on their website:
http://www.hmshost.com/fb/dickclark.php

Clearly, this chain never took off.

I'm sure the quality and price of the food is the big reason why this chain never took off.

But I believe some of the reason could very well be due to Dick Clark himself. There are quite a few people out there who for one reason or another simply do not like Dick Clark.

Between that scene from the Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine, to those who felt Clark was let off way too easy from the payola scandal back in the 50s to those whose who were turned off at Dick Clark getting involved with the Publisher's Clearinghouse sweepstakes which many believe is more/less a scam.

When I was in college back in the late 80s/early 90s, two of my instructors before they took up teaching for years worked in the music biz. One was a songwriter and the other worked at ABC records. Both told us many rather "interesting" stories about Clark. Let's just say he rubbed many people over many years, the wrong way.

I think the Dick Clarks's All American Grill at the Great Lakes Crossing is now a Johnny Rockets.

Dick Clark was always one of my fav chefs. It is BK w/ the prices tripled.

quote:

Originally posted by syrup

I think the Dick Clarks's All American Grill at the Great Lakes Crossing is now a Johnny Rockets.

Actually the Dick Clark's American Bandstand at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills MI did close down, but the Johnny Rocket's was always there, even when Bandstand was open. Not sure what's there now, where Bandstand was. Haven't been to that mall in a while.

John

The Third one opened in 1994, here in Columbus, Ohio.
It closed in May 2003 without notice.
The building is now home to Winking Lizard, a regional chain bar & grill.

Dick should be in full retirement now, not concerned about his fast food places.

One of those opened in Austin TX several years ago. When somebody asked to turn down the volume, the request was denied. The "loudbience" is/was part of the franchise and must be hard wired.

quote:

Originally posted by namret

Dick should be in full retirement now, not concerned about his fast food places.

I think it's sad that Dick Clark is reduced to cooking up mediocre food for overpaying tourists at his age and with his health issues. I guess his only other option is Social Security.