Does anyone remember these places?

Anyone remember any of these places?  I have such happy memories of them.
 
The Blue Fox in San Francisco.  Elegant with attentive service.  Loved the artichoke soup and Dover sole.
 
Charles' Bistro in San Francisco.  Lamb and a daiquiri to die for!
 
The original Trader Vic's in San Francisco, their Crab Rangoon and a Maui Fizz ... deceptively delicious.
 
San Jacinto Inn in Texas.  Fantastic all you can eat chicken and seafood.
 
The Chef (Surf and Sirloin) in Waco, TX.  Great Red Snapper, homemade rolls and jelly.
 
The Turkey Shop in Abbott, TX.  Heard they'd reopened but haven't tried it yet.  Anyone?
 
Ports O' Call in Dallas, TX.  Overlooked downtown.  Each "room" had decorations reminiscent of a different port in the South Pacific.  The menu offerings matched the ports.
 
Villa Fontana in Mexico City.  Wonderfully elegant with violinists to serenade the customers.
 
Ernie's in Columbia, MO.  Steaks a college student could afford.
 
The old A&W drive-ins with those frosty cold mugs.
 
The Middle Eastern/Indian early 60's restaurant in Dallas which had the doorman with the enormously tall headdress/hat.  Can't recall the name.  Anyone?
 
An atmospheric Middle Eastern restaurant in New York City during the mid and late 50's.  One sat on pillows on the floor to eat flaming shish kebabs.  The walls were draped like a sultan's tent.  Was taken there as a young child and have never forgotten it but can't remember the name.  Can anyone help me?
 
 The Carriage House in Natchez, MS, which is thankfully still there.  They make biscuits like my grammy's.

How 'bout these Denver joints...
 
Gator MaGoon's
Duffy's
The Boston SEa Party
The Yum-Yum Tree
Bronco Burgers-littleton
The Black Cow-Littleton
The Denver Drumstick
Northwoods Inn
JimDandys Fried Chicken
Chubby Burgers(the original)
The Appletree Shanty
Petes steak houses
Tamale Queen-pig ear sandwiches

There's still an A&W drive-in in Cortland, NY. We go at least twice a year.

we have an A&W right down the street.

We have an A & W in nearby New Albany. It uses the frosty mugs and a serve-ur-self draft tap for Root Beer. I can drink a lot of Root Beer on a Summer day !

 There are a lot of Seasonal Soft-Serve/Burger Stands still operating in Southern Indiana. One, POLLY'S in nearby Edwadsville on St Rt 62, has been in business (Spring and Summer Only) for over 60 years. They do a good job with their soft-serve !

There arent any A&W drive-ins in the Dayton area.  We do have at least 4 A&W's in the area that are in shared FF concepts.  Here its A&W paired with Long John Silvers..  You can order from both menus at the same time from 1 counter.  Its all rung up on 1 bill.
There was also a Church's chicken/White Castle combo but they had seperate registers and lines.

Is it possible that any A&W has any of the qualities of the chain's pre-franchised days?

Do any of them make their own root beer as I assume they did in the old days?

Is there anyplace that makes their own root beer any more?

Thje A & W's in Charleston ,West Virginia always had the best hot dogs(WV style with chili, slaw,mustard & onions) & hot balony sandwiches.  When I was growning up in the 1950's & 1960's  going to the A & W was always special.  I live in Indianapolis & love the root beer at Mug & Bun, however the top of the root beer at the West Virginia A & W's had about  2 inches of icy, slushy root beer.  I would love to find root beer that had that top  2 inches of icy, slushy root beer.  Does anybody have any recommendations?
 
A sad story about  one of our family's 1950's visits to A & W.  We had to pinch every penny, so we did not go often.   On one hot summer evening we went to the A & W for root beer only- I think 2 large & 2 small root beers cost about $1.50.  After enjoying our root beer , it began to rain.  My dad began rolling up his window & all 4 mugs fell to the ground & shattered.  I don't know how much my dad had to pay for those 4 mugs, but my mom was in tears all the way home!! 
 
 

There's an A&W about 15  minutes from me on a major highway. My boyfriend also has one about 5 minutes from his house. I don't really go there because I don't drink root beer, but if they brought cheese curds out this way, I'd go!

I remember having drinks at Trader Vic's, and I loved the seafood at the San Jacinto Inn.

I remember the San Jacinto Inn.  I was a young boy in the late fifties and getting to go there was a treat with my sister and my mom and her friends or relatives.  The food was huge and delicious and we always went to the monument first to ride to the top.  I was the proud Texan knowing it was taller than the Washington Monument.  Everything was bigger in Texas.  I looked it up today, because on business in Mississippi today, we went to a similar type restaurant outside Jackson and relayed to the fellows about the Inn.  I am sad to hear it is no more.  Like Gilley's and other trademarks in the southeast area of Houston, they all die.
 
Do you happen to remember a Mexican restaurant named Las Vegas in southeast Houston, off Griggs Rd and OST area.  It had silver dollars poured into the sidewalks and walls outside the restaurant. Great Mexican but closed in the sixties I believe.  I can still smell the tortillas cooking.
 
Good to hear from someone with similar memories.  Marc

What is the name of the place you went near Jackson?

brittneal


There arent any A&W drive-ins in the Dayton area.  We do have at least 4 A&W's in the area that are in shared FF concepts.  Here its A&W paired with Long John Silvers..  You can order from both menus at the same time from 1 counter.  Its all rung up on 1 bill.
There was also a Church's chicken/White Castle combo but they had seperate registers and lines.

Isn't there one in Kettering across from Little Saigon?

How about The Isle of Capri in San Diego? 

In Grand Rapids Our now deceased favorite Restaurants & Drive-In's (Franchise & Locals) were....
Kewpie's (and later to become) Mr. Fables
Kum-Bak
Satellite Burgerterias
Sehler's
Robby's
Burgermaster
Burger Den
Red Lion (and the family feud with) Red Line (both gone)
Sambo's
Bill Knaps
Howard Johnson
Mr. Steak
Burger Chef (and Jeff)
Hardee's (before they were part of Carl's)
Thrifty's Kitchen (the Meijer Grocery chains attempt to get into fast food)
Rix Roast Beef (no I don't mean Rax)
Get em & Go
Hot n Now
Holly's Restaurants
Schensul's Cafeterias
Granny's Kitchen
Village Inn Pancake House

Can anyone else here in GR add to my list?

On N. Main Street here in Rockford in the late 50s we had an A&W root beer stand, the building was in the shape of a huge wooden root beer barrel, pained orange with brown trim. They had car hops, the root beer was ice cold and delicious. Sadly, by the early 60s they tore the old root beer stand down and put up a cinder block building, still A&W. The fries they served were great, crunchy and delicious, I used to ride my bike there just to get their fries and root beer. I still have two of their glass mugs, one is the small, what they called the 'baby sized' root beer and the other a medium sized glass mug, both with the old A&W logo.
Today, the location is a used car lot.

When I was a teenager in Philly we (a car load) would go to a dive in Place called The Hot Shoppe.  They had car hop service.  I used to love a burger they called the Mighty Mo.  There were two locations, one in NE Philly and one in Jekintown.  The Philly one is now a post office and the one in Jenkintown is a Barnes & Noble.

Yes, I remember the Yum-Yum Tree, I and my brother and parents went there many times. I always got spaghetti. I also remember the Bronco Burger restaurant on South Broadway in Littleton, CO. I would get a hamburger every afternoon while walking home from Euclid Jr. High School in the early 70s. They cost 19 cents! I remember the Denver Drumstick with the model train that ran throughout the restaurant. And, of course, I remember the Northwoods Inn, where one could throw one's peanut shells on the floor, and which is still in business for those who don't know, and has relocated to 8109 Blakeland Dr., Littleton, CO. I also have a qustion: Does anyone remember Georgia Boy's, a barbeque restaurant previously located at the intersection of South Broadway and West Caley Avenue in Littleton, where the McDonald's restaurant is now? Each table had a miniature moonshine jug on it filled with barbeque sauce!
 

brittneal


How 'bout these Denver joints...
 
Gator MaGoon's
Duffy's
The Boston SEa Party
The Yum-Yum Tree
Bronco Burgers-littleton
The Black Cow-Littleton
The Denver Drumstick
Northwoods Inn
JimDandys Fried Chicken
Chubby Burgers(the original)
The Appletree Shanty
Petes steak houses
Tamale Queen-pig ear sandwiches