Old Hamburger Resturants!

I would like more info on any of the following old fast food resturants no longer in business. Steer Inn Hamburgers,Jiffy Hamburgers,Kelly's Hamburgers,Geri's Hamburger's and Weston's.

Have you tried to search ask.com or google.com? Jiffy kind of sounds familiar,but maybe I'm confusing it with Griff's Hamburgers which they did have around San Antonio.

Is that the Kelly's that used to be in Providence, RI?
Top

Don't know about the other places but Googling "Wetson's"* returns a bunch of sites: http://www.google.com/search?q=wetson%27s&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

To the best of my knowledge they were a regional chain in the Northeast that ran into problems in the mid-70's. Nathan's Famous bought a bunch of the stores ~1975 as part of a push into the 'burbs.

*Not "Weston's," though it's easy to make that mistake. It's an unusual name.

quote:

Originally posted by Top

Is that the Kelly's that used to be in Providence, RI?
Top

Someone else remembers the Kelly's chain in RI? I never got a nibble when I mentioned it in another forum. The Warwick location was one of the few places we could ride our bikes to in elementary school. Replaced with a People's Bank by 1972.

Jingle was "You get so much at Kelly's, for so little and oh, so good!" On the logo the "K" was composed of a drink cup with a burger as the arm and a fry as the leg. Besides burgers, famous for R.I. clam cakes, essentially a ball of fried dough with some rubbery sea clam pieces - tasty, greasy, guaranteed heartburn.

I assumed it was a R.I. only chain. Anyone know differently?

Growing up in Nassau County (Long Island, NY) in the 60's, the very first fast food burger joint to appear was called "Burger 'N' Shake". It opened across the street from the New Hyde Park town pool, around '64 or '65, I think. The location could not have been better for business, and parents back then did not quake at the idea of their kids (in bathing suits and flip-flops) running across 4 lanes of speeding traffic.
Burgers were 19 cents, and a shake was 10 cents.
It may have become a Wetson's eventually, I don't quite recall.

A place called "Lou's" in Cos Cob, CT in the 60s. It was better known to all as "Dirty Lou's" Lou wasn't the neatest looking guy, but he did know how to make hamburgs and such. His chili on the burgers was the best. He grilled everything on a charcoal grill. He didn't use cheap meat. He mostly bought his meat from Manaro's which had the best butcher shop (next to it's restaurant) in Greenwich. Land prices finally caught up and on the property now is a Toyota dealership. I would prefer one of Dirty Lou;s burgers over a Toyota any day of the week

was there a chain called goody's in the nj area in the sixties?

There was a butcher shop in Jersey City called Goody's (Goody's Meat Market on Central Ave)

You can find some Geri's information in this thread:
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=479&whichpage=19.

Brad

Speaking of burgers, does anyone out there consider the maid rite loose meat sandwich a burger ?

wow burger n' shake i haven't heard that name in years. i grew up just down the road, we used to cut school and go there and hang in the parking lot. i know there was a wetsons on northern blvd on the manhasset/ roslyn border i used to go to and when i went to college there was on on hempstead turnpike just west of the sam ash in hempstead. there ya go

Hey, pmrkr2--
That was the only Burger'N'Shake I ever remember seeing; I wonder if it was a chain that never had any other links.
If you grew up in that neighborhood, you must remember the Deli King and Dairy King, at the Lake Success shopping center. Had a pastrami sandwich at Deli King 6 months ago, it was still pretty good. About 4 times the price I remembered, though.

lots of food memories from that area. squires deli and kriegels ice cream parlor in great neck and ray's italian resturant in little neck to name a few. i only remember the one burger n' shake.

Wetson's was a greater NY City burger fast food chain like McDonald's, but actually came onto the scene in the mid 60's before McD's took over (at least as I remember, being about 8 0r 9 in the mid 60's. It was not bad and actually a novelty in the beginning. The guy who now runs Nathan's is a member of the family that started Wetsons.

I think there used to be a Wetson's on rt.46 east in Pine Brook,NJ back in the 70's,I think it is a Wendy's now.

"Speaking of burgers, does anyone out there consider the maid rite loose meat sandwich a burger ?"


Yes, Big Sausage. Nuways, also.

Keith

The one thing I remember about Wetson's is that they had to worst hamburger of all the chains of the time - it's no wonder it died a quick death

I don't recall Wetson's being any better or worse than other chains. I was a young when they were around and fast food was still a relatively new concept. I never touch the stuff now.

Does anybody here remember an old hamburger chain in NYC called "Prexy's?

This would have been in the late 50'S into the 60's

Their slogan was "The Hamburger With A College Education"

If so, what do you remember about it?

Hello Slade55,

I recall aKelly's Hamburger on Route 44 in East Providence, which is now a Burger King. As a youth I ate there several times and recall one particular gentlemen who was always there. I do not know if he was the owner or the store manager, but his pleasant demeanor and mannerisms remain with me.

[orange]Mick R.[/orange

I remember Wetsons Hamburgers. I recall a Wetsons being near a bus stop in Brooklyn, NY near Flatbush Ave. When I was young, after church on Sunday, my family and I would stop at Wetsons. We would get their cheese burgers with fries. I loved their vanilla milk shakes. They were so thick, you couldn't even sip it through the straw. Normally you would have to let it sit for a while, and melt.

I live in Georgia now, and they have Krystals...Nothing like Wetsons or White Castles. I think though, Krystals would be considered White Castles. I'm not to fond of Krystals.

Not to get off subjectBig Sausage...

but I consider Steak-Umms a delicacy when it's fried with butter or margarine, placed between two pieces of the big easy of Sunbeam or Wonder, and slapped silly with a few tomatoes, and maybe some lettuce for road fill.

"Slade1955" I've heard of Weston's, but I don't recall if it was a fast food restaurant, possibly bmt (before my time), or maybe it turned into a Subway bmt (bigger, meatier and tastier).

There was a Pink Pony Restaurant in Arizona that possibly had affiliation with the Steer Inn, or there was a Steer Place located in North Eastern Massachusetts, but I'm not sure if either is still in business (depends which mobs were ruining Ye' Olde Thyme Dixie queen Mom/Pop joints).

Possibly a knockoff that led to Circle K on the Ashphalt memory jog, and sounds like what is Rocky Point Chowder House now, or Kelly was possibly doing "2 munch", with "2 littles of Skittles Ked 'L' Corn".

Alf, somebody say Barf please...

<- El Diablahhhhhh

U Minert le`Pour

This reminds me of my two favorite burger joints when I was a kid in the 1970's and 1980's growing up at the Jersey shore. My favorite was Burger Chef- I was devistated when they closed. I used to go to the one on RT 37 in Toms River mostly but sometimes the one in Beachwood on RT 9. I absolutely loved Burger Chef. I loved their milk shakes-yummy.

My second favorite was Geno's. I went to the one on 37 in Toms River. I remember that this chain was started by Geno Marchetti of the Baltimore Colts.

I remember the Genos became a Roy Rogers because I think Marriott bought them and closed them. I think Burger Chef was sold to Hardees and also closed.

Does anyone remember these places? I have such fond memories- I mean when I was a kid it was a big deal to eat out-even if it was fast food.If you had fast food once a month that was a big deal.

Hi nicolem,

We had a Burger Chef here in R.I. which is long gone. I DO remember their chocolate shakes. We had Hardees and Roy Rogers, but I can't recall if Burger Chef evolved into, or became one of them.

We have a Marchetti's restaurant in Cranston, R.I. that usually has a long wait because it's PDG (pretty darn good), but I don't know if it has any affiliation with Geno's. I've never heard of that chain around here.

When I earned paper route money I use to go to the burger joints, and then not eat at home (and get punished) because I despised canned peas, frozen fish sticks, and flake bud potatoes. [|)]

My dad used to take me to the "Little Tavern" on Wisconsin Ave. in DC. It was a chain, but were they ever good. Sit on a little stool and watch the grill man cook 'em for you. I always got 2 "jumbos" which were basically just a regular size burger. My dad was a cool dude....if it wasn't there we'd go down and BS the oyster captains and sample a few dozen. The winner always came out selling us a bushel.

My first job was at pancake cottage a 3 or 4 store chain on Long Island. They had a dining room that sat about 80 people and a take-out window which sold a wetsons type hamburger for 15cents, chicken, fish sandwich and french fries.The hamburgers were kept warm under heat lamps and damp clothes. At the time McDonalds was doing very well, but this store on veterans hwy at exit 57E was unbelieveable for its volume of fast food. The L I expressway at the time ended there and that was all that was needed. The other branches in Hauppauge 347 and the original in centereach (middle country road) didnot compare and all faded in the early 70's with proably so many other good, or not so good small chains.

Sollys in Milwaukee is still the best burger in town...

Fast food burger places:

Burger Chef(the one across from NE High School on Cottman Ave in Philly)
Gino's in Philly and Baltimore
Ronnie's ( on Castor Ave in Oxford Circle in Philly)

I don't know if they are completely dead, but the Ground Round restaurants around here have disappeared. They started out rather good, huge burgers cooked to order, a good selection of sides and for the adults they had a bar.

They did go downhill fast though, the burgers became less digestible to the point of despicable to a burger fan. In their heyday, the Ground Round was a pretty good place for a burger fan.

Something did go wrong though. I think they tried to cater to too diverse a crowd. They did not know who they were. Were they a family place, a sports bar, a chain caught up in corporate greed, or a combination of all?

What do you think, or better yet what do you know.