Round The Corner Restaurant Chain in Atlanta

Does anyone still remember this chain? There were two in the Atlanta area in the early 80's that I know of. One was at Peremeter Mall and the other very close by. It was mainly a hamburger and shake menu and you ordered from a phone at your table. I still crave their chopped steak with mushroom gravy and hands down, the world's best carrot cake.

There used to be a few of those in Colorado. I thought they had pretty good fries and a great mushroom burger. Looking back, though, I wonder if I just wasn't caught up in the ordering-by-phone hype. It was the first place we were allowed to go to eat alone as teen-agers.

Higg, you're right...the other location was on Cobb Parkway near Cumberland mall. It is now a Hooters. I first went to RTC in Boulder, CO. In ATL, it lasted a few years. I enjoyed the burgers.

I used to work at a Round The Corner in Denver. They were founded and based out of Boulder, Colorado. They have all shut down now. The same owners opened a new Colorado chain, Good Times Drive-Thru. Pretty good regional fast/chain food.

It's too bad RTC shut down. The concept of ordering by phone was genious. Their food, in their glory days, was very high quality. I still crave their food.

I didn't know the same people from RTC are doing Good Times. I don't care much for their food but they have fantastic seasoned fries and dipping sauce. The burgers are a little meh.

Oneiron, did you go to the RTC at Crossroads? Wasn't there also one in South Boulder? Boy, do you know what they did to Crossroads?

I went quite often to RTC at Crossroads. What happened to the mall?

I remember Round The Corner when they were in Littleton, Colorado when I used used to work in Denver back in the 80s. I believe they had a location either in or near Southglenn Mall.

I remember the Denver location on Colorado Blvd, north of I-25 (now a Royal India restaurant still using the "r" from Round The Corner), the location in Southglenn mall (now demolished), and the location on 2nd ave in Cherry Creek North. I miss that place.

I worked for Round the Corner (RTC) Restaurants at Crossroads Mall in Boulder, CO way back in 1984. There was one on "The Hill" in Boulder as well which was close to CU. I enjoyed many a burger, fry and pitcher of beer at the Hill location while going to CU! Round the Corner shut down the Atlanta operations while I was working for them in 1984.

I had forgotten about ordering from the phones at the table. That was a great concept! The burgers and fries were excellent. I think there were over 20 different hamburgers from which to choose. I developed my liking for guacamole after eating a guacamole burger at RTC. The milkshakes were excellent as well. The prices for the Round the Corner burgers were relatively high compared to the national chains. Therefore, the national chains probably drove Round The Corner out of business.

I have attached a link from Rocky Mountain News that describes the genesis of Good Time Burgers and the demise of Round the Corner Restaurants.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5543253,00.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n20_v29/ai_16838157

Who knows, Custom? Maybe you served me a burger there back in the 80's!

quote:

Originally posted by Pwingsx

There used to be a few of those in Colorado. I thought they had pretty good fries and a great mushroom burger. Looking back, though, I wonder if I just wasn't caught up in the ordering-by-phone hype. It was the first place we were allowed to go to eat alone as teen-agers.

I remember that we had one in Colorado Springs CO. It was in the Flint Ridge Mall if I recall correctly. I remember that they always showed their "special" mushroom burger on the commercials. I don't know if I ever ate there though.

David O.

Pwingsx,

You were asking if there was a RTC in South Boulder. I just remembered that there was a location in South Boulder at the Table Mesa shopping center for a total of 3 in Boulder.

I went to the one in Westminster, CO quite a few times back in the day. It was right across the street from the mall. Pretty good burgers and the order by phone thing was kind of interesting to a young kid.

i worked at the westland mall rtc, cinderella city rtc and foothills mall rtc in ft. collins. about a year later while working at yancey's produce, i picked up the 3am saturday morning delivery run for all the rtc's in the boulder/denver area. here's the list:

Crossroads Mall Boulder
On the Hill Boulder
Table Mesa Boulder
Wesminster
Westland Mall Lakewood
Southwest Plaza Littleton
Southglenn Mall Littleton
Cinderella City Englewood
South Hampton Denver(still trying to find the address for this one, anyone?)
Colorado Blvd. Denver
Buckingham Square Aurora
Aurora Mall Aurora
Cherry Creek Denver
Greeley

I lived in East Cobb (Marietta) in the early 80's & loved RTC. We went to the one near the mall; it might've been on Roswell Road but not positive. The phone-in concept was unique, and the food was very good for that type of place. My fav there was some sort of turkey club sandwich, which I tried to duplicate at home. My attempts fell short of what they were able to present!

Holy thread resurrection... does anyone who remembers RTC remember this guy?



He is an amnesia victim, approximately 60 years old (which would mean that he was in his 30s when RTC was in its heyday).  He was attacked outside a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia in 2004 and has specialized knowledge of the restaurant trade.  He has disjointed memories of RTC in Boulder, CO.  It appears that he may have worked at RTC.  He may be Catholic and has memories of Indiana also.  DNA tests suggest a link with the surname "Powell" but that is far from set in stone.

Details of the first three years of his story are here: http://savannahnow.com/node/364434

Can you help him find his identity?

Here are some other places that you may order your phone by phone at your table
 
Calling in your order by phone is a trademark of the Rainbow Grill in Grandville (Mich.).
Also, the Russ’ location on 28^th St. in Grand Rapids, has it in the new (southern-most) portion of their dining room while the original part continues with waitress service.
            I BELIEVE Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant has phone in your order, also, at their Crowne Plaza location in Kansas City. Their big thing, though, is the delivering of your order by an overhead monorail. According to the Wall Street Journal, someone who got out of the Navy after WW2 had an idea an ran with it. He opened up his original Fritz’s in Kansas City, KS (still functioning). The delivery system was originally called “The Cat” but later it was changed to a railroad theme.

I recall in my mind, the locations of the RTC's in Cinderella City, and Buckingham Square. And iI have lived close to the old Southglenn Mall for over thirty years. But for the life of me, I cannot recall where in the mall that the RTC was located. Not that it is a big deal, but perhaps someone can help me out .

Also, maybe some of you old timers from the area can recall another Hamburger place that was located on Littleton Boulevard,  in Englewood, where you  would call your orders in by phone from your table.  Today , the building is a liquor store, but again, I am not able to recall the name of the place.

It seemed there was a time in the Denver metro area, that ordering a burger from table side, was a common and fun practice.. Today, I don't know of a place around  Denver where that can be done.


On another tact..... I do like having a Good Times burger. 

If I ever make it out to Colorado, I will have to try a Good Times!

RTC was one of my family's favorite restaurants in the early 1980s.  Whenever my parents went out with friends, they'd let us kids order our own food.  We felt so grown-up at age 10 or so!

Wonderful to see all of the people who were fond of RTC. I just found this site. I worked for RTC in 1979-80 at Crossroads and my ex worked for the one on The Hill.

Yeah I lived in boulder my whole life and they had one on table mesa and broadway. I use to love going. I looked up and its saying there is some in aurora and westminister I am calling tomorrow to see if they are actually still there and if its the same place.

My brother and I had 12 years of flipping burgers in Colorado in the 70’s and 80’s. I think we worked at every store in Colorado except for the Grand Junction location. The Atlanta stores were a franchise deal with family members of an Atlanta Grocery store chain. The management was trained in Colorado about 1978 and the stores opened in Atlanta around that time as well. They did not have the sales needed and closed after about 2 years. I actually taught the owners how to cook at the Hampden and I-25 store (Park Hampden).

Wow! Yes, have I ever heard of it.
 
In 1984, my junior year in HS, I started working at the Round the Corner restaurant in Cobb County at Akers Mill as a dishwasher. There were 5 of them at the time, all owned by a guy named Robert Alterman. They were at Akers Mill, Sandy Springs on Roswell Road, Perimeter Mall, one at Northlake Mall, and one in Athens GA.
 
The concept was hokey. There were 'telephones" at each table, and you ordered over the telephone. The employees at the counter up front answered your phone and took your order. The other gimmick was that they were a "gourmet" hamburger restaurant. There were 25 or so different hamburger recipes.
 
I worked at the Akers Mill one for about a year, then at the Perimeter Mall location for another 1 1/2 years, where I met my first long-term girlfriend. Lots of good memories.
 
They are all gone now. Akers Mill is now a "Hooters".  Perimeter is now a "Hudsons Bar and Grill".

Yes, Round The Corner was owned by a company in Boulder, Colorado.  They transitioned into drive through restaurants which are now called Good Times Burgers and totally suck compared to Round The Corner.

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