Shakey's Pizza

hello...im from the TX area.....i have not seen a Shakeys Pizza in a VERY long time..we had one in San Angelo TX....and thats the last i have seen them here in TX......recently a friend of mine went to California...and said they are still around....i would love to see some in TX again....

I know there was one in Escanaba on US-2 (Lincoln Rd.) I think I was three or four when I went there, though I don't remember it. It's now an Advance Auto Parts. There was also one in Iron Mountain.

I *think* I may have found one in Lansing, here's a birds eye view of it:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=r39fqr7ynjwk&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=16596942&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

The sign shape looks very much like a former Shakey's sign, but a local chain called Flap Jack had a *very* similar sign shape, and I do know that this was a Flap Jack at one point. I found a similar ex-Flap Jack in Manistee that sorta looks like this too. Does anyone know of any other former Shakey's in Michigan?

WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.com
I found this news article, the last line has me convinced it was not a lack of patrons but something else that led to the closing. I know the former Shakeys in Springfield IL said they changed their name but stayed basicly the same since the franchise awarders wanted them to do things they did not think would keep the business viable.

I might have gone up there if gas was not so high. I had planned to go yesterday since had a function to attend in Milwaukee and had convinced a friend to come along a few months back with par tof the enticement being we would go to Shakeys when we were done.

updated 9:42 a.m. ET July 1, 2008

It’s the end of an era for a popular pizza place. Monday was the last day for Shakey’s Pizza on National Avenue in West Allis.

WEST ALLIS – It’s the end of an era for a popular pizza place. Monday was the last day for Shakey’s Pizza on National Avenue in West Allis. The restaurant is closing after 36 years serving up food and family fun. Shakey’s is a true slice of history. “Everyone seems to have a story to related to us as far as their experience here, their kid’s experiences here, the parties that they’ve had,” Shakey’s Owner Tom Miller said. Plenty of people showed up for the last day Monday. Miller said a change in the company led to the restaurant closing.

I didn't realize this was a real chain. The only time I've ever heard about Shakey's Pizza was in South Park lol.

Wow, was there ever a lot of local media coverage of the closing of a Shakey's restaurant! This coverage answers a few questions that adm22 brought up. We now know from recent news reports that the owner of the Shakey's in West Allis also owns the pizza crust company at the address supplied last summer by adm22:
http://www.bakersquality.com/comp.htm
So, he is pursuing useful business interests. I was being pessimistic in a previous post. There is an video interview with the owner on one of the links. In it, he discusses in vague terms his reasons for not renewing his franchise. Draw your own conclusions from the interview. To me, he either thought it was a bad business decision to upgrade to the new Shakey's concept or he simply wanted to cut back on his workload a bit. Note that the premises were not taken over (at least not yet) by a new person who bought a Shakey's franchise.

Quite a few links here:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=768571
http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=765452
http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=765651
http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=766463
http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=767922
http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=768445
http://www.westallisnow.com/includes/global_includes/forums/forum%20wa%20shakey's.asp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2639347068/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2639348200/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2638520283/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2632754008/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2631933715/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2632761338/
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/22755544.html
http://blogs.westallisnow.com/sponsors_name_here/archive/2008/06/25/we-ll-miss-you-shakey-s.aspx
http://www.metromilwaukeetoday.com/main/2008/06/index.html

They only time i have ever had Shakey's was in Kyoto, Japan in 2001. It was such a great deal with the all you can eat deal. Its the best pizza in Japan, but that isnt saying much. It was still there when i went back in 2006.

Well, this is a shock. Shakey's is OPENING five new outlets here in San Diego county.

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going.
So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

Welcome, cdoyle!

Your story has been repeated by many other Shakey's fans, on this board as well as many other boards concerned with pizza and food in general.

When people post a story such as this, typically what happens is that a few months or a year later we receive confirmation the place closed permanently or became a no-name restaurant.

The new owners of Shakey's. the Jacmar Companies, have not been renewing franchises of subpar restaurants when the existing contracts expire.

If the sauce has no "kick" to it and the pizza boxes are not imprinted with Shakey's trade dress, either the restaurant is no longer buying supplies from the franchisor, or Jacmar is no longer servicing outlying franchises. I can't tell what current conditions are.

Jacmar seems to be interested in reviving the chain in California. Except for one franchisee in Alabama, no one else in the entire country has taken out a new franchise outside of California.

Some of the restaurants in California are still excellent. The ones actually owned and operated by Jacmar I have found reliable, though there are a few independent franchisees who still stubbornly adhere to the way things were done in the old days and are excellent. The Shakey's franchisee in Redlands, CA comes immediately to mind.

This thread has chronicled the closing of many Shakey's outside of California since its start. I have also found a site with a picture of the only remaining Shakey's in the state of Georgia:
http://www.edricfloyd.com/oldschoolretail-shakeyspizza.html
(Top photo)

quote:

Originally posted by cdoyle

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going.
So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

agreed. 4-corners shakeys was just like the original up to about 5 years ago... mojo potato is just about impossible to screw up, but give those idiots some time................... that store is now run by an "investor", and investors only care about profits. quality means nothing to these morons......

Last weekend I drove past the now-closed Shakey's in Janesville WI. The sign was in tatters, some of the windows were boarded up, and there was a dumpster partly full of what looked like construction debris. No idea if the building's being renovated into another restaurant or a different business, or if it's being stripped prior to demolition.

Brad

marzsit

[id="quote"]quote: [id="quote"]Originally posted by cdoyle

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going.
So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

agreed. 4-corners shakeys was just like the original up to about 5 years ago... mojo potato is just about impossible to screw up, but give those idiots some time................... that store is now run by an "investor", and investors only care about profits. quality means nothing to these morons......

Is the other Shakey's in WA any better? 
I was really hoping to have the Pizza I remember as a kid.

Shot

 
Partially incorrect.
 
I not only knew the original owner, he retained portion of the ownership till the late 80's and later.
 
The original owner was 100% combined owner  - Doug Jones who with builder Ramon King were primary owners for years..     Till the late 70's... when Tom Winslow & wife Gay Winslow became minority owners.
 
The chain was big for its time and very successfull till the mid 80's.
By then many competitive pizza places sprung up and Shotgun sams was still in old format and could not really compete even with better pizza.
 
I should know I worked there from 1973 to 1979 and again from 1981 to 1985.
 
Tom later tried to take the success and retranslate the business into fancier eating but failed per doing wrong location.
 
THe sheridan pizza place was the wrong side of town to have  a fancy restaurant.
If he had done the 51st street location it would have succeeded.
The mistake here was Tom & Wife nearly made the chain go under per this effort.
 
If they had done only 51st and grew it...they would now have two chains.
 
The effort though successfull was eventually sold because Ramon Kings decendents who still owned most of the business land in the area, raised the rent so hight that most either left or fought back...
 
The failure had nothting to do with change in ownership as the original owner was still primary owner when the pizza there started to slide into oblivion due to competition.
The pizza here along with Mazzio's is litterally the only pizza I like.
I cannot stand greasy pizza and thats what most of the other choices are like.
 
Crystals & Mypie (iN Tulsa) were the only other choices that were worth it.
 
The best thing about Shotgun Sams was the pizza/spagetti/beer, and music.
 
I did a little bit of everything while there and left soley due to graduation from college (with 1st degree). 
 
Change of ownership was not the case till Tom&Gay shutdown the biz in total.
Doug Jones did reduce his interest, but didnt eliminate it till the mid 80's.
 
The logo of shotgun sams was also somewhat based on him, and not on any cartoon or college logo (as many have stated)... I asked him personally and he proved it then.
 
If its otherwise known differently, it contradicts what the business creator proved.

Ie;  the failure was twofold;

1. Competition that matched the quality.
2. Ownership tried to go fancy which in this side of town was wrong.

Worked at Calumet City, IL Shakeys in 1974-75. Dated the owners daughter so it was easy getting hired. :) The Fralichs' were a great family and will always be in my heart.  They opened up a few more stores later( Highland &  Merriville IN, and Orland Park,IL)  Had some of the best times at work with the old crew--Brad, Carl,  Fark, Sabin and others.  Bunch-o-Lunch in the afternoon was busy. My senior year I was done with class at 11.30, so I went in to prepare the chicken, spuds and pizza dough. I cant tell you how many of the spuds I ate while I cooked them for lunch time.  They were so good.  Come nighttime the place was packed. And yes, they had the Banjo player who got that place going.  The little kids loved standing in the windows all night, watching us prepare the food. 

The one in San Antonio was on Austin Hwy, and now it's some kind of bar.
We used to have Godfather's Pizza here too, but I think they also pulled out as did Pizza Inn.
The old Pizza Inn/Godfather's Pizza is now a Chester's Hamburgers, a local San Antonio burger chain.They do have good burgers and fries.

There was a Shakey's in Cockeysville, Maryland in the 1980s. Banjo players, etc., with video games. It was a fun night out. But, yeah, I don't think the pizza itself was particularly memorable. Shame.

After the Delaware locations closed, the Shakey's on York Rd in Hunt Valley/Cockeysville was the closest to New York City. The franchisees were very accomodating; they would half bake the thin crust pizzas for me so they would have a better crust when I reheated them in New York.

Someone put up a Facebook page about the Cockeysville location:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120352730522&ref=share
With 584 members, a lot of people must have fond memories of the place. I happened to like their thin crust pizza, and the ambience of the Cockeysville location had me going back many times. The building now houses a Chinese Buffet.

My parents used to take me and my 2 siblings to Shakey's every other beginning around 1960 till we all left for college in the late 60s. We would go to a Shakey's on Foothill BL on the east side of Pasadena, they had a traditional jazz group playing on the weekends with a player piano play trad jazz during the week with all sorts of puinball machines too. That was our forst experience with thin crust pizza
 
Now, whenever my wife and I spend a weekend at our daughter and  grand children's home in Riverside we eat at Shakey's there. We hope to soon visit the new state-of-the-art Shakey's that opened in Rancho Cucamonga about half way between Riverside and Pasadena