Tell Me About Places that are Gone

This thread starts with the Howard Johnson's in Willingboro!! When I'd come home from college and even after that, the deal was that I would go to church with my mother, and she would pay for brunch -- an all-you-can-(could)-eat deal. Came out poisoned by steam table scrambled eggs, bacon and danish. But it was quality time.

And the Pennsauken Mart!! Totally nasty and low-class, but totally cool!! The pretzel place could make a living on just one kind of Philly soft pretzel. The Mart had a candy shop with an x-rated section -- this is true!: pornographic chocolates, they kept covered up, for 18 and above. Gag (not literally; "joke" might be the better word) speciality stuff.

And Zaberer's!! Down by Atlantic City. That's where you took your first serious date when you were ready to spend the bucks, and pretend you knew what clams casino and stuff like that were.

Sorry to post again. But this is a TRUE Zaberer's story. Me, my brother, and my mother (something is the grammar there) went to Zaberer's (mid 70s?). They had a dress code -- at least a tie. My brother didn't have one, and they didn't have house coat/tie loaner stuff, and we got turned away. On the way out, my brother saw a tie in the parking lot -- been run over a few times, etc. (this is TRUE!). He said, "This is silly" (maybe the words were more expletive-deleted than that)and he put the tie on. We got in and ate.

I just reviewed the 4 pages of notes here and am amazed at how many names ring a bell...be it a faint and time-removed bell!!

1. In SoCal- We used to go to the Hyatt House, the coffee shop/restaurant attached to what was the Hyatt Hotel/Motel on Century in front of the OLD LAX terminal. Great hot fudge sundaes for the after the dance treat on Saturday nite (1950's)...then go across to the terminal to sit on Mike Lyman's Flight Deck to watch the action at the airport.
When it was special dinner time the family would go to 'CHALON'S"--I think I have the Spelling right(?), on Manchester between Crenshaw and Western Ave. I doubt that it is still at that location (now a combat zone!). It was the place where even I (preteen) would wear my sunday best when we went to dinner. I don't recall the menu, except for the server who would wheel a huge soup tureen around on a cart and serve the soup course directly at the table. Funny what makes a lasting impression on a kid.
What about the Velvet Turtle?? Several in the L A area used to have a great Sunday Brunch? Are they still around?
Lastly for SoCal- We would go to the Helen Grace's Ice Cream Parlor in the South Bay Shopping Center for some really special ice cream treats. Long gone now.

We still see Big Boys all around the country on our road trips.

I worked at a HoJo's on rt 95 north of Boston (Rowley) in the 60's. Good memories of the ice cream..and I too loved the fish fry. Those stores --one on each side of the highway with a gas station linked to it-- are no more. When they rebuilt 95 they bulldozed the rest stops there.
We lived in that area when the Hilltop Steak House was built in Saugas,MA...and shortly after Valle's built almost next door. It was a big deal then to go to the Hilltop and get the 1 lb Sirloin for $3.49.
OK Brain drained.. But the list goes on.....

All the old 'hoos out there will remember Rose's Department store in Charlottesville. It was a great big store with a lunch counter that served an all you can eat buffet every Sunday morning. All the fraternity boys would lumber in and load up on ham and grits to take the edge off their hangovers. Its long gone--replaced by a Walmart or somthing.

Maybe just a coincidence, but there was a Henry's drivein in downtown LaCrosse, WI in the 1960's. They had what seemed like a huge menu at the time, including 2 variations on double burgers, one with an extra slice of bread between the patties and one without. Also, for a relatively few pennies more than a large fries you could get a pound of fries. We'd eat as many as we could and toss the rest to the sparrows and chickadees that always hung around the picnic tables.

Another one I miss is Sandy's drive in. The Big Scot seemed like the pregenitor of the Big Mac - it had pretty much the same "secret sauce".

Oh, I remember the peppermint Stick it was my favorite, like getting ice cream and candy at the same time. Conn. had great dairy places like Mapleshade. I used to go to the old Knudsens on the Hartford TPKE. in Hamden, do not know if that is still there

quote:

Originally posted by essvee

Hey 10x10, my Uncle John delivered for Maple Shade Dairy until they closed. When I was a kid, they served the biggest cones for 35 cents, the biggest single scoop you've ever seen. My dad the cheapskate would grumble because the cones cost so much (?!) but he knew that he was getting twice as much ice cream than anywhere else. Black raspberry (do they even make that any more?), butter brickle (ditto), peppermint stick, chocolate chip...

And in further news, there is an Arthur Treacher's in Tracy, CA, on the way to Yosemite. It makes me laugh to see it.

Any of you Annapolitan's remember Old Town Seafood at the bottom of Main St., or the Market House, before it got commercialized. The Best Fried Chicken and Fried Potatoes and sausage biscuits at the deli counter.

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Any of you Annapolitan's remember Old Town Seafood at the bottom of Main St., or the Market House, before it got commercialized. The Best Fried Chicken and Fried Potatoes and sausage biscuits at the deli counter.

Speaking of Annapolis, yesterday's edition of The Washington Post had a great piece on both Eastport's now gone Marmaduke's and its supposed replacement. See:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11829-2004Mar20.html

I worked at Marmadukes when I was growing up, in those day's they had a piano bar upstairs. I lived four house down the street...talk about a great commute

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Any of you Annapolitan's remember Old Town Seafood at the bottom of Main St., or the Market House, before it got commercialized. The Best Fried Chicken and Fried Potatoes and sausage biscuits at the deli counter.

Speaking of Annapolis, yesterday's edition of The Washington Post had a great piece on both Eastport's now gone Marmaduke's and its supposed replacement. See:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11829-2004Mar20.html

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

I worked at Marmadukes when I was growing up, in those day's they had a piano bar upstairs. I lived four house down the street...talk about a great commute!

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Any of you Annapolitan's remember Old Town Seafood at the bottom of Main St., or the Market House, before it got commercialized. The Best Fried Chicken and Fried Potatoes and sausage biscuits at the deli counter.

Speaking of Annapolis, yesterday's edition of The Washington Post had a great piece on both Eastport's now gone Marmaduke's and its supposed replacement. See:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11829-2004Mar20.html

I can remember a number of evenings upstairs where Eastporters and Annapolitans united to belt out some of the worst show tunes ever! Great real kareoke (sp?) memories.

I think I remember shucking oysters for a few of you guy's.

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

I worked at Marmadukes when I was growing up, in those day's they had a piano bar upstairs. I lived four house down the street...talk about a great commute!

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Any of you Annapolitan's remember Old Town Seafood at the bottom of Main St., or the Market House, before it got commercialized. The Best Fried Chicken and Fried Potatoes and sausage biscuits at the deli counter.

Speaking of Annapolis, yesterday's edition of The Washington Post had a great piece on both Eastport's now gone Marmaduke's and its supposed replacement. See:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11829-2004Mar20.html

I can remember a number of evenings upstairs where Eastporters and Annapolitans united to belt out some of the worst show tunes ever! Great real kareoke (sp?) memories.

You weren't the Marmaduke's staffer who promised that "our oysters won't let you down," were you?

Nah, I never made a promise someone else couldn't keep. Those were the guy's at Riordan's making those claims

quote:

Originally posted by i95

You weren't the Marmaduke's staffer who promised that "our oysters won't let you down," were you?

i95, read the story you attached, sounds like the place is going upscale. Eastport is sure come a long ways from the days of Spiro's and Mcnasby's

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Nah, I never made a promise someone else couldn't keep. Those were the guy's at Riordan's making those claims.

quote:

Originally posted by i95

You weren't the Marmaduke's staffer who promised that "our oysters won't let you down," were you?

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

i95, read the story you attached, sounds like the place is going upscale. Eastport is sure come a long ways from the days of Spiro's and Mcnasby's.

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Nah, I never made a promise someone else couldn't keep. Those were the guy's at Riordan's making those claims.

quote:

Originally posted by i95

You weren't the Marmaduke's staffer who promised that "our oysters won't let you down," were you?

It has 10X10 and, unfortunately, it's also no longer a secret. I remember the days when you could park right in front of Marmaduke's without a reservation. Time marches on... (Good thing, however, Chick & Ruth's has stayed the same! )

I went to CIA with Chick's Ted, I remember his Mom and Dad and the man who owned that deli before it was C&R, Milton Chepowitz. Annapolis as changed a lot in a short time. But I guess so have we

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

i95, read the story you attached, sounds like the place is going upscale. Eastport is sure come a long ways from the days of Spiro's and Mcnasby's.

quote:

Originally posted by 10X10

Nah, I never made a promise someone else couldn't keep. Those were the guy's at Riordan's making those claims.

quote:

Originally posted by i95

You weren't the Marmaduke's staffer who promised that "our oysters won't let you down," were you?

It has 10X10 and, unfortunately, it's also no longer a secret. I remember the days when you could park right in front of Marmaduke's without a reservation. Time marches on... (Good thing, however, Chick & Ruth's has stayed the same! )

Wow a lot of good places here... I think I miss Ho Jo's the most. It seems to have been brought up a lot and for me it was symbolic of road trips with my parents. We even stayed in motels (I remember staying in the Fredericksburg VA one on our way to vist my grandmother in Scarsdale NY).

The last HoJo's I went to was with my father when we were looking at prep schools for me back in 1986. We stopped on I-95 somewhere in CT. Little did I know that would be my last experience eating at HoJo's. I know there are still a few around, but nothing like 70's and 80's.

Big Boy is another one - it is sort of hard to classify this as a place that is gone - but for the most part I think it is. Shoney's has taken them over in the Southeast and they have pretty much dropped the Bigboy name.

I also remember the Woolworths in the Cherry Hill Mall... never ate there, but it was interesting due to its design.

Here in Portland, we are in mourning for Waddle"s restaurant. It has been a landmark in the Jantzen Beach area just south of the Interstate bridge since the 1940's. It had decent burgers and good pie. It is being replaced by a Krispy Kreme doughnut franchise. My grandparents, my mother, and my sons ate there and I will miss it.

I'm fifty years old, so I have a long, sad string of long gone favorites.

I lived in Cincinnati, Delhi Hills area (St. Dominic's parish) until I was eight and there was a little take out place called the Starting Gate where we'd get pizza. I Googled it and got no hits, so it must be long gone.

In Birmingham, AL we had Cafe Italiano on 20th St. downtown, when people still went downtown to eat. You had to go down this dark stairs to get to it. It had the best pizza sauce I've ever had--thick, dark, and almost bitter to the taste. But wonderful. Never have had anything like it since. The place had atmosphere as well as good pizza.

Britling's cafeterias--the one in Mt. Brook Village and the one at the Eastwood Mall--virtually defined after church Sunday lunch.

How many Ziggie's pizzas did I consume during my days at UAB? And meatball sandwiches? Sadly, UAB's expansion doomed this venerable Mom&Pop operation sometime in the late '70s.

And Ginos pizza on the southside, up from Five Points where the Winn Dixie was.

Can't forget the Caddilac Cafe down at Five Points--an eating establishment that thought it was a head shop too.

I guess Stand and Snacks are kaput too. Not that I miss them. And Dobbs House joints. Man did we love to go there at two in the morning and eat great hamburgers and fries with our penny ante poker winnings (why did'nt we just skip the hours of poker, pool the money and eat right away?)

Browdy's deli and restaurant are still in Mt. Brook Village, but sadly, not in the original location at the back of Browdy's grocery store.

Sigh...

Hye Tfrielin: do you remember the chain of cafeterias in Cincinnati known as Cambridge Inn?

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Hye Tfrielin: do you remember the chain of cafeterias in Cincinnati known as Cambridge Inn?

No, can't say that I do. We moved away from Cincinnati when I was eight in the fall of 1961 (4774 Basil Lane was my ancestral home--I wonder who's got the place now?)

For my family of six, eating out was a Pasquales pizza or a trip to Frisches.
Or maybe a takeout from the Starting Gate.

I just found out that Bill Knapp's has closed. Where have I been??? Not in Michigan.
I'm very sad about this as I have so many memories of family meals at Bill Knapps. Fried chicken and biscuits with honey... my Dad would always get the chopped steak & bleu cheese dressing... trying to decide which sides to order... the waitresses with the little aprons and little waitress hats on their heads... And the au gratin potatoes were just the best!
On the way out, my folks would grab a bag of donut holes for the road. I think my dad won over my Grandparents by picking up Custard pies for my Gram.

Not fancy food...just real food, served simply, a family place... They started in Battle Creek over 50 years ago. Sorry to see them go.

Does anyone remember Henricis in Chicago? Or Frenchy's in Milwaukee?

The Surf Restaraunt in Chicago on 11th And Michigan, (south of the loop in Burnham Park.)It had great soups and gyros and was a good neighborhood place, (walking distance of my grandmother's building.)
When in closed about ten years ago it left a void that was never really filled.

Funny to be reading the messages here and see somebody else who remembers the HoJo's in Willingboro and the Pennsauken Mart, as well as somebody else who knows of the Woolworth's in Cherry Hill Mall. Wow!

The Mart is in the path of the wrecking ball and apparently will stay open for business until the end of September 2004. It'll be a sad day for me when the Mart is no more. I have so many great memories of that place. Describing the Mart doesn't even do it justice, but I suppose we all have a place we hold near and dear to our hearts like that.

When the Mart comes down it will mean that two places that shaped my teenage years and young adult life -- Vet Stadium and The Mart -- will be no more. Boo-hiss!

Current sad news from RoadsideAmerica.com:

Rockford, MI - Rosie's Diner

Jerry Berta, the artist that created the Diner Village complex, has sold it and returned to the art fair circuit with his unique ceramic diners....Rosie's has suffered in his absence, the diners wanting for maintainance and the food and service a mere shadow of what had been. Gone are the waitresses in the classic diner uniforms, the cherry Cokes, and even their fabulous fried chicken. The meatloaf that was once magnificent is now only nasty.

The signage from the upscale DeLuxe Diner next door is gone, and it looks almost derelict. The Diner Store was unmanned and dark, on a Saturday afternoon! The unique mini-golf course out back looked playable, but needed TLC as well. [Steve Robotland, 08/05/2004]

Directions: Take the 13 Mile Road exit on US 131, heading East for 2 miles or so. It'll be on the right. Admission: Free.

This thread just caught my eye. When I lived in Venice, CA in the '70s there was a place 4 blocks from my apartment that was called NewPars. I think it was spelled that way. 3 eggs, potatoes and grilled whole wheat raisin bread cost $.45. Even if you wanted only 1 egg or 2 eggs you couldn't. The bikers who were the cooks just wouldn't do it differently. Even if you offered to still pay the 45 cents! Much more recently, the original LaMars Donuts on Linwood in Kansas City closed, just this year. Ray Lamar was in poor health and getting up there in years and for various reasons closed the doors. There are a few LaMar's franchises left, but nothing compares to the original, especially not Krispy Kreme.

All in Austin:

El Toro Tex-Mex on Lavaca(?) Used to go there with my parents when I was a pup. Didn't eat the Mexican food just hamburgers. They were good

2-J's on Lamar and 40th. Great hamburgers. Owned by Ralph Moreland who owns the Holiday House Hamburger places in Austin. Moreland used to (still may) help pay for your tuition if you worked for him for a certain amount of time. Lots of struggling students worked at his places.

Sid's on Lamar. Steak place. Dont really remember the food that well, but got to eat with my parents there about once a week until my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 64...

Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s we used to eat at Stouffer's in downtown Pittsburgh, right next to the Joseph Horne's department store on Penn Avenue. I remember being fascinated as a small child that I could get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a restaurant and that it was served on a warmed plate! I also miss HoJo's, which was the only place my mother would let us stop to eat at while on vacation or road trips. Loved the "grilled in butter frankfort." Here in my tiny hometown of Ellwood City, PA we recently lost the Pe'Wee Lunch, a tiny hot dog shop (only a counter with 10 stools, actually). It had been open since 1935 and was open until 3:00 a.m. every night. Great place to nosh after a night of hitting the bars! After the original owner died, the place changed hands several times. Finally an out-of-town owner bought it, closed it, sold off all the equipment and fixtures and then left. It's now just an empty building. Sad.

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

quote:

Originally posted by efuery

I miss Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain. I used to love that place when I was very little. I can;t remember if the food was really that good or if it is a nostalgia thing but I sure would like to have it one more time to find out.

Growing up in Norwich CT there also used to be a place called Lum's (it was right next door to Arthur Treachers) that specialized in beer steamed hotdogs. It's long gone.

EFUERY: I think Arthur Treacher's is still in business, but doesn't have that many locations anymore. Anybody have an Arthur Treacher's in their area?

I ate at an Arthur Treachers just a few months ago. It is in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. on State Road.