Zum Zum?

No, this has nothing to do with Mazda cars.

Does anyone out there remember the Zum Zum chain that had a bunch of locations in NYC and surrounding areas back in the 60s/70s? It featured a German-style menu with various wursts, krauts, German beer, fried potatoes, etc. When we got to the city, I recall that my wife and I enjoyed stopping for a quick bite...the food was tasty and (for NYC) relatively inexpensive. Any memories?

I remember them and you have to add CLEAN to your list of attributes. I remember having lunch often at one in the Sperry Rand building at 1290 6th Avenue in Manhattan during the 70's. Do you remember an older German chain called Wienerwald? There was one on Queens Blvd in Forest Hills. I think they had a hard time competing with established German places like Luchows (Now gone), Niedersteins (gone), Triangle Hofbrau (gone), Durows (gone), Sammets (gone), Gebhardts in Ridgewood (gone), Zum Stammtisch (still going). See the thread here on roadfood about the German places that have gone.

Thanks for the response! Yes, you're correct about the cleanliness...they did keep the places clean. And I do recall seeing Wienerwald restaurants but, alas, never ate at one. From the list in your note, you're obviously fond of German food--with good reason. What I've had has been delicious.

You mention Luchows. I never had the pleasure of eating there but did read an hysterical review of the place by a NY restaurant reviewer by the name of Seymour Britchky. I don't believe he's still writing but back in the 70's and 80's, he wrote a series of books that were extraordinary. His reviews were filled with great humor and more than a little sarcasm. Above, he seemed to have a real understanding of how food was supposed to taste. His review of Luchows was so funny that it brought tears to my eyes. If you're ever able to find one of his books, you'll enjoy it.

Zum Zum was written up in the original Underground Gourmet, a late-60s collection of reviews for restaurants in NYC (almost all in Manhattan), in the 50 cents to 5 dollar price range. The 50 cents end may have been stretching it (maybe you could get one steamed pork bun in Chinatown for that). As a new and penniless arrival to the City in the early 70's, the book was essential to my survival.

Anyway, I went to Zum Zum a few times, never quite understood why it was written about in the book. Although their locations were convenient for lunch and the food was OK, I always found the portions skimpy, and therefore a little overpriced.

Charlie

I lived in midtown manhattan in 1968 and we used to go to ZUM ZUM every day.  The hot dogs had a snap when you bit into them and they were on the thin side.  A crisp kosher pickle and a dark beer and we were set!  What a great place it was..........

Welcome to Roadfood RinkyDink.  The snap was probably because they were natural casing.

I know this isn't a very active thread, but I couldn't resist posting.  I used to go to Zum Zum for lunch often when I worked on 34th St across from Macy's.  LOVED their wursts (remember, their advertising said, "We're the WURST restaurant in town").  But the piece de resistance was the Blue Max.  It was a hamburger with melted blue cheese and bacon, and it was to die for.   The one I went to was in the Empire State Building, if I remember correctly (but street level and accessed from the sidewalk I believe).  I remember seeing Weinerwald also but never ate there.  I did eat at Luchow's a couple of times and remember reading that it was basically a tourist stop eschewed by those in the know, but I really enjoyed the food there.  I'm sorry Zum Zum is no longer in business; was going to insist that my spouse and I go there next trip.  And yes, it was clean!  And the servers were mostly German.

Welcome Traveler2.  I must be the moderator of this post.  Looks like Zum Zum was trademarked by Restaurant Associates and the trademark has since expired (2001).  Maybe someone will resurrect the concept. I'd love to see it come back as it was.
 
http://www.trademarkia.com/zum-zum-72310039.html

More digging and I came up with this interesting wiki on Joe Baum. he was the man behind Zum Zum and a few others as well as the reincarnation of the Rainbow Room.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Baum
 
This Blondie video for 'Heart of Glass' has a cameo of a Zum Zum (next to 'Chock Full o Nuts') early in the video.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU
 
Wienerwald was mentioned earlier.  That was a German chain.  The following wiki has some interesting info about their venture into the US.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienerwald_(restaurant)