Long Gone Regional Chains

  Fosters Freeze from Visalia, CA about 10 miles from from my hometown of Tulare, CA.
I believe though not a 100 % sure I had my first soft serve ice cream and my first thousand island type dressing on a burger there. This is from an old yearbook I have. circa 1963-64

mar52


Foster's Freeze!  Did you live near Sepulveda and Washington?  

My father used to take me there all the time when I was a small child.

It hurt when they built a motel on the grounds and it closed.

The Big Yellow House?  Heard it was horrible and never went. Now I wish i had just once. I'm not part of the history. 

 


Fosters Freeze lasted a LONG time in a little nook on the Mesa in Santa Barbara, Ca. It was busy and the food was always good.


Big Yellow House was in Summerland, Ca. I didn't know it was a chain. I never ate there either but all my family did many times. It was always busy and the smell of cooking chicken from the back bothered the neighbors on the hill. The beautiful old building is sitting empty and for sale again last I heard plus it has ghosts...woo woo. I've never been inside but it must have an incredible 180 degree ocean view. One of you guys should buy it ($$$$$).


Lum's
The Miami Beach Lum's 1980 problems were caused by zero zip nada prepwork done in the kitchen and an inexperienced young cook. Once the manager's family ate lunch there and as an experiment so they could see how long regular customers had to wait for their food, I didn't tell the cook that the order came from the manager/owner's family and he processed it as any other regular order. They waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited until the manager's wife couldn't stand it any longer. I kind of got in trouble for that and should have told her it was a test so she could see what our customers had to put up with daily. Live and learn.


Wolfies Miami Beach
Sad to hear it's gone. I didn't fancy it myself but it was a staple in the area.


After learning how to waitress at Lum's I worked at the trendy Angela's Cafe in Coconut Grove (Miami) Florida. Anyone remember it? After that Cafe L'Orangerie in Coconut Grove, Florida in the Mayfair in the Grove Mall. And finally The Spiral Restaurant in Coral Gables, Florida. The food was incredible at all all three places...YUM. That was 1981, 1982. The are all gone now. If I can remember some of the recipes I'll post them in the recipe forum.


Zucky's in Santa Monica is still there as of March 2010. It was right up the street from my Dad's Biff's at 3rd and Wilshire and his competition.


I've watched all the UK and USA Kitchen Nightmare shows and it ALWAYS comes down to how fresh and good the food is. And after that the service. It's not complicated - but it is very hard work to run a restaurant properly.

ces1948,
Cool graphics! Thanks for posting that Fosters Freeze photo!

There was also a Big Yellow House in Palm Springs. Wanted to try the one in Summerland when I went antiquing but anyone I was with had already been there.  They never wanted to go back.

Zucky's in Santa Monica is there, but it's not in business.  Spent many a late night there eating knishes.

1.  Pepe's Pizza was a foodservice product that was served in convenience stores, drive-in theaters, restaurants, etc.  It was highly peppered and delicious.   Haven't seen their delivery trucks in at least 20 years. 
 
2. SPATZ restaurants, a casual dining chain that specialized in ribs, were wonderful.  I visited their restaurants in Nashville and Birmingham.  I'm sure they went under, but I can't locate any nostalgic info on them.
 
3. "New Orleans Famous Fried Chicken" was a regional chain with a great product.  I remember the location on Green Springs Highway in Birmingham in the late '70s-early '80s.   Excellent, spicy chicken.
 
4. Ron's Krispy Fried Chicken ("Flavored to the Bone") was excellent, too.  There was one on Decatur Street/Normanbridge Rd. in Montgomery, Alabama in the late '70s-early '80s.

Mac's Hamburgers. They actally converted some of them to stakhouses, then they just went away. I know they were in Indiana, not sure where else.

IM ,how did you find out the Big Yellow House was haunted? I ask since you mentioned ghosts. Around here we had G.W.Junior, which was the hamburger part of Church's chicken,and Harvest Home, both local San Antonio chains.
There was also Youngblood's Chicken,years ago(fried chicken) and Sombrora Rosa, a mexican chain.Also Quick Wok, thought there are a few left, but not in Texas.

I am impressed that this thread is still getting hits now and then.   
 

Adjudicator


I am impressed that this thread is still getting hits now and then.   

you haven't updated your initial post in over 2 years...

There's probably several more regional chains that haven't been mentioned though I can't think of any right now.

I still miss --
Arthur Treacher's with its hard, spiky breading.
Tastee Freeze with its racks and racks of flavorings in the front window.
Hot Shoppes Cafeterias.
Bonanza steakhouses.
Ground Round.....  well, not really, but my friends in college liked them.
Howard Johnson's ice cream counter.
Ben Franklin's lunch counter.
Bill Knapp's, "where eating out is a treat, it's really so nice !"  In the takeout section they had great donut balls, about the size of a tangerine, sold in 6-packs.

Goodness-we loved Arthur Treachers!!!!!!

I ate at Arthur Treachers last night.  They opened in conjunction with Nathan's Original.
 
I should have ordered the seafood combo. but only ordered the clams which were just okay.
 
I also ordered a Nathan's dog and only ate half of it.  Way too salty.  They were cooked on a flat grill and looked like they'd been sitting there all day.
 
I did like that they had the cooked red onion sauce that I'd had in Florida years back but I'm not a fan of serve yourself big vat condiments.  How many were in that vat during the day?
 
I'll go back to try the fish.
 
http://nathansfamous.com/...ch/getpage.php?pgid=23

And they have hushpuppies!!!!!

I remember the Hot Shoppes from when we lived in Maryland from 1970-1971.
I remember the Bonanza Steakhouse.Think there used to be one on Broadway in San Antonio.Either it, or the Ponderosa Steakhouse was owned by Dan Blocker from the TV show,Bonzana.In o'Donnel ,Texas up in the Texas panhandle they have a Dan Blocker Museum. There was also Gino's in Maryland.Never saw those in Texas.

HollyDolly
 

............ There was also Gino's in Maryland.Never saw those in Texas.

Yesterday, on the day you wrote this, a nostalgia Gino's opened in Towson, MD. (See the Gino's thread here in FF.) We have yet to see a review from a Roadfooder, but the customers seen on local TV were gushing about the product. Everyone knows I am a cynic, so you know I am going to question if those people were ringers.

Next time you're through Spartanburg heading north get off 26 at US 29, at the light at the end of the off ramp is an A&W/Long John Silver.  The decor is 50s, the music is 50s and you can get a heavy frosted mug of A&W.  No Big Boy hamburgers though.  Even the few Shoney's there are left no longer are affiliated with the 'Big Boy'.

joclyn

Adjudicator


I am impressed that this thread is still getting hits now and then.   

you haven't updated your initial post in over 2 years...

I'm back..

Not sure how regional they were, but when I lived in the Memphis area we used to love going to the H. Salt Fish and Chips place in Raleigh Springs. They had great fish and chips back in the 70's. Used to like going to Bonanza when I was younger, too. Loved that corn that was soaked in their "butter" all evening. And I must say that I loved the hot dogs from Lum's in Rhode Island. Boiled in beer and just the best thing in the world to a kid.

Anyone remember That Steak Place and That Seafood Place from the '70's and '80's in Virginia? 
 
We ate often at their restaurants in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Virginia Beach.  They had good quality food, nice ambiance, and had the first salad bar I had ever seen.

I see we are missing over 400 posts on this thread (see post #1 by adjuducater )

Woolworth's had a SLAMMIN' lunch counter. Maybe the Dollar Tree could start one.

My mama was the sandwich lady at the Woolworth's in the Warwick [RI] mall for several years in the early '70's. When I was home from uni, Dad and my brother and I used to go laugh at her in the window, and then go in and have lunch. The good old days ... and good food.

Anyone remember Clancys in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky ?
 
They set up in smaller towns way before McDonalds came in, double drive thru, served breakfast and the food was actually good. Mickey D's ran them all out except one remaining one.
 

 
They had a mascot Clancy,  an Irish Policeman

Check out these prices back in the day..
 

Fosters Freeze is still alive and well...some of the locations have changed, but by and large it's still a going concern...
 
3 in the city of Santa Rosa, CA
2 in lake County, CA
 
There used to be 2 in Mendocino County but were sold and converted to other restaurants after the owners divorced...
 
Huell Howser of the PBs tv show "California's Gold" did a segment about FF
 

BackRhodes

Fosters Freeze is still alive and well...some of the locations have changed, but by and large it's still a going concern...

 
I still see a lot of them when I'm out in California.  There's one in Lancaster near the hotel I usually stay at.

OK.  'Bout time to bring this thread back 2 life. 

The only ones I really miss are these:
 
1. Chicken Delight. There are none around Toronto but I understand that they continue to do well in Manitoba and New Jersey.


 
2. Fluffy's Pizza. A chain of four in London, Ontario that went under in the 1992 recession.
 
3. Roy Rogers. There was one in Toronto on Bloor Street in the late seventies. 
 

Oh I remember chicken Delight from years ago. I think GodFathher's Pizza is still around.They had a few in San Antonio and there was also Shakey'sPizza and Pizza Inn as well.

We still have several Chicken Delight & Roy Rogers at the rest areas in NJ. One Roy Rogers in NYC.

I love twice-fried Chicken Holiday. That's my stuff.

HollyDolly


Oh I remember chicken Delight from years ago. I think GodFathher's Pizza is still around.They had a few in San Antonio and there was also Shakey'sPizza and Pizza Inn as well.

 
There is a God Father's pizza here in Tally.  Not bad but Mellow Mushrom = much better.