I’ve been around here so long I don’t know if we ever discussed this before.
Share a chain restaurant that is no longer. Could be from your youth or could be more recent. I say “chain” but could be regional too (like Midwest or something) - local restaurants are too localized to be appreciated by many.
I’ll start with Bill Knapps. The restaurant is gone but some of the baked products are still mass produced (chocolate cake, chocolate dipped donuts). We went there a lot when our kids were little. It’s where they learned to love fried clams! On your birthday you got your age off in % of your meal.
We loved Bill Knapps, I thought their fried chicken was delicious. Definitely a birthday place
It’s not completely out of business but my husband is so sad that all of the Fazoli’s in our area closed. He thought that their spaghetti sauce was as good as The Old Spaghetti Warehouse, another place that I don’t know is in business anymore or not.
And what about Farrell’s ice cream parlors? Any place with ice cream is a win for me
Big Boy. That was the only restaurant we ever went to, maybe twice a year. I didn’t eat in a different restaurant until I was in high school. I think there are still a few of these scattered around, but I haven’t seen one in years. I liked their Thousand Island dressing.
OMG @deb922 I was going to mention Farrell’s! I don’t know why that is a first to mind because we didn’t go that much but what was it called…the pigs trough??
There are still some Fazoli’s but few and far between. There is one right off 1-75 in Monroe if you’re ever driving down 75.
We still have a Big Boy! The Big Boy hamburger was probably so bad for you but so yummy - it had that Thousand Island dressing. And they had the breakfast buffet on weekends??
Do any Midwesterners remember Nickerson Farms? As a kid I loved the plate glass window they had in the entry with a live bee hive in it. “Watch the bees make honey” was their motto. I don’t remember the food much except for the cherry crisp dessert.
I too had one of those Zoo Sundaes or whatever at my 10 YO bday party. I remember going there with friends in HS to celebrate someone’s birthday too, just because it was kind of silly but fun.
Does anyone remember the places they would skate to your car to deliver your meal? I want to say they were called A&W Burgers? They had the mama, baby and maybe papa burger?
I do remember A&W but don’t remember if they skated or not. I fondly remember thinking how cool it was to crank your window half way down so they could attach your tray on it with your food.
A childhood memory from when my mother and I went into Manhattan (usually to go to Radio City Music Hall) is having lunch at Horn & Hardardt automat. It wasn’t so much that I remember the food as being anything special, but it was the way you got your food that stuck with me. It was a truly unique experience.
Never heard of Kenny Kings. But my first 22 years were in Michigan.
We still have a Long John’s Silver. My youngest D was just asking my son last night if they could get some next time she’s home to see if it’s still fast food fried to the max delicious. LOL. They used to argue who got to ring the bell on the way out.
Long John Silvers are still in the Southeast, but I liked Arthur Treachers up in Ohio better. Of course, these memories are all coming from more of an emotional pull from childhood, not from the culinary cuisine I may, or may not have enjoyed from these places.
Farrell’s was the place for junior high birthdays or get togethers after dances. They did have a pig trough sundae but the Zoo was the showstopper - one scoop of every flavor, plus every topping and little plastic animals (the kind that perched atop drink glasses at tiki bars). I probably had 30 hanging from my square glass overhead light fixture by the time I was in high school.
