I loved Bob’s big boy and can still remember the toasted buttery bun (in hindsight most likely oil) - my 2 older brothers always teased me that I was going to marry a guy just like Bob 
I worked with a woman who son was involved in a prank stealing the Big Boy statue off the restaurant property.
Wasn’t strawberry pie also a Big Boy classic???
Yes. Their strawberry pie was great. Let’s think of all the different Big Boy regional names. NE Ohio was Manner. Then there were Shoneys , Elias, and others I can’t think of.
The big boy had the best sauce on it! There is a restaurant on the west side of Cleveland that has a big boy knockoff that tastes exactly like a Big Boy!
I used to love going to Bishops Buffet when I visited my grandparents in Iowa. It was a chain in the Midwest. They carried your tray to the table and there was a little light on each table to turn on when you needed something. Chocolate ambrosia pie! The tray carriers dressed like maids.
When I was a kid, my friends and I would spend late nights at the Doggie Diner across the street from the SF Zoo and across The Great Highway from Ocean Beach.
The Automat, yes!!
We still have an A&W.
Howard Johnson’s. I happened upon a fb group dedicated to them, memories, and lots of talk about fried clams.
I also miss the soup & salad restaurants. Remember them?
Another Bob’s name was Lendys. One i knew had you call your order into the kitchen, via an intercom. (Dumb idea. Lol. They never understood, then a nasty waitress would come rebuke us.)
Sweet Tomatoes----very popular in the PNW. My family’s vegetarian, so it was one of the few places that had both a lot of options and was affordable.
We still have plenty of IHOPs in the South. I’m sad that Friendlys is going to close. When my D was very young, we lived in NJ and I used to take her there once a week.
IHOPs are still around here. Just the other day I was watching the news, and this made me laugh out loud: an IHOP commercial was immediately followed by a Sonobello one. Eat unlimited pancakes, then freeze those fat cells out existence. ?
Absolutely Bill Knapp’s for dinner; one of our family’s regular spots. Their chocolate cake was wonderful.
I also went to the Automat when we would visit my mom’s relatives in NJ and go into “the city” for the day.
I remember going out to the Howard Johnson restaurant at Frandor Mall to watch Sputnik go by. They had very good ice cream desserts!
Sweet Tomatoes aka Souplantation only just went out of business this year, so not so long gone.
I’m a vegetarian so I loved the salad bar restaurants (although others may have thought of them as steak restaurants), like Ponderosa (maybe still around?), Steak and Ale and Sizzler’s (just filed for bankruptcy). I also loved the Automat. It was still around when I first worked in NYC as a student, and I recall the thrill of buying a vegetable cream cheese sandwich and a whole-wheat donut once in a while as a treat. I think my daughter in particular would have loved the idea, but alas, no more . . .
Good news, they entered into a sales agreement on Nov 1. They are going to stay open.
I used to go to Friendly’s growing up.
Nothing like this thread to show me just how rural I grew up. Our only chain restaurant was McD’s. Jrecks (a terrific sub shop) was also a small local chain. In my senior year of high school a Burger King opened. All three are still open and doing fine. Now in the area they also have a Subway, Little Caesars, and Little Italy. All of those are still doing fine too.
From traveling each year I remember Howard Johnson’s. We ate and stayed there a lot.
Stuckey’s also sticks in my mind, but I wasn’t as fond of them.
Carols (maybe two r’s or l’s) was a fast food place similar to McD’s in a town about an hour away. I think it was a chain, but maybe not? On our way to or from Grandma’s we would stop there. They had grilled cheese sandwiches and over time we got a lot of those character glasses with things like Bugs Bunny on them. Mom used them for years. Finally the last ones got sold at her estate sale still in good condition. It was nice in the era when they made things to last even with use!
Chi Chi’s was a date spot for my wife and I back in the day before Mexican restaurants became much more common. Lots of good memories tied up in that place.
Long Island guy here…
Beafsteak Charlie’s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyimvQd9vzQ&ab_channel=SeanMc
Cooky’s Steak Pub https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OZ7PqgkWbo&ab_channel=KevinNoonan
Big Barry’s (Barry was 5’1") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFxSwlyZVs&ab_channel=robatsea2009
Wetson’s (greasy little hamburgers - loved them!)
Miss all of them!
@Creekland, I think it was Carroll’s. Ours turned into a Burger King. That was back when malls we’re on long strips of land, all the entrances and exits opened only onto the street, and everyone closed at 5pm (maybe 6 if they had special extended hours). I’d forgotten about the character glasses! I loved those.
I remember Ho Jo’s (Howard Johnson’s) too. I haven’t thought about them in a long time. My parents liked the fried clams, so it reminds me of them.
I also was quite fond of Friendly’s. My sisters and I used to go there for a half sandwich and cup of soup when we were in college. Sometimes we’d splurge on one of their little sundaes.
There used to be a place in Upstate New York called Brooks Barbecue. It was pretty well known regionally. I don’t remember the name of the town, but my parents took us there every year to watch polo matches. They had huge outdoor bbq pits and the food was SO good. We ate at picnic tables outside so it was really informal and fun.
I also have fond memories of the cheap steak and salad bar restaurants, they were great date places as a young person - Ponderosa, Steak and Ale, Sizzler’s, Beefsteak Charlies, and Cooky’s
My ice cream place was Jahns (a couple of locations in Brooklyn). Their thing was the waiters memorized your complicated ice cream orders and they had the Kitchen Sink - giant ice cream with all the flavors and all the toppings.
Wow, @Creekland , I bet I haven’t thought of Jrecks in thirty years, but you brought it all back for me. Upstate New York.
I’m from Canarsie, Brooklyn and when I saw this thread I immediately thought of Beefsteak Charlie’s!!