I know Friendly’s is still around, but since I moved from New England, they are not around me. I miss the coffee Fribble, but the Shake Shack Coffee Fair shake eases my pain a bit. ?
Fond memories when I was on a student budget of going to Beefsteak Charlies and ordering the cheapest entre possible and just diving into the shrimp at the salad bar. Same thing for the Ground Round when they had all you could eat wings night. Two of my best friends (1 from college, the other from law school) hit the Ground Round in Albany after the bar exam to see who could gorge the most wings in 1 sitting. I think we got close to 50 each (I think they might have used pigeon wings based on the sizing!). My NYC roommate and college buddy used to go to Atomic Wings in Greenwich Village for all the wings and beer you could eat and drink on Sunday afternoon and made the NYU undergrads cry as we trounced them in the trivia contests at the bar. Wish I still had the same metabolism.
Big Boy in my area was JB’s. Loved that place.
Skipper’s Fish & Chips
I loved Bobs big boy. My parents were divorced and my Dad would take us kids out for dinner on Saturday nights. Big Boy was my top pick. We also loved a place that I can’t recall the name of. It was on Pacific Coast Hwy in Manhattan or Redondo Beach. It was a western theme and the best was you could fill your own soda. I think it was one of the first place to have a self serve soda dispenser.
We also liked A &W. I don’t think they skated. I loved the frosty mug. There are still a few around but the mugs aren’t glass anymore.
Foster Freeze was also a big part of my childhood. The chocolate dipped cone. When myH and I were in college we would go to Foster Freeze and share a hot fudge sundae. With our kids we would go after eating pizza out. Our last local Foster Freeze just closed. My H and I were just in Morro Bay and saw they had a Foster Freeze and we had a sundae and it was as good as we remembered.
The Friendlys nearest me had declined in all ways.
I don’t know about Brighams as a restaurant but they still have ice cream under the label (maybe Hood owns them) and afaiac they’re they only ones who do Peppermint Stick like the king of PS (HoJo.) I always have some in the freezer.
Thing about Ponderosa and Sizzler- they used to be so cheap. And decent. Then, the steaks got worse.
I kinda miss the interstate rest stop restaurants- not all this biz where everything is Mc D or other fast foods only.
Boston Market is another local that seems to have disappeared. Maybe cuz, as they evolved, everything was so calorie laden. Originally called Boston Chicken and a go-to place.
Boston Market was big in my part of Texas and we loved it. I could always get turkey and dressing. There are still some around, but I think once we realized how incredibly caloric the meals were, we cooled off a little on i.t
White Tower (a competitor of White Castle—similar white building and hamburger menus )! Greasy hamburgers that were cheaper than dirt. My mother was a health food fanatic and told us to avoid it. Of course, I loved it and would go with friends in high school and buy bags of the hamburgers—always take out. The places were small and only had a few counters. (I grew up in the midwest—MI and IL.) I think White Castle still exists??
Cleveland folks…east side only.
Royal Castle and Mawbys. Two of the best!
Oh no. For ice cream, except for the Fribble, Brigham’s was far superior. I used to love their hot fudge sundaes with marshmallow. The local franchise was a bit of a hangout for the townie kids when I was in HS. Sadly, I think I was a sophomore when it closed. You could/can still find the ice cream in the supermarket, but it’s not the same. ?
@Bromfield2 yes White Castle is still kicking. I think we have one here but I’ve never been. They definitely have their following though.
Bob Evan’s. They aren’t in the Chicago area any more. We spotted one while driving through Ohio and had to stop for lunch. Miss their bacon, home potatoes, chicken pot pie…
Around here the Dunkin Donuts don’t make their own donuts anymore. The are mass produced in one location and delivered just once a day to the stores. YUCK! They aren’t the donuts of my youth.
Yes. We used to call the one we went to “that place where you can throw the peanut shells on the floor.” As kids we loved it.
In the South also. It’s all about the coffee drinks with donuts as an after thought. Two of my sons prefer DD to Starbucks. Which are 2 buildings away from each other.
When I was little, I remember our family of six going on vacation and stopping at Howard Johnson’s for lunch. Loved the fried clam sandwiches. My father would never order anything; he’d just wait for us (4 girls) to not finish our meals. Then he would eat all the leftovers. Once I heard a woman at the next table say, “look at that man eating all of his children’s food!”
Alive and kickin’. They recently opened one near our old neighborhood that has the dubious distinction of selling more sliders this year than any other White Castle on earth:
When my dad was stationed at Ft. Riley, KS, we’d go to A&W after church and get a gallon jug of root beer to take home.
One of my cousins is married to an A&W exec!
Friendly’s used to be all over the Phila area. Not any more.
Just think…White Castle was doing Sliders wayyyyy before Sliders were a thing!
@Creekland - You had a McD’s? You were from the city! The first McD’s in the area I grew up in opened up when I was in high school!
We did have an A & W. It was a drive in with carhops. The place is still there, but hasn’t been A & W in decades. They still have the root beer floats (and carhops).
Well, the McD’s was 11 miles from our house in the nearest city, but close enough to count. There was nowhere else closer to eat without knocking on doors and begging or trying to sneak into someone’s outdoor grilling party.
Sometimes I REALLY wished we had a “haha” button!!!