Late, lamented (or unlamented) fast-food chains

kenobi65 · Dec 19, 2005

The "fish & chips" thread, and Mark CMG's comment about Dog & Suds, got me thinking about other fast-food chains that have been sent to the dustbin of history.

So, feel free to add your memories of other chains you remember...you can add your memories of "mom and pop" places, too, but I'm specifically remembering places that probably had a dream of being the "next McDonald's", but never made it.

As Mark noted, Dog & Suds was an A&W-style drive-in, known for its root beer (the "dog" was hot dogs).

Some others I'm remembering:

- Yankee Doodle Dandy was a McDonald's-style hamburger joint that was popular, at least in the Chicago area, in the early-to-mid '70s, when I was a kid here. When I moved back to Chicago in the late '80s, there were still a few left, but they appear to be all gone now.

- Mars was another McDonald's wannabee. When we moved to Green Bay WI in 1975, Mars was the #2 fast-food restaurant, behind McDonald's, there. I have no idea if they existed anywhere else besides Wisconsin. I seem to remember the restaurants were a little nicer than McDonald's. They're long gone.

- Burger Chef was a bigger hamburger chain than the first two; when I was a kid, I think they were probably the #3 burger chain, behind McDonald's and Burger King. IIRC, they had "kid's meals" even before McDonald's did. They, too, are long gone...according to this site, the Burger Chef name is now owned by Carl's Jr., which also now owns Hardee's (though Hardee's is still around, for now.)

- Chicken Unlimited was another chain that was big in Chicago when I was a kid. They were a lot like a Kentucky Fried Chicken, IIRC. Searching the web shows me a few Chicken Unlimiteds that are (or recently were) in operation in various parts of the country; I have no idea if they're related to the one I grew up with.

Desdichado · Dec 19, 2005

Rio Bravo was my wife's favorite Mexican chain restaurant. I didn't really love them as much as she did, but they were alright. Certainly, we've eaten less Mexican food that we don't make ourselves since they closed down.

Eternalknight · Dec 19, 2005

kenobi65 said:
- Chicken Unlimited was another chain that was big in Chicago when I was a kid. They were a lot like a Kentucky Fried Chicken, IIRC. Searching the web shows me a few Chicken Unlimiteds that are (or recently were) in operation in various parts of the country; I have no idea if they're related to the one I grew up with.

There used to be a chicken chain in Oz called 'Ollies Trollies' or something similiar and just as stupid. This was quite a few years now, but I remember I loved their food. IIRC, KFC actually took over the chain.

Cthulhu's Librarian · Dec 19, 2005

The one I remember was Carrol's, it was a burger chain in NY, PA, and the northeast. When Burger King began it's big push in the northeast the late 70's, all the Carrol's became Burger Kings. The company is still around, but now they are one of the largest BK francise owners in the country (http://www.carrols.com/). They used to have great burger called The Club Burger, I remember my Mom always used to get that. They had a big promotion when I was about 5 or 6, and they gave away Looney Tunes glasses when you bought a Pepsi. We had tons of them at my house and my Grandmothers for years, but all of them eventually broke except for one of Foghorn Leghorn, which my Grandmother still has.

Cthulhu's Librarian · Dec 19, 2005

Another one that I though was long gone, then started popping up at mall food courts, was Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. They had a logo of an old fisherman with a pipe, sort of like the Gordon's fisherman logo. My grandmother liked to go there, although I never did. The few around us closed in the early 80s, and I didn't see another one until the mid 90s, and I've seen a few since then. The menu seems quite different, with a variety of deep fried fish and chicken, as opposed to the simple fish & chips menu I remember as a kid. Maybe another company bought the name?

Nellisir · Dec 19, 2005

Not "the next McDonalds", but there used to be two Weeks restaurants around here (Concord, NH). Weeks is a (local-ish?) dairy company that does milk & ice cream, etc, and the restaurants were "family-style" restaurants very similar to Friendlies.

There was also a small place in downtown where I always got grilled cheese, it closed when I was about 8. The building was a real estate office when I was in high school, and now it's a Mr. Tux.

The food counter at Woolworths.

WizarDru · Dec 19, 2005

They're not completely gone, but the only ones that still exist are essentially shadows of their former selves, and I only know of one in existence: specfically Roy Rogers hamburger joints. I always like the fixins bar, where you could make your hamburger your way. They all got absorbed by Hardee's, for the most part, whom I abhor. Geno's was also so absorbed, but I don't remember much about them.

Cthulhu's Librarian · Dec 19, 2005

WizarDru said:
They're not completely gone, but the only ones that still exist are essentially shadows of their former selves, and I only know of one in existence: specfically Roy Rogers hamburger joints. I always like the fixins bar, where you could make your hamburger your way. They all got absorbed by Hardee's, for the most part, whom I abhor. Geno's was also so absorbed, but I don't remember much about them.

I know of lots of Roy Rogers in New Jersey and New York. They are all along the Jersey Turnpike and the NY State Thruway in rest areas, and some other places as well.

Belen · Dec 19, 2005

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
Another one that I though was long gone, then started popping up at mall food courts, was Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. They had a logo of an old fisherman with a pipe, sort of like the Gordon's fisherman logo. My grandmother liked to go there, although I never did. The few around us closed in the early 80s, and I didn't see another one until the mid 90s, and I've seen a few since then. The menu seems quite different, with a variety of deep fried fish and chicken, as opposed to the simple fish & chips menu I remember as a kid. Maybe another company bought the name?

Treacher's was bought by Miami Subs and Grill. They sell Treachers fish and chips there.

kenobi65 · Dec 19, 2005

WizarDru said:
I always like the fixins bar, where you could make your hamburger your way.

That's something I remember about Mars restaurants, too. IIRC, they advertised that you could order your sandwich "with" (all the stuff on it), or "without" (plain), then add what you like from their condiment bar.

They also had this TV ad with this bodybuilder (probably a minor celebrity of some sort; I don't remember the name, but it wasn't Ahnuld) talking about how much he liked Mars. However, his diction was so bad that, after several months, they had to redub the ad with someone else's voice.