Restaurants you ate at frequently when you were growing up

Shoney’s.

Wouldn't call KFC a restaurant OP.

We were very poor. But once a year, the night before school we'd go to Sizzler! It was our big night out.

R2, businesses that serve food are restaurants by definition.

Ryan’s, Morrison’s and then later Piccadilly, Sbarro, Arby’s. Really all of those types of restaurants.

I just paid 3x what I used to, for poorer quality (prepared) food at Whole Foods. Kill me.

What an odd snob R2.

How is fucking Sizzler a restaurant, but KFC isn’t.

We didn’t have a lot of fast food in our area growing up. Mostly we would go to supper clubs for fish fries and salad bar.

Pizza Hut

I don't think it's snobby to differentiate between KFC and Sizzler. KFC is more on par with a McDonald's. I don't consider McDonald's primarily a "restaurant." I consider it fast food with a busy drive-through. (Nothing wrong with that.)

Sizzler is more like Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse (which is more expensive, though) or Chili's.

Luby's. I still have a lot of affection for it.

Roy Rogers! I have fond memories of the food but it's gone now, except for a few along the NJ Turnpike with a limited menu. Really good roasted chicken and burgers. It set itself apart from other fast food.

Rax. It was better than Arby’s.

in Cleveland, Stouffers, Kenny Kings and Millers Restaurant c. mid 60's

Arby's, Big Boy, Pizza Hut.

I haven't stepped into one of these since about 1991.

My mom was poor, but we would go to Shoney's at least once a year (around tax return season). Sometimes we ate at the counter at K-mart.

When visiting my dad, it was the Pizza Hut buffet on Saturday night and Picadilly's after church on Sunday's. Pizza Hut was not terrible in the 80s. I miss those red cups and the taco pizza.

Sizzler and Howard Johnson's

Los Angeles - Sizzler, Bob's Big Boy, and Cliftons.

Luby's

Popeye's

Used to love to go to the Howard Johnson's at Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge for the all you can eat spaghetti night. After pigging out on that, we'd have ice cream. I was really happy to pick up a model coin bank of a Howard Johnson's restaurant recently. Brought back nice memories.

We did have a Burger Chef. We didn’t eat there often, and stopped when I found a green worm on my burger.

R5 I love your term 'odd snob' -- I'm using that for my DL name going forward. Thank you!

Do people not remember the original KFC restaurants with the buffets? Yum-O!

WEHT Shoney’s?

Once a year we went to the big city (about 100,000 people) and ate at McDonald's. It was about 40 miles away. This is before you could eat inside, Big Macs, etc. (I think there were only hamburgers on the menu.) We were there for my parents to go Christmas shopping and the kids got to ride escalators and elevators (so we could brag about it to our friends at school) in department stores. We were a big family, so Dad always needed a helper or two to get the 14 hamburgers, 6 or 7 fries and all of the drinks and bring them back to the car where we were all starving. We thought it was the best food we ever had (and we grew up on a farm where we grew all of our own food, which was organic, but that's before it was fashionable).

Haha this thread made me remember the Pizza Hut buffet and Wendy’s buffets that users to exist. Fat whores, give thanks, for we lived like kings.

R22 they're still all over the place in the eastern half of the U.S.

In the Midwest, it was Big Boys! They were doing the Big Mac before McDonald thought of it. I always thought they got screwed by McDonalds. The Big Boy was definitely the inspiration for the Big Mac.

[quote] after church on Sunday's.

Sunday’s what?

R23, what a great story! I love nostalgia like this and nostalgic threads.

Fantastic!

Until about 2 years ago I hadn’t been in an Arby’s for at least 15 years because they moved away from where I live. Now there’s a couple of them near me but none too close. Sometimes will go as a special treat for myself.

R23 / R28 I agree! Great story. When McDonalds opened, it was always 'eat in the car' and for some reason we thought that was so cool as a family. We were SHOCKED when they started the Filet O' Fish sandwich and then couldn't get enough of that. All these years later, I still think McD's has the best fries of anyone...although somebody had curly fries with Lawry salt that came close.

York Steak House.

I loved that place as a kid. I would still go for nostalgia's sake if they had more than one location today.

Eat n' Park, Kings

[quote] We were SHOCKED when they started the Filet O' Fish sandwich and then couldn't get enough of that.

R29 , why were you shocked about the FOF? Because it wasn't a hamburger?

R28 There's a magazine titled Reminisce that offers articles in this vein. I subscribed for a year and after a year, I had to let go. It got repetitive but you might enjoy it for a year...

R32 Exactly!! Because it wasn't a hamburger! Goodness, that was the beauty of McDonalds. Simply hamburger and fries. Nothing fancy-shmancy like a fish sandwich! But that gave us a place to go during Lent...

Yes, r33. I subscribed too. I think it was from Readers Digest. Like you though, it wore off quick. Especially when a lot of it wasn’t nostalgic to me.

[quote] But that gave us a place to go during Lent...

Which is EXACTLY why they did it.

You knew that, right?

R36 Um, yes. Got it. Thanks.

Love ya, r37.

Beefsteak Charlies

The Filet-o-Fish sandwich was created in my hometown (Cincinnati) to offer us Catholics something to order during Lent.

We were poor, and didn't eat out very often. But I remember eating at Bonanza and Ponderosa Steakhouses when I was a kid. I loved them, but the closest one to me now is in Hillsboro, OH, which is an hour and a half drive from my house.

R35 Yes, a little went a long way. Plus, I'm an elder gay but some of the contributors were much older. It was a good forum for them, though. I'm sure I'll be back in a few years!

R40 Thank you, Cincinatti! FOF is still my favorite at McD's.

Taco Bell. In the 70s it was great stuff. Now it’s nasty, inedible glop.

R40 I loved those steakhouses - Bonanza, Sizzler. Local to us were Captain's and Nino's. Now the chains around here are Outback and Longhorn. We have a few non-franchise steakhouses, mostly passed on from generation-to-generation. Very price-y but well worth it. I love the old fashioned places: Lazy Susan appetizer tray, soup, salad, (or juice!), baked potato and MEAT!

tonight is unmistakably, Steak & Ale

There was a chain where you cooked your own steaks over a big grill in the middle of the restaurant. Anybody remember this or am I hallucinating? You chose your steak from a refrigerated (I hope!) display and then cooked it yourself on this 'community' grill. What the hell? Isn't that why you have a Weber in the backyard?

Enough about steak. Let's talk LOBSTER! Remember those fancy-shmansy places that had lobster tanks in the foyer? So you could stare down your favorite? I've heard that Red Lobster still has them in their waiting areas. Freaked me out as a kid.

Any summer vacation to Cape Cod, and it was my parents and I stopping off the Southeast Expressway at the second Howard Johnson’s down after Boston, for breakfast on the way. My mother was particularly fond of the orange slices they served with their ham and eggs with wheat toast entree (Mary memory! lol).

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. Regional. Didn't go there often, but it was hugely exciting and a treat for kids. That's where I started eating & liking patty melts.

Brown Derby.

Roy Rogers.

Ponderosa.

Burger Chef

You’re welcome, R49.

Chasens

Every year my family spent a week on vacation in Wildwood (near the bottom of NJ), and one of the places we ate at was a very '50s looking place called Surfside Restaurant.

. . . and on the inside . . .

The real treat for me was McDonald’s. I loved their Happy Meals. Our neighbour would take me and her grandson whenever he visited. And there would always be a toy in the Happy Meal.

My family would go to the Sizzler every now and then. I remember the salad bar was a big deal. I think sneeze guards were implemented by then. My brother was also a waiter at the one in the city.

We’d also go to the restaurant where you parked and ordered from your car. Like a mom and pop’s Sonic. As a teenager, we got a Dairy Queen and I was all about the Blizzards, but especially the Peanut Buster Parfait. In the city, there was a Taco Bell. This is when they had the 59/79/99 cent menu. I always got the nachos which was actually $1.29 I think. Can you believe those prices?

As far as fine-dining, there was a German-Spanish restaurant called Casita Frontera in Blaine. My parents would take me there once/year and I’d have a big plate of nachos. And the owners would always come and say hi (the wife was Spanish and ran things and the husband was the chef).

Whenever we went up to the mountains, we’d stop at this one restaurant which served this huge platter of nachos as well.

I was really about the nachos as a kid lol. But I realise there is a thread here for that.

Woolworth

My mom worked at Woolworth's so we went there a lot to eat.

Ponderosa.

My Dad worked for Coca-Cola when I was a kid. Before we were ever allowed to order (Mom and Dad did that: kids had to be quiet), he'd ask if they served Coke or Pepsi products. If they served Pepsi products, we'd have to leave and go somewhere else. We kept trying to eat at Pizza Hut, and always had to leave and eat somewhere else (usually Frisch's Big Boy). By some strange coincidence, Pizza Hut restaurants that we had visited and left would end up burning down after we had left. Seriously: there were like three cases over the course of a year or so. My brother and sister and I used to joke (from the back seat of our huge Plymouth), "Hey, Dad! You wanna go and burn down another Pizza Hut?" My parents enjoyed the joke, and my Mom would sometimes pipe in, "I've got a lighter!"

I never ate anything from Pizza Hut until I was in my 50s.

Anybody remember Rustlers Steakhouse? We would go there after church with my grandma. She would let me get the blueberry cheesecake and always made me put a napkin in my lap before we ate.

Was Taco Cid only in Columbia SC? It sucked but had a memorable sign.

We would go to the Rustler. I always liked it, but my stepmother hated it.

Well your stepmom had no taste.

Spago

Ma Maison

Musso & Frank

Luby's Cafeteria, Shoney's and Bonanza for me, as well as local places like Grecian Steak House (for extra special celebrations!) and Grandpa's (a catfish grill). Some of the old standards like Sonic and Captain D's I still go to occasionally.

We rarely ate out. Maybe 2-3 times per year. It was a special treat when we did. We weren't poor. Mom was just a good cook and there was no need to waste money when we could eat better and cheaper at home.

The Chowder Pot in Haslett, NJ. They had an incredible salad bar with incredible chowder and these clam balls that I've never been able to find again.

Bickford's- Does anyone remember that pancake house , competitor to The International House Of Pancakes.

I guess I was lucky. We ate out one night per week. Different places. My parents always let us order whatever we wanted.

KFC restaurants used to be identified with local franchisers like Kenny King's in Cleveland and had table service in a dining room. The take out only places came later.

Shoney's has always been horrible. They lost the Big Boy franchise when they started entering areas with other Big Boy franchises. All these places were always pretty horrible but we didn't know better as kids.

Sambo's

They had the cutest little knick knacks

R65, wasn't Lubby's the site of a big mass shooting?

👀 R71

I remember Sambo’s.

My mom was an excellent cook and we rarely went out. We did go to to a buffet on occasion. Jolly Troll & Becky's buffet.

Man, I remember even as a kid wondering about the implications of that chain's name!

God, you all were SO POOR!

We could afford to go to Hardee’s every single night!

Shoney's was one of the grossest places i have ever been

Arthur Treacher’s, the Woolworth’s lunch counter, Putsch’s Cafeteria, Minsky’s Pizza, Orange Julius, Dixon’s Chili, Dog ’n’ Suds, Der Wienerschnitzel, Texas Tom’s, Rax, Hardee’s

York Steakhouse, Arthur Treacher's and Lum's Hotdogs

I like you fishy queens who frequented Arthur Treacher’s.

Arthur Treacher’s gave me the poops.

I am utterly aghast at all the catastrophic, profound poverty on full display.

R83 is the Dowager Countess and cannot bear to be amongst The Poors.

La Cote Basque

McDonalds. Believe it or not, when I was a kid (late 60s early 70s) my family would go there as a treat. It was a special occasion!

Stopping going altogether probably ... late 80s? But still went to Wendy’s. Stopped ALL fast food chain joints after reading in 2003 about Alex Donley’s death, in the book Fast Food Nation.

[quote] You chose your steak from a refrigerated (I hope!) display

Why would you hope, years and years later, that it was refrigerated? It didn’t kill you, did it?

[quote] Shoney's was one of the grossest places i have ever been

You were probably taken there before you became the prissy Queen you are today.

Farrels! OMG

Can't believe somebody listed that. It was a great "date" restaurant in high school because of the ice cream and the production they put on for birthdays. Long before the lame practice of constantly bringing out the staff for the obligatory performance you see now.

Steak and Ale was more refined. Parents went there without us. Once we started spending more time out of the house as opposed to within we were invited to join them on occasion. But it was "adult" time.

Does anybody remember a green soda they served at Farrels? Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I swear the had a darkish green soda I used to order there.

The only chain restaurants in the UK when I grew up were Bernie Inn's and Wimpy Bars, my parents wouldn't eat in those.

The only place still open that we used to eat is Sam's Chop House in Manchester,UK (opened 1872). It's part of a chain now so not the same.

Pioneer Chicken

Bob's Big Boy

Denny's

No chain restaurants—my mother actually forbade us from eating at McDonald's, which at the time, fortunately for her, was two or three towns away. My mother liked steak and seafood places, and my father generally went along with my mother. So that's the kind of places we would go to.

My father liked Italian best, and so did I, but his food was better than what you got in restaurants in North Jersey in the 1950s and '60s, except for pizza, but we always got that to take home.

There was a restaurant called Dallas BBQ that had a location on 72nd Street between Columbus and CPW. (While that location has closed, they have other locations, mostly in the outer boroughs.) It was a casual burger and BBQ place.

Despite being in the heart of the UWS, the clientele was most African-American. My brother and I loved going there though because they had really good burgers and fries and my parents liked it because it was noisy and my brother and I could run around and (probably) because the other patrons would always make a big deal over the "two cute white boys" and because they had good drinks and my father, who is from DC, said it reminded him of places down there.

It was often a bargaining chip for my parents -- if we helped clean up the toys in the living room we'd get to go there-- and for my brother and me it was a much more pleasant experience than restaurants where the food seemed to take forever to show up and you had to speak in quiet voices all the time.

I'm 57. As a kid we had to dress up, if we went out to dinner. Growing up we went to a neighborhood restaurant that had been around since the 1940s. There were a bunch of old time waiters, big bar in the middle of the main section with booths surrounding it, views of the entrance to New York Harbor in the distance. The menu was stockpiled with old-fashioned items... crabmeat au gratin was a favorite of mine. My Dad was a very friendly, gregarious man, and the waiters always stopped by to chat. My younger brother and I were cautioned to behave, or else the waiters would bring us into the kitchen and put us on the "spanking machine." (oh! I wonder how how a certain kink developed later in life...lol).

On special occasions we went to clubs. One was the DAC. A special treat there was to go down to the floor where we could go onto the Observation deck overlooking the pool. The club was one of the last in New York to admit women, so clothing was optional in the pool for a men-only club. As you can imagine, I was fascinated!!!!

In summer outside the city, we went to a club in the Adirondacks. Friday nights they used to have "Small Fry Dinners" for the kids. Elsewhere when we spent time on the family farm, we would have dinner in the town where my Dad took the train from the city on Friday nights. At least once in August we would go to dinner in an old Greek-Revival mansion that overlooked the Hudson River.

Schraffts. And I really miss it. Best ice cream sundaes ever.

Bob's Big Boy, dad liked Arby's for fast food (gasp!), Marie Callender's for when we were feeling fancy, Coco's, Denny's, Mimi's Cafe (the french style coffee shop - LA Chain), Two Guys from Italy for pizza.

Lums, Howard Johnson’s, and two of our local Pizza Parlors

We went to Shoney's, KFC, Burger Chef, McDonalds, Arthur Treacher's, Carols (they didn't last long). I live near the water so there were a lot of privately owned seafood restaurants in our area. My father loved raw oysters so we went to seafood places that served them. The good ones were called the Lynnhaven oysters as they were from the Lynnhaven river in our area of VA. They were huge and salty which is what an oyster eater loves.

Mel's Drive-in, Geneva and Mission, San Francisco

Woolworth's, Powell and Market, San Francisco

Denny's, San Bruno Avenue, San Bruno

Lyon's, John Daly Blvd., Daly City

Addendum:

Round Table Pizza, Southgate Blvd., Daly City

I'm from Ohio and Ponderosa and The Brown Derby. The Brown Derby had the best seafood and italian dishes. Arthur Treacher's as well.

Steak and Four, Ponderosa

[quote]My younger brother and I were cautioned to behave, or else the waiters would bring us into the kitchen and put us on the "spanking machine."

Okay, you got my attention. Please tell us more. Who operated the machine? What did you have to do to get to be on the receiving end of it? Is this place still open? Oh yeah, is there an age limit?

There were no fast food restaurants near me until a McDonald's opened a couple of towns away in the 1970s. A few years later, Pizza Hut opened, and my whole family went. It was the first time any of us ever had really bad pizza. I grew up in a NYC suburb where each town has at least one or two family-owned pizzarias. Oddly, Pizza Hut survived 20 years or so in that location, must have been the out-of-state college students nearby that kept it in business.

When we went to a formal restaurant as a family, it was a big deal. We had to get dressed up which I hated. I think my parents finally realized none of us were into it and started going out together once a month and paying a babysitter to stay with us.

Bob's Big Boy, Shakey's Pizza Parlor, and -- on special occasions -- Love's Wood Pit Barbeque.

For those that commented on this thread with any national chain restaurants you visited, check this out if you have memories of a more local restaurant.

R104, I can still picture my parents telling us this to make us behave. And I remember be fascinated and repulsed by restaurant kitchens. Never found out if it existed, because we behaved. And looking back, it really must have influenced the development of certain kinks of mine. Give me a call. As long as you're over 40, I'll give you a demonstration of the spanking machine.

R90 Don't know if its the same thing, but there is a local Chicago bright green beverage called "Green River." It was off of the market for a long time, but its available again, both in regular and sugar free form. It was originally brought on the market as a survival tactic by the Schoenhofen Brewery Co. of Chicago, and was regularly available through the 1960's. Started seeing it again about ten years ago. Its a bright almost florescent green, but quite tasty.

Dutch Pantry, Lum's, Bonanza Steakhouse, Heap Big Beef, Burger Chef, Sambo's. Sambo's had good food and cute decoration with the story of the little Indian boy and tigers and them taking Sambo's clothes and umbrella and turning into butter.

Wednesday nights were NY steak and all the fried clams you can eat at Norm's. So my dad would take us all out to Norm's that night. Later in adulthood, I was craving some nostalgia, so I dined at Norm's with a friend. Blech. The NY steak was like rubber and there was no fried clams on the menu.

I used to love Roy Rogers when I was a kid, I think mainly because I associated Rogers with Mr. Rogers and thought it was his restaurant. This was the early 90s though, so they were already on their way out.

Ponderosa Steakhouse! I wouldn't be caught dead in a buffet now (not because I feel I'm above it, but because people are filthy), and even as a kid, I was picky, but I LOVED that place.

We usually went once a month. We got a small sirloin steak w/a baked potato, and added the all you can eat soup, salad, and ice cream bar for a small fee. I ate plate after plate of salad, finished with ice cream, and would take my steak & potato home.

[quote] I can still picture my parents telling us this to make us behave.

I love how that worked. My little niece was around 3 and was a holy terror. I was embarrassed to be seen in public with her. One day, we were in a downtown coffee shop called Little Audrey's, which was run by a lady named (wait for it) Audrey. Cheryl (my niece) was being her usual county self. Her mom said if she wasn't good, Little Audrey would come over and make her behave. At which point I had had enough.

"Forget Little Audrey," I said. "If you keep that up (whatever it was), I'm going to call BIG Audrey."

"Who's Big Audrey?" asked Cheryl.

"She drives a truck for UPS and she'll come over here and slap the living shit out of you," I said.

"No she won't!"

"Wanna bet?" I asked, taking out my phone and starting to dial.

"NO!" screamed Cheryl. "I don't WANT to see Big Audrey."

"Then behave."

And she did. And from that day forward, there were never any more behavior problems at Little Audrey's.

York Steak House, Ponderosa, Bonanza, Beefsteak Charlie’s.

Howard Johnson’s.

Locally, a place called Valle’s (more steak), The Farm Shoppe. Wherever we went, I always got ice cream for dessert. Fat whore from way back.

Not as a child, but in the town I went to college in there was a 24 hour place called Valley Dairy, which we affectionately referred to as VD. It was one of those breakfast available any time of the day, which can’t be beat at 2:00 AM.

I loved your story, r114.

Luby's . Every Friday night for a LuAnn platter and a coke.

I guess no one grew up in the Pittsburgh area and went to Eat n Park? I didn't know they even know they existed until college.

We used to go to Friendly’s.

[quote]I guess no one grew up in the Pittsburgh area and went to Eat n Park? I didn't know they even know they existed until college.

Because you're from somewhere other than Pittsburgh and moved there to go to college?

Showbiz Pizza, at the rich kids' birthday parties. What a dump: those weird singing gorilla-bears. And the stench of kids piss.

My family was downmarket, so we might have a party at Godfather's Pizza.

In any event, the pizza at all of them sucked, and what my mom made was better. But she didn't have video games.

I expected a thread about actual restaurants. Not fast food chains.

Does anyone remember Taco Bueno? There were everywhere in the Dallas area in the 80's. At the time they were marketed as "classier" than Taco Bell or Del Taco.

The chains themselves were faux-stucco Mexican-style architecture, with mood lighting and maybe a fountain in the entryway patio. Inside they had inlaid-tile tables and floors, and sombreros and Mexican farming tools and rugs hanging on the walls. The ingredients of the food were slightly fresher. The food was slightly better. Everything was "Tex Mex." But it was just another fast food chain.

R124 OMG yes!!! I lived in Texas in the 80's. Taco Bueno felt "nice" but then you ordered your food from the front as a teenage cashier rang you up and called your number just like McDonald's. The food was somewhat better than Tex-Mex fast food slop. It was okay.

Taco Bueno seemed to disappear after the 80s. If I remember right, Taco Cabana came on the scene in the late 80's and stole their "slightly better" fast food Mexican food thunder. I think that particular chain had originated in Austin.

R124 They had a hysterical commercial on TV at the time that slowly flashed names in the beginning like, "Mercedes Benz," "Cartier," "Tiffany's" ... and then, "Taco Bueno." Trying to associate it with high class.

Taco Bueno still existed in southern US into the 00's and may still be around. Sometime in the 90's they gave up trying to differentiate themselves and stripped away the fancy decor and building. The insides of the chains just looked like minimal fast food joints. The menu also turned to cheap crap.

R95 when did you grow up here? I am also a Native NYer and in the 70s and 80s quite a few black people lived on the UWS. I remember that.

The UES is where you hardly ever saw them.

The outer boroughs are NYC also. NYC = 5 boroughs. Manhattan is just the center of it all.

One thing no one is pointing out about places like KFC, McDonald’s and Wendy’s is how much better the food used to be. McDonalds hamburgers used to be delicious and HUGE. They weren’t what they are now. A regular hamburger was the size of a Quarter Pounder.

I assume you mean me R128

I grew up in 90s and 00s. UWS was very white and very gentrified by that point, especially around Lincoln Center area (West 60s and 70s) where I grew up.

[quote] The UES is where you hardly ever saw them.

Watch it, honkey!

[quote] McDonalds hamburgers used to be delicious and HUGE.

Is it that they were huge or we were small?

I'm thinking the Quarter Pounder was probably a quarter pound of beef whether you ordered it in 1977 or 43 years later.

It is*, r133

*Pre-cooked weight.

Lol

R132 they were bigger. The Big Mac used to be bigger also.

Pizza slices used to be bigger also.

R130 yeah, by the late 80s UWS was almost all white again. In the 70s and early 80s it was more diverse.

[quote]McDonalds hamburgers used to be delicious and HUGE.

I liked them, once upon a time—until maybe ten years ago?—but "HUGE"? No, never really very big at all.

[quote]I guess no one grew up in the Pittsburgh area and went to Eat n Park?

I did. Lived in Pittsburgh until I was 7 and still remember the carhops at Eat'n Park and the metal trays they'd place on the car windows.

They licensed Bob's Big Boy back then. I was so happy that, after moving from Pittsburgh to Southern California, I could continue eating Big Boy double-decker burgers and collecting the comic books.

Big Boy Restaurants. Loved the steak & baked potato dinner with the hearts of lettuce salad, Big Boy burgers and fries, fish & chips, and the awesome hot fudge pudding cake and strawberry pie.

Peter Pan Diner, Bay Shore, Long Island

Is that gone, r139? I haven’t been down that way in a while.

Big Boy

Up through the age of 18, my parents took me to a restaurant with wait service only once. That was a red lobster, when I was 5 years old. My brother, who was 4, threw a tantrum, and we had to leave early. After that, we only went to McDonalds. To be fair, there weren't really any restaurants with weight service in our rural suburb; you had to drive 15 miles north or south.

In my 20s, the first time I went to a restaurant with wait service, I was confused as to how to pay the bill. I didn't understand why they brought back my card back with a SECOND receipt.

[quote] To be fair, there weren't really any restaurants with weight service in our rural suburb; you had to drive 15 miles north or south.

That’s good. The last thing you’d want to do is weigh yourself before and after eating.

Mr. Steak. There's not much about it online - I guess it died in the 80s or 90s.

For ya it was either Taco Bell (cheap) or Der Wienershnitzel (always used coupons).

I acknowledge that Wienerschnitzel’s chili is crap but I still crave it.

*us

“ya”?!?

[quote]or Der Wienershnitzel (always used coupons).

Never heard of that one. What part of the country (if in the US) was it?

Sounds good!

[quote]Is that gone, [R139]? I haven’t been down that way in a while.

Still there!

London. 1970s.

We ate out all the time growing up. But as OP talked about fast food - when McDonalds first came to London it was a very big deal. For a long time there were only very few which added to the intrigue. In fact the one in Kensington was much like a fashionable restaurant. You'd run into people you knew there (the hip ones) and see famous people, rock stars and famous actors. I still go occasionally, the burgers are usually cold and I have to send them back. We Brits are good at turning places into slums and some of them are real dumps.

Burger King never had quite the same caché and for years there was only one - but it was still very exotic and AMERICAN (you know how we Brits worship American, especially then). It was also very good then. I went into one a few weeks ago for old times sake. The burger was so disgusting as was the place. I should have taken a photo...it looked like dog shit. I asked for my money back, but he made a fuss, so I just walked out and left it on the counter.

How BK looked when it first got here (@ link).

R147 , it sounds better than it is. They don’t have any actual Schnitzel. It’s just a chili dog place. It’s fine for what it is.

[quote]Der Wienershnitzel (always used coupons).

[quote]Never heard of that one. What part of the country (if in the US) was it?

They're still around, though not in the same numbers. (They've also dropped the "Der" from their name). Started in Southern California and now found mostly in the West and Southwest. Their older restaurants used an iconic A-frame design and had a drive-thru through the middle. Even if a different company operates out of the building today, you can always tell it used to be a Der Wienerschnitzel.

[quote] The Quarter Pounder was introduced in Fremont, California in 1971 but became part of the national menu in 1973. The 4-ounce all-beef patty, topped with ketchup, mustard, slivered onions and two dill pickles served on a sesame seed bun, sold for 60 cents. For an extra 10 cents, you could upgrade to a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

I don't remember the McD's hamburgers & cheeseburgers being very large (lots of beef), ever. The Quarter Pounder became part of the menu in 1973.

Family outings to McDonald's, eating in the car--major.

In Northern Virginia: Tops....Howard Johnson....Hot Shoppe. Places where someone came out to your car with your order, which they put on the tray on the driver's side....those were fab.

Did any upstate New York or Toronto kids go to Swiss Chalet in the '70s and '80s?

I remember they'd bring finger bowls to the table. Six-year-old me thought that was so glamorous.

Yes R68 it’s called The Original Pancake House. My favorite was the apple pancake! It’s still a great restaurant.

Rumplemeyers

That apple pancake at r155 looks fucking delicious!

Nice restaurants were kind of a "grandparent" thing during the summers when off of school. My grandmother would take me downtown with her on Tuesdays, and we'd eat at the Walnut Room at Marshall Field & ,, then maybe take in a movie. Every now and then we'd sneak over to Wimpy's, across the street on Washington for a hamburger. Now on Thursday, I'd go with my grandfather, down to the First National Bank, to do his banking. That was always followed by lunch at the Berghoff, on Adams Street. We'd go to various other restaurants in the area, usually German, like the Metro Club on Lincoln, Math Igler's on Melrose and Lincoln (and sing the Schnitzel Bank Song), Zum Deutchen Eck and the Hapsburg Inn out on Milwaukee Avenue in Des Plaines on weekends. My dad loved Heuer's, a buffet restaurant located on the site of the CTA Blue Line subway station in Rosemont/River Road. All you could eat, and at a fixed price! That was magic! When I was older and in high school, a trip down to the main public library, the located in what is now the Chicago Cultural Center at Michigan and Washington, would mean lunch at the old Pixley & Ehlers cafeteria on Washington. Sometimes, on Saturdays, I would take the elevated downtown and meet my dad for lunch. He worked in the Merchandise Mart, so we ate at the Henrici's in the building. Got to meet a lot of the announcers from WMAQ (NBC) TV, which had their studios in the building.

Der Wienerschnitzel, Sandy's, Burger Queen, Village Inn Pizza, Sambo's, Bob's Big Boy.

Zum Zum

Burger Heaven

It is R159. Maybe you have an original pancake house near you?

[quote] That was always followed by lunch at the Berghoff,

Was this a specialty restaurant or did they serve general things?

The Berghoff is a long established German themed restaurant in the Chicago Loop, on Adams Street. Been there well over 100 years.

Thanks, r166. NYer here, so I’ve never heard of it.

Pretty much the Chicago version of Luchow's but still open!

Another vote for Farrell's. My first job was at a Farrell's in the Altamonte Mall, circa 1980. For no good reason I still remember how it's spelled.

Growing up, we would often go to Howard Johnson's on Fridays for their all you can eat fried clams. Or, sometimes on Wednesdays for their all you can eat fried chicken. I preferred the clams.

The country club.

[quote]My first job was at a Farrell's in the Altamonte Mall, circa 1980. For no good reason I still remember how it's spelled.

Why would you not remember?

Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston - Authentic or semi-authentic Mexican food is wonderful, but I could go for some cheese enchiladas made with cheddar cheese, topped with chili con carne and chopped white onions, plus one of those puffy tostadas covered in melted cheese plus a scoop of guacamole. When I was a kid in the 60s, we'd go to local chains like Molina's or El Patio for a Tex-Mex approximation of Mexican food. In the 70s we got snobbier about our Mexican food, but, honestly, I love all of it, from the tackiest Tex-Mex to home style carne guisada to chain restaurant fajitas. It's all good to me.

[quote] I could go for some cheese enchiladas made with cheddar cheese, topped with chili con carne and chopped white onions, plus one of those puffy tostadas covered in melted cheese plus a scoop of guacamole.

You forgot a scoop a sour cream.

What is it with all these fucking scoops all of a sudden? Ice cream...guacamole...sour cream. Who wants an entire scoop of sour cream anyway?

*raises hand*

There used to be a place near me called Carlos O’Briens. It was Mexican/Irish fusion. I used to get the seafood chimichanga. It was so good!

Or maybe it was Chi-Chi’s?

Tiny Mex restaurant in Topeka, Kansas called Taco Casa. It was located right next to the local dive bar. They made an AMAZING taco burger on a white bun. I grew up poor-ish and we couldn't afford a lot of eating out, but we used to do Taco Casa runs on my parents' payday.

Haven't tasted anything quite like it since, and remember it fondly to this day as the ultimate fast-comfort food.

Hey can you describe the taco burger? Is it something you can make at home?

It was literally just taco meat on a little white bun, with shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and a kind of sad slice of tomato. But it was exquisite.

You could easily make it at home, if you drained the meat enough not to sog up the bun breading, and possibly used a lower-sodium taco mix.

Taco Bueno was part of Casa Bonita....not sure if they still are.

Furr's used to be in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma...Growing up, we often ate at the one in Tulsa.

"History Guy" profiles Taco Casa, "the oldest Mexican restaurant in Topeka," serving California-style Mexican food since 1963.

El Fenix was the go-to Tex Mex restaurant in the Dallas area in the 1980's (and 70's). Old-school, artery-clogging Tex-Mex in an Disney-like "Mexican" interior. Mmm... I can taste it now. Ole!

I even worked as a waiter at the Dallas Galleria mall El Fenix for a summer (1987?), right by the ice rink. One time the head of the El Fenix family came to eat there and it was a huge deal. He was like 100 years old. Members of the family came to the location a few times because it was so "glamorous." And the managers always made us treat them like royalty.

We did Christmas Eve at Howard Johnson's ever year.

As a vegetarian kid, I used to get the hushpuppies at Long John Silvers.

In high school it was all about Little Caesars and Fudruckers. Coffee at Shoney's and/or Denny's after an all-nighter. Or IHOP for hangover pancakes and omelettes.

In college? Olive Garden and the Pasta Factory.

[quote] Restaurants you ate at frequently when you were growing up but not so much now

Many. Too many to list or remember. 80%+ were locally owned and not franchises. They‘re “not so much now” frequented because I’ve moved away or they’ve long since closed.

It’s shocking how many DLers only eat at national chain restaurants. I guess a lot were just raised that way and never bothered to change or try new things. Is it because of baby tastes or just bad taste?

Maybe it’s because if they came on the thread and said Little Mary’s Diner nobody would know WTF they’re talking about.

Godfather's Pizza, Village Inn, Shoney's, Happy Joe's, Country Kitchen, Showbiz Pizza. Local to Omaha and SE Iowa - Valentino's Pizza buffet, Grandmother's (founded by Bob Kerrey), Lil' Duffer

VILLAGE INN, although my family refers to it as "Pancake Village".

I have fond memories of moving to Kansas for college & graduate school. It was my first time away from home and my brother and mother and I ate breakfast at VILLAGE INN the first morning I slept in Kansas.

Whenever they'd visit, we'd make certain to have one breakfast at VILLAGE INN during their visits. When I started going to gay bars and dating guys, VILLAGE INN was where we'd go after leaving the clubs.

Kansan here as well (I'm the Taco Casa poster) - I enjoyed Village Inn, too! Huge orange-and-brown sign and very thick ceramic cups. My friends and I called it "Village Idiot" (we kidded with love).

In high school the big thing was to hang out for hours at Village Inn, Perkins, or Denny's, drinking their disgusting coffee and smoking clove cigarettes.

[quote]Furr's used to be in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma...Growing up, we often ate at the one in Tulsa.

Did they sell Furrburgers there?

Chasen's

Powers Hamburgers, food of the late night gods. A cheesy, carmelized onion, fresh ground beef burger. Local to the Midwest only, the home of our Vice-President.

[quote] Does anybody remember a green soda they served at Farrels? Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I swear the had a darkish green soda I used to order there

It was Green River Soda. This guy mentions it very briefly on his blog

[quote]It was literally just taco meat on a little white bun, with shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and a kind of sad slice of tomato. But it was exquisite.

Sounds like a Loose Meat!

It sounds fucking GREAT too!

Thanks R181. Maybe I’ll try making it at home but I would skip the lettuce and I think I would add grilled onions though.

Olga’s Kitchen was great! I would get a Gyro or spanakopita! we would go to White Castle as well. My dad would call them “sliders.” (If you eat too many they will slide right out of you). I know gross!

Does anyone remember a chain named JoJo's from the 70s/early 80s? It was nicer than Denny's but had a similar menu - breakfast, burgers, salads, cheap steak and shrimp dinners. We had one in our home town that we ate at a lot but it closed in the early 80s and was replaced by Coco's, which wasn't as good. I assume it was a chain because I remember driving by at least one other location and it had a corporate vibe about it. I guess it could have been local to Houston though.

Wait, I found their logo on a blog about defunct Chicago restaurants so it must have been national.

I’m still craving an apple pancake from The Original Pancake House!

[quote]we would go to White Castle as well. My dad would call them “sliders.” (If you eat too many they will slide right out of you).

Dad was quite the jokester, seeing as how White Castle calls them sliders.

[quote] Olga’s Kitchen was great! I would get a Gyro or spanakopita!

What’s a spanakopita?

What did it have?

All of the pussy you could eat Rose!, R204

While I love that response, r205, and even W&W’d you for it, I still have never heard of that particular food item.

Butoni's Italian restaurant on Hempstead Turnpike, Bethpage NY

[quote] What’s a spanakopita?

It's a Greek puff pastry made with thin, flaky dough, spinach, and cheese. It's also delicious, you've been deprived.

Thanks, Matt.

Indeed I have been. I’d like to try that.

You're welcome. If there are no Greek restaurants within driving distance of you, Kroger carries a Private Selection version in their frozen appetizer section that is astonishingly good for store brand food.

I remember JoJo's, r201. There was one in SW Houston in the 80s, someplace out Richmond Avenue maybe? That wasn't really my part of town, but I remember meeting up with people there because it was one of the few places open late. They served decent food, "American" and a good cup of coffee.