As a kid. or teen, what was your favorite fast food place to go to? Mine was Roy Rogers. What was yours?

[debm55]

[3catwoman3]

1. Not exactly fast food, but I loved the clam rolls at Howard Johnson's.

[Walleye]

3. Me too

[debm55]

6. Yes, I liked the clam rolls too. I like the fried clams the best. Thank you 3catwoman3

Last edited Mon Aug 11, 2025, 11:17 AM - Edit history (1)

[Deuxcents]

7. Their ice cream cones were the best! My next favorite would be A&W Root beer at the counter in a frosty mug

[debm55]

20. When I got married we would stop at Howard Johnson's on our way to Boston. Loved their cones.

[samplegirl]

28. Yeah loved

It!

[marble falls]

32. Or at Friendly's.

[elleng]

54. YES!!!

and was almost the ONLY such place around.

[Bluestocking]

57. I went to Friendly's a few weeks ago and got a clam rolll

And for desert I got a Sunday and the waitress did not charge for the Sunday because she thought I was a senior.

[debm55]

58. Gee, Sorry. How old was she---17?

[Walleye]

2. We had Geno's before McDonald's. They had a great hamburger that was much better than the big Mac.

Also, we didn’t have any pizza places, but we did have some pretty good Italian subs

[debm55]

10. Thank you Walleye. We had an Italian family in my town that made great pizza. No subs though. We got our subs from

K-mart. YUK

[sorcrow]

4. Dairy Queen Brazier

For a chili dog with a hot fudge sundae for dessert.

Regards,
Sorghum Crow

[debm55]

11. Thank you very much sorcrow. They were good too.

[OLDMDDEM]

5. Bronco's in Omaha. Best burger. Onions and mustard only.

[debm55]

19. Thank you very much. for telling us about Bronco's. No ketchup????

[OLDMDDEM]

26. Mustard and onions only. Mmmmm good.

[mwmisses4289]

8. Dairy Queen or Pizza hut, those were within walking or biking distance.

[debm55]

17. Thank you very much mwmisses4289, I wish I had them growing up.

[Eugene]

9. McDonald's was the weekend treat.

We had a favorite pizza place when the family shopped downtown.

[debm55]

16. Thank you very much Eugene. As a child we very seldom went out to eat. As a teen I would stop at Roy's on my home from

work. Or my mother would get those awful hoagies with the mystery meat from K-Mart.

[rsdsharp]

12. Growing up, the closest thing to fast food in our town was A&W,

although I don’t recall eating there — just root beer after Little League, and floats. If we went to Mason City (River City in the Music Man) thirty miles west, we’d get McDonalds.

[debm55]

15. Yes, when I was growing up , we had no McDonalds in my small town either.

[rsdsharp]

22. We only even had one pizza place, and that was a bar -- Ray's Pass Time.

[debm55]

59. Sounds like my hometown, At ten years old, I used to go to the bar and order fish dinners for Lent.and bring them home.

[AllaN01Bear]

13. big boys

taco bvll before yum bought them. we had one in glendora ca @ citrus and foothill. nothing more than a small building and a window . u ordered att the window . mc donalds # 1 store was in azuza ca. mrs thomas fish and chips was in claremont ca.

[debm55]

14. Thank you very much, AllaN01Bear. I always liked their statue of the Big Boy out the restaurant.

[lucca18]

18. White Castle!

My father would say, let’s go to White Castle!
I loved those hamburgers!

And, for an extra treat, we would then go to Carvel, for those delicious soft ice cream cones dipped in chocolate!

[debm55]

23. Thank you lucca18, When I had workshops in Pittsburgh , we would stop at White Castle. Loved their unique burgers.

[House of Roberts]

21. I preferred Burger Chef to Burger King before Chef went out of business.

The best chain pizza in my town was Shakey's but they eventually went away too.

[debm55]

24. Oh yes, I remember Burger Chef. They had 15 cent burgers. Thank you House of Roberts.

[Sneederbunk]

25. A&W

[Jilly_in_VA]

27. A&W

or Kelly's, with the GREEEEEN pickle!

[SamKnause]

29. Frankie's Dairy Bar, Amelia Ohio.

Hamburgers 5 for a $1.00. (I was 10 and I remember the hamburgers and foot longs painted on the building)

Foot long coneys.

Fries.

Onion rings.

Spaghetti dinners.

21 piece shrimp dinners.

Fried chicken.

Whole chicken.

The largest rectangle pizzas I have ever seen.

Any kind of ice cream, float, malt, banana splits, or frozen treat on a stick.

My favorite was the foot long coneys. They were delicious.

[Traildogbob]

30. We were

Too poor. Fast food was killing the rat under my ground cloth and eating it fast. Before a brother knew I had it.
(My attempt at whining like a GQP white person that had no options because of black leople)

[marble falls]

31. The Hot Dog Inn on Lorain rd, Cleveland ... WTH? It closed after 92 years.

CLEVELAND — An iconic Cleveland restaurant will shut down for good at the end of March.

Old Fashion Hot Dogs in Ohio City will close its doors on March 29, according to Tom Sorma, one of the owners.

The Lorain Avenue building in which Old Fashion Hot Dogs rents space has been bought by a developer, My Place Group. The developer, Chad Kertesz, offered the owners the chance to stay and reopen the shop in the new building that will go up in place of the current one.

By email, Kertesz said in part, “We have done everything to keep [the shop] open to preserve the business including making an offer to buy the recipes and name, in addition to other attempts to keep them going. The owner declined and has told us he prefers to retire.”

https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/40a187e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x720+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F34%2Fd2%2F3776ab214841941a8d34a92dcdc1%2Frich6533.png

[Jrose]

33. From the time I was 8-10 yrs old -- to this day (70-ish)...

my all-time favorite 'fast food' has always been pizza, and the favorite place to get it has always been the freshly baked pie spot. Best place for decades: Sbarro's!

[sdfernando]

34. When I was quite young, before I started kindergarten,

we didn't have a ton of money....7 person household and the 5 of us kids were within 8 years from first to last. Once or twice a month Dad would load us all up in the station wagon, a black 1957 Plymouth Suburban Wagon, and take us to the A & W Drive-in for frosty cold root beers, burgers, and fries. This was the old-style drive in where they brought the food out to you on a tray that hooked onto the window. It was a real treat for us and all of us kids had a great time eating, playing, and even fighting in that car at the drive-in.

[flor-de-jasmim]

35. In the West, A&w, in the Boston area,

Friendly's and the Pewter Pot.

[debm55]

51. Thank you very much for sharing with us. flor-de-jasmim. When I taught in Philadelphia, my friends would always took me

to Friendly's.

[MIButterfly]

36. I was never allowed to eat fast food as a child or teen.

There used to be a place called Burger Chef about a mile away from my house and I went there after school maybe once or twice to get a burger so I would have to say Burger Chef. I don't remember ever eating at any other fast food place. (Maybe KFC once?)

I was also not allowed to chew gum or eat hog dogs. According to my mother, you just didn't know what they put in the hot dogs. Imagine my surprise, when decades later, at my employer's company picnic, I looked over to see her eating a hot dog! When I asked her why I was never allowed to eat hog dogs growing up, yet she was eating one, she simply said "They're better now."

[debm55]

50. HAHAHAHAHah. I am glad you got the chance on your own to experiecnce a fast food place.

[MIButterfly]

63. I looked up Burger Chef online and apparently

they had over 1,000 locations at one time. They were eventually bought by General Foods Corporation and then sold to Hardee's.

I just wanted to make sure I remembered the name correctly. That was long time ago.

[underpants]

37. Wendy's. When we moved from Ohio to Virginia we were surprised there were none here.

Pringles too. That must’ve been regional at the time.

[debm55]

49. Thank you underpants. They have been closing some underperforming Wendy"s around here. I liked their chili,

[Midnight Writer]

38. Snappy Service. Ten cent burgers. Can't speak to the taste, but any carry-out burger was a special treat for me.

When I was eight years old I started getting a quarter per week allowance. I would walk downtown on a Saturday afternoon, get a ten cent burger, walk to the theater for the five cent matinee double feature, and then to the public library where I used to hang out until closing browsing through the stacks.

Kids don't seem to have the freedom to do these kinds of things today. I was very much a "free-range" kid, even for the standards of the day. But I never see young kids out and roaming about town like we did in the 50s.

[debm55]

48. Right, I was a "free range " too. Most are on the computers or tic tok.

[Diamond_Dog]

39. My father absolutely loathed fast food so we never went to a fast food place as a family.

I went with my friends once in a while when I was a teenager. Never liked McDonalds, ever. There was a little place in my hometown called the Yum Yum that was good and also my mother would take us kids to A&W when my dad wasn’t going to be home for dinner, like once in a blue moon.

[debm55]

46. So did my parents. They would always say, "you want a burger, we can make it at home." The only thing we got that was

Those crappy K-Mart hoagies that we ate at home. ( I pulled the meat off of mine.)

[sorcrow]

40. For Atlantans

The Varsity, downtown by Georgia Tech.
Biggest drive-in in the world. In its heyday, each carhop had a number and would place a numbered card under your windshield wiper to claim you as as customer. They used repartee, song, dance and humor to attract customers. Nipsey Russell, a 1960s comedian, started work there after WW II. When he became famous, the Varsity retired his number 46.

At its height, the Varsity had space for 600 cars and seating for 800 inside.

More info on Wikipedia

My favorite meal was a chili dog, a chili burger, fries and frosted orange.

The Varsity is still an institution in and around Atlanta

I make sure to visit the Varsity in Atlanta Airport when I pass through .

Best regards,
Sorghum Crow

[debm55]

45. Wow , That place was huge and unique too. That you sorcrow.

[malthaussen]

41. McDonald's. Loved the QP with cheese. It ain't the same anymore.

Never use them now.

However, when we lived in Brentwood, there was no Mickey D's around, but we went to Big Boy (not "Bob's Big Boy," this is the older version) a lot. Didn't discover McDonald's until will moved to Philly when I was 10.

Gotta admit, though, the Double-R Bar Burger at Roy's was great.

-- Mal

[debm55]

44. Thank you very much malthaussen. There is a McDonnalds in Brentwood at the intersection of Brownsville and 51.

[malthaussen]

47. Can't remember what was at that intersection when I lived there...

... maybe an Acme or A&P. That is literally right down 51 from where I used to live.

-- Mal

[Buzz cook]

42. Kenny Kings NE Ohio

Kenny Kings started as a drive in and then bought the rights to make Kentucky fried chicken.
It became more of a sit down restaurant.
My favorite memory is the onion rings. No place has come close since.
https://www.facebook.com/KennyKingsFamilyRestaurant/

[debm55]

43. Thank you very much Buzz cook. I love onion rings.

[DBoon]

52. Taco Bell

Way back when they still had the fire pit.

[debm55]

90. Thank you very much, DBoon

[surrealAmerican]

53. the Automat.

As a little child in New York, I loved the place. It was somehow both old-fashioned and futuristic at the same time.

[debm55]

89. Thank you surrealAmerican. I have seen them on television and they did look futuristic.

[Bluestocking]

55. When I was a kid fast food was not that big of a deal

We had locally owned pizza joints, Chinese take out, and Jewish deli’s to choose from. Also diners - NY style diners. We also had Nathan’s which I guess is fast food. Why choose McDonalds or Burger King when you can get a fresh slice of pizza?

[debm55]

88. Because as a kid, that is what you would like and they were low in price?

[4TheArts]

56. Krystal burgers

Basically the same as White Castle.
On my twelfth birthday my mom knew I wanted twelve Kristal Burgers. I ate them all in an hour or so.

[debm55]

83. Oh my, 4TheArts. You ate 12? they are on the small side though if they are like White Castle.

[4TheArts]

95. LOL. Was queasy for sure

but kept 'em down.

[debm55]

96. Hahahaha

[Dorothy V]

60. Back when Dad was stationed at George AFB, there was this little drive in on the road from Victorville to Oro Grande. A

low slung green stucco building of most modest proportions, it had a window where orders were placed and picked up, a fairly large gravel parking lot with a string of yellow lightbulbs strung cattywampus across it, and the absolute BEST damned tacos I ever ate in my entire life.
Wish I could tell you the name of the place, but not only can I not recall its name, I don't recall seeing a sign with a name anywhere on the place. We just called it the taco place.
Second fave was probably A&W, and I recall Minuteman had pretty good burgers.

[debm55]

81. Thank you, Dorothy V, for your selections. They all sound great.

[justaprogressive]

61. A & W !!

later, when I could drive Big Boy!

[debm55]

79. HAHAHAHAHHHAH. thank you justaprogressive. We had a Big Boy's but not a Bob"s Big Boy's. I think they were similiar.

[Emile]

62. Steak-n-Shake and Burger Chef

[debm55]

76. Thank you Emile for your two choices.

[OldBaldy1701E]

64. You got me on this one.

There was one 'fast food' place within 40 miles of my house. It was originally a 'Dairy King' (if you remember those), but passed through several owners depending on who wanted to keep the old place running. There is something there to this day, however, so it must have been kept useable for a very long time.

Once we moved to where one could get fast food on a regular basis, it was Wendy's. (Gods, I remember when Wendy's opened its doors. Sheesh!) But, I was already 17 by then.

[debm55]

75. Thank you very much, OldBaldy1701E, I really liked Wendy's chili.

[catbyte]

65. Well, growing up in the midddle of nowhere northern Lower Michigan, we had two choices:

Dairy Queen and the A&W Drive-In, both closing in November and reopening in April, I suppose it was Dairy Queen because it was close enough to the school where we could ditch the cafeteria food and have one of DQ's loose-meat sandwiches for $.35. Until November, that is.

[debm55]

74. Thank you very much , catbyte. I like them both.

[doc03]

66. In my day we didn't have any fast food chains

around here other than Big Boy and a Burger Chef.

[debm55]

73. That's okay, doc03. So you liked Big Boy and Burger Chef?

[Coloradan4Truth]

67. Shakey's Pizza

in Boulder, CO. You could watch the cooks throwing the pizza crust up in the air. It was kind of cheesy, pun intended, but us kids loved it.

[debm55]

72. Thank you very much , Coloradan4Truth. I would love to see one made that way.

[ArnoldLayne]

68. Burger Chef and Dairy Queen/Brazier Burger

[hydrolastic]

69. Arctic circle

Marysville. WA

[debm55]

70. Thank you very much, hydrolastic.

[debm55]

71. Great combination there, ArnoldLayne.

[customerserviceguy]

77. Right next to my kindergarten

was the big bucket in the sky, yep, Colonel Sanders. My very first fast food was from Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Mom still had a paper menu from the place when it opened, and Harlan Sanders had autographed it for her. It was so ingrained in my mind, that to me, KFC's cole slaw still tastes the best to me!

[debm55]

92. Thank you customerserviceguy. I agree with the cole slaw.

[dem4decades]

78. I'm pretty old, i think they're was only McDonald's.

My kids favorite was Arby's.

[sinkingfeeling]

80. Local, Larry's Pizza.

[Phoenix61]

82. Rax Roast Beef. Hated when they closed. nt

[debm55]

94. Thank you very much, Phoenix61, I remember when they closed also,

[Mike Nelson]

84. We had none...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=grab+a+bucket+and+mop+mcdonald%27s

... they were not allowed in my home town. The closest was "Carvel" ice cream... not quite fast food. Still, we got the commercials - which I liked. Here is one that features John Amos and Anson Williams before they got their own TV shows!

[debm55]

87. Thank you very much, Mike Nelson. However, Carvel ice cream was great.

[kozar]

85. Scotties

A local burger joint between school and home

[debm55]

86. Thank you very much, kozar.

[applegrove]

91. My friends and I would go swimming at a downtown hotel and

then go to the restaurant in the basement of Ogilvie's Department store and order the French fries only. It wasn't a fast food chain but it was delicious.

[debm55]

93. Thank you. applegrove, It sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day.