Nostalgia for defunct restaurants...

[NewWaveChick1981]

*sigh* All this burger talk has made me nostalgic for Hector's, a Greek-owned hole-in-the-wall burger place on Franklin St. in Chapel Hill. :loveya: Hector's had been a staple for many years by the time I got to college. They had the BEST cheeseburgers on the planet. :woohoo: They were grilled right before your eyes, and they came with lettuce, tomato, mustard, chili, and onions. :9 They served all manner of Greek fast food too, and they were open late. My husband jokes that he and his buddies would stop by there after going out to bars to get a Greek grilled cheese----not because they were hungry, but so they could throw up before going home. :rofl: From what I hear, Hector's was also the best place to satisfy the munchies after partaking of a certain herb....but I wouldn't know about that... O8)

Hector's was not exactly like the Olympia Cafe on SNL, but it was close. You ordered fries "heavy" or "extra heavy", not small or large. :P The building where I worked after graduation was right across the street from Hector's, and my coworkers and I would go there a lot.

A couple of years after I moved from Chapel Hill, the restaurant burned under mysterious circumstances. Rumor has it that the owners wanted to go back to Greece and didn't want to deal with shutting down the restaurant. I don't know the real reason, but I do know that another restaurant opened a couple of years ago under the Hector's name, but it is NOT the same place and does NOT have the same food. :(

I'd love to have a Hector's cheeseburger right about now... :9

[StrongBad]

1. I miss Howard Johnson's

Although I still think there's one in NYC, I have many memories of me as a young'n and my mom taking me there often for sunday lunch.

They had good food from what I remember...

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. OMG, I loved HoJoCola...

:D I saw a special (I think on the History Channel) that had a segment on Howard Johnson's restaurants, and there are only one or two left now. We always ate at HoJo on family trips. :9 I miss them too.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. Yeah the one in Asbury Park, NJ just closed.

I never ate there but I've driven by it going to the Stone Pony.

[sir_captain]

6. It closed very recently

it was sad

[StrongBad]

7. You mean the NYC one??

Damn, that sucks...

[sir_captain]

44. Yeah

rent in Times Square must have been kind of unimaginable

[TommyO]

99. We used to go to the one in Somerville, NJ

all the time after theater rehearsals back in high school - one of the group worked there, so they didn't treat us like ordinary high school kids (the fact that we never ducked out on a check and left decent tips helped). Unfortunately that HoJo's is now a Lonestar - it's not just their name, it's their rating!

[Broken_Hero]

3. I miss

damn it, I cannot remember the proper name...it was a joint in Washington, near seattle...it had an awesome ice cream dish called the Pig Pen, where if you ate the whole thing, you got it for free....also had some great burgers/fries...

I think it was called.

1. Ferries

2. Pharoah's

Something like that...

Another good joint, was a bar, in Ballard(WA), they served a burger called the Duffy's burger, the best burger, I have ever had, ever...it was HUGE, and tasted great....:)

[NewWaveChick1981]

4. I seem to remember hearing about the restaurant that served

the Pig Pen. I don't remember the name, but the Pig Pen is legendary. :)

Why is it that all the best burger places seem to go away? :cry:

[Broken_Hero]

5. I don't know...:)

Back home, there is a place called Rose's Caboose...their burgers are awesome too, probably...hmm, 4th best, or 3rd best I ever had...they have been shut down before for health violations...so maybe thats why all the good places get shut down...:)

[grasswire]

10. Farrell's

The Trough was fifty scoops of ice cream and lots of toppings.

[NewWaveChick1981]

12. That's it!

Farrell's. There was one in Charlotte at Eastland Mall. I was never there with anyone insane enough to get that.

[Broken_Hero]

14. yes, that is it!!!...

my mind is mush....I knew somebody would remember it...:) Is it still around? I haven't eaten there, since...damn. 93 maybe....:) Had a couple of my birthdays there...:)

[grasswire]

15. nope, Farrell's is gone

Too bad, so sad.

[Broken_Hero]

16. :(

To bad, so sad. Last time I was there, was for my birthday, and watched Harry and the Hendersons at the theater, right next door. Oh well...

[Virginia Dare]

26. Yep, brings back lots of memories...n/t

[smtpgirl]

76. I remember that place too

never ate in the trough though, don't want to eat ice cream after another, unless its my SO

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

78. RIP Farrells

I miss that there are not places like that for people to take their kids today. Good times back in the day having birthday parties there!

[Kali]

19. Ferrels - and if it was your birthday they would bring it out on a litter

with sirens and flashing lights and embarrass the crap out of you - I think they were the originators of "embarrass the birthday person"

[Broken_Hero]

28. yep!

But I wasn't embarrassed, they also sang you a lame ass song too...:)

[bertha katzenengel]

51. THE ZOO!

OMG I loved the Zoo! It was a huge dish -- I might say as big around as the musical surface of a steel drum, and twice as deep -- filled with scores of scoops of ice cream, bananas, toppings, whipped cream . . . :wow: to a little kid. And it was covered with little plastic animals. I loved those things.

lousy shot of a Zoo being delivered


And -- I can't believe it. There's actually a Farrell's in the town where I went to college.

[Kali]

69. That's right!

the ZOO! I got fuddled with the description of the pigpen - but yeah it was the Zoo and it had little plastic animals on all the MOUNTAINS of ice cream and stuff.

[PretzelzRule]

85. That would be Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor

in the 70's, my older brothers would hang out there with their high school friends at the one that was located in Southcenter Mall; they would have way too much fun making a big production over ordering an ice cream dessert called (no joke) "Cathy's Pink Surprise" :rofl:

[Cruzan]

8. I grew up going to Sambo's

Pancakes, bacon and eggs; chef salad; steak or fried chicken on my birthday paying with my Sambo's Birthday Buck.

They're all gone now except for the original one in Santa Barbara.



http://www.sambosrestaurant.com

[NewWaveChick1981]

13. I ate at Sambo's a few times...

...and they were much better than Denny's. :)

[PretzelzRule]

86. Same here

Sambo's and VIP's were always near Denny's along Interstate 5 between Washington and California in the 70's. Many of the old VIP's locations became what are now Shari's (I can tell by the shape of the sign).

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. Not only that, it was one of the first places you could have fried chicken

at 8 AM if you wanted. I always had fried chicken for breakfast when we went there. :hi:

[Strawman]

74. My mom used to take me to the one at Eastland all the time

I think it was inside JC Pennys if I remember correctly.

[taterguy]

9. Now I have an intense craving for their double cheeseburger on pita

But since they're gone and I don't feel like driving to Chapel Hill anyway I'll just have to suffer

[NewWaveChick1981]

11. OMG, I've got the same craving, but for a double cheeseburger

(on a bun). :( Sorry, dude... didn't mean to torture you.

[taterguy]

34. It's getting worse

Now I want a feta cheese pizza from Marathon Restaurant

[NewWaveChick1981]

37. At least you didn't say a pizza from Mariakas...

:rofl: Worst. Pizzas. Ever. :puke:

[taterguy]

41. Marathon was just convenient for me

I lived in the apartments upstairs. The pizzas were actually quite tasty, especially consumed on the balcony on a Friday afternoon accompanied by a few Rolling Rocks.

[NewWaveChick1981]

42. Oh, I loved Marathon.

Their food was great. :) Must've been nice having them so convenient!

[Archae]

17. The old A & W's...

They'd make up a batch of that heavenly root beer in gallon jugs...:9

Nowadays, A & W root beer is just like the others, corn-syrup flavored and awful. :-(

[NewWaveChick1981]

20. I never actually went to an old A&W, but my husband did.

He loved their root beer too! An A&W opened not far from here about four years ago, and he was all excited that we had one. They had root beer in the gallon jugs, but it was NOT the same as the old-time root beer. It was fake and corn-syrupy too. :( I'm not a root beer fan, but he said it was horrid. He took it to the manager and complained, and the manager said there wasn't anything he could do but give hubby his money back. :(

[RFKHumphreyObama]

22. A&W used to be (and still is) one of my favorite fast food outlets

We used to live in Southeast Asia and two countries there had A&Ws. We used to go there frequently when we were kids and we'd always love their rootbeer floats and their coney dogs and onion rings. It still is a must-do when we go back there for holidays

When I visited the US, I insisted on going to an A&Ws. I went to one in San Diego and one in some small town in Indiana. I didn't regret it :)

[Critters2]

55. Yep, they ruined it when they started mass production

I loved the old A&Ws.

Btw, Sprecher's Root Beer is pretty good.

[bertha katzenengel]

72. my mom took us to A&W drive-up -- with car hops -- for

burgers and root beer floats

one of my earliest memories -- thank you, Archae :hug:

[Critters2]

92. Papa burgers, Mama burgers, teen burgers, baby burgers

and that good root beer. Fond memories for me, too!

[rug]

21. I miss the Automat.

[NewWaveChick1981]

27. Automats were a lot of fun!

Sugar Smack started a thread about Automats a while back, and it brought back so many memories. :D

[MarianJack]

81. In the Early 40's...

...my mom was a "nickel thrower" in the Horn & Hardartt's in Delaware County, PA.

[RebelOne]

87. When I was a kid, my mother

would take me to Horn & Hardartt's in downtown Philadelphia. Used to love that place.

[MarianJack]

96. 3 Words, RebelOne!

Chocolate.

Cup.

Custard!

[tigereye]

23. at the risk of turning your thread into a flame war,

I miss the Italian Oven. ;)

I also miss a wonderful Greek restaurant called Suzies. It was my favorite Greek restaurant here. :cry:

[NewWaveChick1981]

29. The only flames here are in the oven!

:rofl: I love Italian, Greek, and just about all ethnic cuisines. :) A lot of good places are now gone. :(

:hi:

[lost-in-nj]

24. Burger Chef

It was a semi-fast food place and a chain. Mostly take out and the best shakes ever.
I remember the whole place was sheet metal. I guess it was easier to clean.





lost

[NewWaveChick1981]

31. I loved Burger Chef too.

:hi: The one nearest our house was further away than places like Krystal and McDonald's, so we didn't eat there as often. But I loved it! I hate that they're gone. :cry:

[smtpgirl]

35. I remember Burger Chef

Burger Chef & Jeff

[SKKY]

52. Yes! They served their burgers in little plastic ziploc-like bags...

...that kept the heat in so much better and made the bun nice and soft. To this day, I think they had/have the
best fastfood burgers EVER!

[Giant Robot]

88. OMG yes!

While scrolling down the thread I have been thinking, "What was the name of that place, Burger Something..."

Burger Chef! That is it. Oh I went there so much as a kid. Smiles thinking to those days long gone....

[Submariner]

25. Joe & Nemo's 15 cent Hot Dogs and Burgers & White Tower

as the backup burger joint. I ate at those places before McDonald's and Burger Death were invented. Great cheap burgers. I could kill for some Joe & Nemo's now that NewWaveChick1981 had to start a food thread. :o

[NewWaveChick1981]

32. Didn't mean to stir up a hunger that could not be cured...

:P :evilgrin: Sorry about that...

[graywarrior]

30. Roland's Icecream on the Lynnway in Lynn

where you could get the Ice Cream Boat sunday. Not a care about calories back then.

[NewWaveChick1981]

33. Yep, I loved not caring about calories too!

:hi: Old-time ice cream sundaes were the best...

[Submariner]

48. Roland's closed! Say it ain't so....

I loved the 10,000 calorie Giant banana boat with 6 scoops to eat at Nahant Beach. Closed? Bummer....

Buttricks in Arlington with it's walnut fudge ice cream and frappes made with light cream is gone too....Some jerk invented cholesterol and took the fun out of the 20,000 calorie frappes.

This thread is making me sad...x(

[graywarrior]

67. Closed in the 60's and became a rock club lounge skank hole

[ScreamingMeemie]

38. Hardees...and their mushroom and swiss burger. They have recently

brought the name back, but it isn't the same restaurant. :( No great mushroom and swiss burger.

[NewWaveChick1981]

39. Yep. Now their theme is "Without us, some guys would starve."

I mean, WTF??? :rofl: They have Monster Burgers and Breakfast Barf In a Bowl or whatever nastiness that is, but no mushroom and swiss (which I liked too). :grr:

I know the chain was in big financial trouble, and when they revamped with the Monster Burger, they're doing pretty well now. But their target customers are not us, I can tell you.

[smtpgirl]

43. Little Tavern Hamburgers

[Critters2]

57. They've never been gone from around here

I never liked 'em, though. A friend of mine says their slogan should be "We make it big, not good".

[ScreamingMeemie]

62. Only one came back here, but it's not the same restaurant.

:hi:

[Archae]

40. We had one of these in my home town...

Anyone else remember them?

[Critters2]

58. Yep, used to be one every highway

before the interstates ruined everything.

[ForrestGump]

45. Rax

I know they're still around (I found a couple in Pennsylvania a few years back), but they no longer thunder across the American landscape as they began to in the '80s. I loved their salad bar -- in 1985, it was fairly state of the art (though not as massive as Ponderosa's), this being before the rise of such magnificent establishments as the ambitious California-style Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes, Soup Exchange, Sergeant Peppers (in DC -- itself now defunct?), SouperSalad, and the like -- but it was their chocolate-chip milkshakes that had me. I loved those things. Magic. When I entered the hallowed doors of the remnant Rax in PA, seven years ago, and tasted the wonder that remains their chocolate-chip shake, I was transported back to a happier time..and it was good.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

66. I liked Rax, too

There was one near my office in Tampa and I ate there alot. Loved the salad bar.
Honestly don't recall if they closed before we moved away or not. I had quit going there because I started eating somewhere else every day with the not then but present day Mr 'pede. He was buying.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

79. Rax

Is the first place that came to mind when I saw this thread, I always thought their roast beef but Arby's to shame. Also had some of the best milkshakes around. Most all the rax in the central indiana area turned into fazeolli.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

46. Two deceased fast food chains that existed in Rio de Janeiro

Gordon and Rick's. Were engulfed by the bigger brands. The first one had a burger with curry. Mmmmmmm.

[Dora]

47. Guggy's.

Just for the name.

[bertha katzenengel]

49. Naugle's. "Mexican" (Mex adapted ultra-American style)

I think they were swallowed up by Del Taco. I'm very fond of Del Taco, but Naugle's burritos were THE. BEST. Sigh.

[Flaxbee]

83. Oh. My. God. I loved Naugles!

I always went to the one in Palm Springs. Their burritos were divine. We also had one across the way from my high school...

And, can't forget Der Wienershnitzel.. reminds me so much of my grandma, my youth. Mom and I would go visit Grandma, and we'd all either go to Der W or Taco Tia. Back before Southern California became paved in its entirety.

[bertha katzenengel]

94. Wienerschnitzel is still going strong. It's usually one of my must-stops

when I go home.

I remember Taco Tia. Do you remember Pup 'n' Taco?

[Critters2]

50. Mr. Steak

Just the other day I found myself wondering whatever happened to "Mr. Steak". They used to have this chocolate bavarian cream pie worth dying for. And they were everywhere. People didn't stop eating steak, so what happened?

[Dukkha]

53. Ponderosa, Brown Derby, Rax

there just aren't steak houses like that anymore or salad bars.

Also Flaky Jakes Burger Bar! Awesome!

[Critters2]

54. Umm, we still have Ponderosa and Rax here

Just took my dad to Ponderosa the other day.

[Dukkha]

59. well then I'm moving there

Make some room on your couch!

nothing here but Olive Gardens and Arbys

[Critters2]

60. The one where I took my dad is in West Bend, WI

but there's one in this town, too. We also have Olive Gardens and Arby's.

[Gatchaman]

63. We have Ponderosa too

but the quality has gone to shit. Hoss's is still okay, although the one we go to hasn't changed its decor in at least 25 years (that's my favorite reason for going there).

I miss Ponderosa and Bonanza. I hate all these new "Texas" steakhouses. Overpriced and overrated.

[China_cat]

56. Ever hit the Villa Teo?

[Catshrink]

61. The Russian Samovar in Seattle

It was a tiny restaurant on Seattle's Capitol Hill. The walls were covered with beautiful hand-painted murals. The food was delicious and the atmosphere delightful. I think it's now an antique shop.

[Jade Fox]

71. I went there....

It was great! We were virtually the only customers, and the food was good.

[NC_Nurse]

64. I remember Hector's

it was weird when it burned down. I used to eat breakfast at the Howard Johnson's in Durham when I was in nursing school.
I had to go in early and they were 24 hours back then. Man, their breakfast was AWESOME!
Sigh.

[greatauntoftriplets]

65. The Morris Barbecue in Elgin, IL.

It was a little hole in the wall with a counter and stools with a screen door that slammed when you opened and shut it. Great barbecue food -- pulled pork sandwiches and the like, made out in back in a big old smoker.

[BreweryYardRat]

68. Not defunct, but I moved away from it.

I miss The Sports Page in Sarasota. Little bar and grill down near the end of Main Street, with some of the best sandwiches, clam chowder, and cheese fries I've ever had. They served a grouper reuben that was orgasm between two slices of grilled bread.

[Southsideirish]

70. "Bangkok Star" on Fullerton in Chicago. What a wonderful place it was!

Huge, roomy, wonderful caring staff. Delicious food, good, generous "pours, and inexpensive. Sigh. We were just talking about it today and its been closed for years. There isn't a Thai place here that even comes close to the "Star."

[YellowRubberDuckie]

73. Molly Murphy's House of Ill-Repute.

I always saw the commercials, and always wanted to go. The servers were dressed in crazy costumes. It was great. Then it was shut down due to health code violations. All the good places...:evilgrin:
Duckie

[Strawman]

75. The Pied Piper Pizza Peddler

That place was cool. Long beer hall tables, good square pizza and an old pipe organ that came out of the floor.

[smtpgirl]

77. Tippy's Taco/Terrapin Taco

A Tippy's near U of MD was called Terrapin Taco, great place and queso dip was good, cheap good eats
The California Burrito use to be the sunken meat burrito, oh, so good

[Kool Kitty]

80. A restaurant that I went to since I was

four years old-The House of Eng, was in Keyport, New Jersey. Great Chinese food, not fancy or anything. Just the best. I closed about 10 years ago. I miss it terribly.

[MarianJack]

82. Defunct To Me,...

...but still Going strong is "Charlie's" in Holmes, PA.

Also "Nifty Fifty's" about 3 blocks away.

Both have great burgers & shakes, but I'm not going 500 miles!

[LibDemAlways]

84. LaBarbaras on Wilshire in West LA. For years

husband and I would dine for a few dollars on an antipasto, a "medium deluxe" pizza, and two glasses of the house chianti. We were never disappointed - until one day we pulled up and there was a huge hole in the ground where our beloved restaurant had stood. It was razed to make way for a multi-level parking structure and strip mall. A crying shame.

[babylonsister]

89. Does anyone remember Wetson's hamburgers? I DO and

my whole family loved 'em. I don't imagine it was the quality we loved, but the fact that we were 'going out' for dinner. With 5 kids in the 1960s, that didn't happen often.

[Jamastiene]

90. I miss Godfather's Pizza and Western Sizzlin.

We no longer have either in Rockingham. Sadly.

[Critters2]

93. Godfather's is all over the place in Iowa

The only place that delivered in the town where I lived. Every small town had one. I really love businesses that cater to small towns. And they have good pizza, too!

[LoZoccolo]

91. Mr. Fables around Grand Rapids, Michigan

This was a local chain, and they would start cooking the burger right after you ordered it, kind-of like Culver's. Their version of "deluxe" wasn't just lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, but chopped-up olives too! Great stuff, and I still like to put olives on my own burgers even after they closed down.

[Zhade]

95. Raxx, anyone?

NT!

[yellowdogintexas]

97. Tastee Treet, a loose meat sandwich place with the most

awesome soft serve ice cream I ever tasted.
The loose meat burgers were good too.

Most of the outlets were in Iowa and Nebraska but ours was in Kentucky. Some GI(from Iowa) basead @ Ft Campbell married a local woman and they opened the Tastee after WWII. It finally shut down when I was in college. Still miss it.

[IndyBob]

98. Does anyone from Milwaukee

know if Kopps is still around? This burger talk is driving me crazy. Kopps had great frozen custard (artery clogger) too. Now I'm homesick.