Restaurants that are no more

[golfgal]

I really miss Magic Pan (crepes) Yum!

We have a ton of Godfather's here. Probably because it started in Omaha.

Jerry

There is a Magic Pan at the Mall of America!!

We have Godfather's all over too

Orange Julius

Every mall around here has one. They have a pomegranate Julius now that is very yummy.

 

[jen0610]

You people have made me SOoooooo hungry.

Our fav's that no longer are around here:

Ground Round
Godfathers
Sambo's
Chi-Chi's (before it went down hill)
Tica Taco - so much better than TB
Bill Knapp's - we can buy their choclate cake at the Meijer stores locally.
Duff's Smorgasboard - we were just talking about this place last week
Rax
Sizzler - Loved their texas toast
cafe at walgreens

Some that we are lucky to still have:
An A&W rootbeer stand - it is worth the 30 mile drive over to Antwerp OH to get it. It is sooo much better than what they have in the KFC/A&W combo store.
Azar's Big Boy - we still have 1 left.

 

[Planogirl]

Does anyone remember Black Eye Pea restaurant or Semolina Pasta? I think they were both chains.

We still have lots of Black Eyed Pea restaurants around here. DH loves them, me not so much.

 

[ozarkmom]

Shakey's pizza and Highs ice cream parlour

 

[Mrs.Toad]

We still have lots of Black Eyed Pea restaurants around here. DH loves them, me not so much.

We have them in Colorado, too. Love the fried corn on the cob, but we don't eat there much, because it's like a heart attack on a plate.

 

[beachblanket]

just thought of another: Ground Round

you'd get a basket of both peanuts in the shell, as well as popcorn and you were expected to toss the shells onto the floor (early 70s)

can't remember what i ate there - just remember the peanut shells!

Neither Ground Round , Sizzler nor Howard Johnsons belong on the "no more" list.

Both of the steakhouse chains are still alive and kicking and between them have hundreds of active franchise locations. Here are their corporate websites:

Ground Round

http://www.groundround.com/home/

Sizzler

http://www.sizzler.com/

Howard Johnsons Restaurants (not the hotel chain, that's a different company and story) are still alive but are a pale, pale shadow of their former selves. At the chains' peak in 1975 it had over 600 restaurants nationwide (not including the Ground Round locations - the latter was originally a subsidiary of HJ).

However, after decades of ownership and management changes -- which led to decline -- the franchise holding company folded in 2005. However, there ARE still three former Howard Johnson franchise restaurant locations operating in the U.S. Two are in upstate New York (Lake George -- picture below -- and Lake Placid; I ate at the former about six years ago) with the third in Bangor, Maine.

 

[Erin1700]

We have a Ground Round here but the service and food have really declined in the past few years.

Do I ever miss RAX!!!!!

I keep seeing commercials for some $5.00 pizza and salad buffet restaurant and we dont have anything of the sort around here. What is this place?

 

[IHeartTink04]

just thought of another: Ground Round

you'd get a basket of both peanuts in the shell, as well as popcorn and you were expected to toss the shells onto the floor (early 70s)

can't remember what i ate there - just remember the peanut shells!

We still have Ground Round, love it!

 

[sssteele]

I will probably never find fried clam "strips" as good as Howard Johnson's. One addition to the clam strip roll description - the roll was grilled as I recall. Why do some very good restaurants (Don Pablos) for example not make it - poor management, lack of consistency from one location to another, or just new competition? Regarding Red Robin, my wife and I tried it twice - there will not be a third time. I also have to put Roy Rogers on my list of those i miss- I don't think however that the ones that remain are as good as they used to be, at least not on the PA Turnpike.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I keep seeing commercials for some $5.00 pizza and salad buffet restaurant and we dont have anything of the sort around here. What is this place?

Cici's Pizza?

I went to Rax for chocolate chip shakes on my first date (when I was 14) -- ahhh, the memories.

 

[sha_lyn]

I keep seeing commercials for some $5.00 pizza and salad buffet restaurant and we dont have anything of the sort around here. What is this place?

If not CiCi's then Stevie B's is the only other one I know of. We prefer Stevie B's over CiCi's

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

If not CiCi's then Stevie B's is the only other one I know of. We prefer Stevie B's over CiCi's

We hav eboth here in Columbus, Ga and they are both nasty. we don't really have any good pizza places. The $5.00 pizza from Little Ceasar's is a grease blob. Pizza Hut and Papa John's is okay when you want pizza, but nothing to brag about.

What I miss the most is our Baskin Robbins. Always got an ice cream cake for my birthday and now we don't have one. I have heard that one is coming our way, though.

Suzanne

 

[GraysMom]

Different strokes for different folks! My husband and I love our two local Red Robin's!

We have two Red Robin's in our area and we love their food. Bottomless steak fries-yummy.

 

[DLBDS]

Chi-Chi's for sure
Darryl's
Rathskeller
Shoney's (just for the nostalgia....the food was just ok)

 

[talulabelle]

We have two Red Robin's in our area and we love their food. Bottomless steak fries-yummy.

Love their Harvest Apple Salad! It has goat cheese in it. I love goat cheese.
We like the place too, it is fast, almost fast-food fast with better food. They also have a liquer licence which is a huge plus. I get a little creeped out by the baskets with the paper liners that they serve the food in though. I know this is why they stay fast and cheap, but you know they just change the paper liner and reuse the basket without washing it, just like Quadoba. Reusable food baskets give me the heebie-jeebies.

 

[Poohnatic]

The commercial that drove us crazy was Ruby Tuesday's. We don't have any out here and we finally ate at one in Orlando, just because we finally could!

Ruby Tuesday's used to be SO good. A few years ago, they revamped the whole place and the focus is burgers, all kinds of burgers. I'm sorry, if you do a variety of foods well (like their Ribs), you keep them. Instead, they do mediocre burgers.

I used to eat there somewhat regularly, but last year, I threw in the towel on them after I ordered an Onion soup and salad. The soup was more like Onion Gravy than french onion soup.

My husband and I used to live in the middle of nowhere, and to get him to move there, I had to get Direct TV (back when it was 800 bucks for one!). We got national feed commercials and I'd see ads for places that looked soooo good. Schlotsky's, Quizno's, Sonic, and dozens more. It drove me crazy to see all these places that I couldn't try. Though now we have Sonic everywhere and I really only visit when it gets very hot to get those slushies.

Cici's pizza is another ! The only thing I liked when the kids dragged us there was the cinnamon rolls. My kids love the mac and cheese pizza. It was nasty. Blech!

Suzanne

 

[Fire14]

I remember Rax too, must be a Columbus thing

It maybe a Columbus thing but I'm a Michigan Girl and miss my potato bar at Rax and Wendy's too.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

It maybe a Columbus thing but I'm a Michigan Girl and miss my potato bar at Rax and Wendy's too.

You hit that nail on the head. I also loved RAX taco bar.

Suzanne

 

[Fire14]

Ooh, Mr. Steak, I forgot about them. They had the best loaves of bread. My sister and I used to get cherry Cokes there and they always came with a little stuffed animal clinging to the straw.

I LOVED THIS PLACE. I miss them too. I still have some of my straw critters

 

[HamTown]

posted by DLBDS


Chi-Chi's for sure
Darryl's
Rathskeller
Shoney's (just for the nostalgia....the food was just ok)

I couldn't believe it when I heard the Rat had closed. I mean, I know they probably hadn't mopped the floor in 30 years, but it was an institution! I was eating there the night the original Intimate Bookshop burned (not an adult bookstore). We smelled the smoke and thought they had burned the garlic bread!

Darryl's had the best sweet tea and I have had dreams about their sour cream apple pie.