Restaurants that are no more

[beachblanket]

I haven't read through the whole thread, but the place I miss the most is Bailey's Ice Cream in Boston. It had the old fashioned ice cream parlor look, with marble bistro tables and the ice cream was fabulous! It was the highlight of every childhood trip "in town" and I wish I could do it with my kids!

Pooh Pixie, I miss Bailey's too. I used to go their Harvard Square location and remember it closing sometime in the late 80s. The spot is now occupied by a Gap...

Around at its peak, Bailey's reach actually extended far out of the city, down to the south shore. Here's a fond memory of that from July 1949, in the surf off of Natasket beach in Hull:

 

[Figment22]

Does anyone remember a place called The Hot Shoppe? I think it was a chain. They served a shake made with orange sherbet that was named an Orange Frappe or something like that. I loved those things when I was a kid.

I remember eating at one a few times during a childhood visit to Washington, DC since it was near the motel we stayed in.

I remember Hot Shoppes. They definitely were a chain; specifically they were owned by Marriott (who also owned Roy Rogers way back then.)

Their food was good. I remember they had delicious roast beef. They were cafeteria style but nice. The first one I ever ate in was in Washington, DC also but we then had one at the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ IIRC.

I Googled to find out that the last Hot Shoppe closed in 1999.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Thanks, beachblanket, that's cool. I googled them and found the obituary for the founder, he died in 2007. It said they were all over greater Boston, basically. I think the one in Wellesley may have been the last to close, at least that I know of. At least we do still have great ice cream places around here, no Baskin Robbins for us!

 

[beachblanket]

Beachblanket, those brochures bring back such memories! Thanks for posting them.

Does anyone remember a place called The Hot Shoppe? I think it was a chain. They served a shake made with orange sherbet that was named an Orange Frappe or something like that. I loved those things when I was a kid.

I remember eating at one a few times during a childhood visit to Washington, DC since it was near the motel we stayed in.

The Hot Shoppe chain was actually the "corporate predecessor" of the Marriott company (which did business as Hot Shoppes, Inc. until 1967 when it became Marriott). J.W. Marriott started Hot Shoppe in 1927, with his very first location in Washington, D.C. in Columbia Heights (at the corner of 14th Street and Park Road NW). Here's a photo of it soon after it opened:

1943: a WWII high schooler and his date enjoy hamburgers at a D.C area Hot Shoppe (they'd just come from a "regimental ball"):

At its peak in 1960 Hot Shoppe had 70 restaurants spead across seven states. However, as tastes changed business declined and the last location closed in late 1999.

 

[beachblanket]

We had one up in westchester county in NY , went there when I was a kid a few times, cant say I remember it well other than the name and the train part

It was a San Francisco based steakhouse chain that at one time had over 100 locations nationwide. Their "gimmick" was to build their restaurants around a train station theme, often with seating in refurbished boxcars.

After several years of major losses, it went bankrupt in 1986. All of the locations except one subsequently closed. The lone survivor (picture below) is in Massachusetts, in the touristy Pickering Wharf waterfront district of Salem. While it doesn't have a railroad motif, the current owner is dedicated to maintaining it as a monument to the chain. The restaurant's menu is very close to the original and there are many display cases full of Victoria Station memorabilia.

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

I can't believe how many people don't have a local Baskin-Robbin's. You can't even spit around here without hitting one. In fact, I want to say we have at least three in our city alone.

 

[Diznotyzed]

As mentioned earlier, the original, and now last and only Sambo's is still open in Santa Barbara, CA. I ate there about a month ago. It's actually named for the owners, who then picked up on the children's story of the same name.

And I'm probably the first person on the DIS to eat at a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour because:
1. I'm old
2. The first to open up were in my hometown of Portland.

 

[mickeysgal]

I can't believe how many people don't have a local Baskin-Robbin's. You can't even spit around here without hitting one. In fact, I want to say we have at least three in our city alone.

We have them but they're not that abundant. And I always see them split with a Dunkin' Donuts.

 

[beachblanket]

O.K., time for me to bring up a lost favorite. The Red Coach Grill:

This was a chain of "grillhouse" restaurants owned by Howard Johnson's, which were spread primarily across New England , but also popped up in New York, Michigan, Illinois and Florida (at its peak in 1975 there were 38 locations). One -- in Wayland, MA, above -- was just a few miles from where I grew up, so my family was a regular patron in the 60s and early 70s. It burned almost completely to the ground in a masisve fire in January of 1976, but was actually rebuilt by HoJo and re-opened to rave reviews.

All had the same motif - a pseudo rustic and/or colonial-ish exterior, with an obligatory red stagecoach parked outside:

In essence, the decor, menu and service were supposed to be an upscale version of "HoJos" for the "suburban carriage trade." No clam rolls or 28 flavors of ice cream, but solid beef and seafood (lobster was a specialty). These were served in a cozy, darkish environment of yellow lamplight, red carpets, booths with deep upholstery and oak tables set with blue colored faux Wedgewood china, all arrayed in front of several working fieldstone fireplaces. I'd call the overall theme (for lack of a better term) "frontier tavern":

As HoJo began to decline in the late 70s, Red Coach suffered and finally disappeared entirely in the mid 80s. As part of some sort of foreclosure deal, many of the locations were taken over by El Torito (which itself subsequently folded).

In interesting "full circle" mode, there are today a few steakhouses in the Boston area that are housed in old Red Coach Grill buildings (the "Coach Grill" in Wayland, MA as example).

 

[beachblanket]

Hope these bring back some nice memories!

And a nice montage from a "nostalgia" site (I'd never previously heard of "Yogi Bear's Honey Fried Chicken" - it must have been a very short-lived thing in the early 60s...."Heap Big Beef" was a regional roast beef sandwich franchise (primarily in the south and southwest):

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I'm sure all of these were mentioned but i used to like going to:
Beefsteak Charlie's
Cooky's steakhouse
the cafeteria at K-mart.
Lum's at Roosevelt Field
The old Ground Round that had popcorn on the tables.

I don't miss Wetson's, 10 hamburgers for $1.00. That and pizza were the only times we ate out.

As long as White Castle never closes I'll be fine.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Jahn's I missed the most . They just closed in Queens NY last year.
In the 70's we used to get the "Kitchen Sink" for $7.95


http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2006/03/best_ice_cream_.html

 

[RLccweems]

Friendly's.....

 

[CathrynRose]

If anyone is looking for a Bennigans, you can still find them in the Chicago area. There is one in Schaumburg near Woodfield Mall, one in Elgin at the Holiday Inn on Rte 31 and I-90, and there is at least one other in the area because my friend's brother is a manager there (but I'm not sure where it is). Anyway, google to fine their website and you can look up other locations.

Yeah theyre all over the place here.

Downers Grove on 75th. Oak Brook on Butterfield. I didnt know they went missing!

How about Wag's?? Anyone else eat at JCPenney's before their shopping day?

 

[EverythingDisney]

I miss Seafood Shanty and Roy Rogers (love the fixin bar).
There is a Roy Rogers on the PA Turnpike, so every couple of months
we stop there and I get my fix of the fixin bar

 

[JodyLynC]

Beachblanket, thanks for posting these brochures and ads. They are great!!

 

[GraysMom]

Friendly's.....

We still have 2 within 15 minutes of me.

 

[Lureen]

Beachblanket, those photos you found are the best! They're awesome to see.

Thanks again for the great memories.