Do you remember these 1970s restaurants?

[left-of-center2012]

If you grew up in the 1970s, you might have had to bid farewell to a number of your favorite chain restaurants.

#1 Burger Chef
There was a time when Burger Chef was the second most popular fast-food chain in America, with only McDonald's boasting more locations throughout the United States.

#2 Howard Johnson's
The orange-roofed restaurant chain had more than 1,000 locations in its heyday.

#7 Lum's
Started as a small hot dog stand in Florida and blossomed into a company with 400 franchises in the United States.

#13 Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips
The fast-food chain that wanted to popularize fish and chips in the United States. (The restaurant's namesake is the English actor who played the butler in the Shirley Temple films.)
Arthur Treacher's peaked with more than 800 stores in the late '70s.

https://www.eatthis.com/1970s-restaurants/

[samplegirl]

1. Yes!

Burger Chef and Arthur treachers were big here in Ohio.

[EYESORE 9001]

17. There are still two remaining AFAIK - both in NE Ohio

One in Cuyahoga Falls, one in Garfield Heights.

[malthaussen]

2. Remember? I worked in a Burger Chef.

It is interesting that "Bob's Big Boy" only added the "Bob's" to the name later. We used to go there in the 60's a lot, and it was just Big Boy.

-- Mal

[LisaM]

7. There are multiple Big Boys

Ours were Elias Brothers (and I just ate in one two weeks ago) and I think others are Shoney's, or something like that.

[yellowdogintexas]

79. Shoney's in Tennessee, Jerry's and Frisches in KY

Abdhab's in Connecticut.

The Big Boy has many incarnations.

[FSogol]

3. Burger Chef actually invented the Happy Meal. McDonalds stole it.

From a 2017 forgotten restaurant thread where I mentioned Burger Chef:

Remember Burger Chef? My sister and I always pestered our Mom to take us, but she hated the place because she said it was dirty. One time, she pointed out a burger, with a bite out of it, on the floor under our booth. The next time we went back, about a week later, that burger was still there! We never went again.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=1016558

[Floyd R. Turbo]

4. Yes!

[Binkie The Clown]

5. I remember 3 of those 4, plus Bob's Big Boy.

I don't recall ever seeing an Arthur Treacher's.
There was a Lum's in the ground floor of the building I worked in the the late 1960s. I went there for lunch many times.

[Ferryboat]

6. Not sure if it was a national chain

Sambo's, near greenlake in Seattle.

Played on racist tropes.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

11. Was one in Santa Barbara until a year or so ago.

[dewsgirl]

21. They had them in Florida, when I was a baby/toddler

in the late 70s, early 80's.

[Aristus]

31. My family used to get Sunday dinner at Sambo's after church when I was a kid.

San Antonio, Texas.

Sambo started out as a vile racist stereotype of enslaved African-Americans. When I used to eat there, the Sambo's mascot was a cute Hindi kid in a turban. I'm not sure how much less racist that was supposed to be.

[LeftInTX]

55. Little Black Sambo is about an Indian kid...why do you think there are tigers in the story?

And pancakes and butter are also part of the story

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Little_Black_Sambo

The tigers are vain and each thinks that it is better dressed than the others. They have a massive argument and chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of ghee (clarified butter). Sambo recovers his clothes and goes home, and his father later collects the ghee, which his mother uses to make pancakes.[3]

[Aristus]

56. Yeah, I know the story.

I just don't know how it got transferred to the American slave-holding South.

[LeftInTX]

57. I think the term itself is derogatory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambo

I really don't see how the name Sambo is Indian and the kid's parents were named Mumbo and Jumbo...Those names are not Indian.

However, I always liked the story because it was so colorful with the kid's clothes and those tigers running in circles. And of course, I liked going to Sambo's because I loved pancakes and butter..LOL

I think the Sambo story has been rewritten with Indian names in the characters

[Ocelot II]

77. The author was British and lived in India for many years.

She wrote a number of other children's stories about Indian children and animals. The name became derogatory later, after the book was published in the US with illustrations showing the boy as a caricature of a Black person, but he was always meant to be Indian, which is also apparent on account of the tigers.

[Ocelot II]

76. I think one reason that the story became problematic is that

the protagonist is called Little Black Sambo. He was an Indian boy, of course, since there are tigers, but he was probably called "black" because in 1899, when the story was written, that's how South Asians were often referred to by the British (which the author was). The more obvious racism arose years later when the story was published in the US, probably in the '40s, with illustrations showing Sambo as a caricature of a Black person. The story book I had as a kid had those illustrations. There's nothing negative or racist about the story itself; Sambo, who outwits the tigers and gets his clothes and umbrella back, is the hero. I think the illustrations and the description of him as "black" (and therefore "other" ) were the problems with the story, not the content itself.

[hunter]

43. An ex girlfriend of mine once fucked someone in that very restaurant.

No, it wasn't me, although I have eaten there.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

44. I'm am not touching that!😏

[hunter]

46. Some advice I might have heeded before I started going out with her...

[MOMFUDSKI]

64. Too Funny and

reminds me of my best friend from high school (3 of us gals got together last summer - we are now 74 yrs old) stating she fucked a junior senator from Indiana while attending a Post Office Convention of some kind during her career there. IQ over 130 and always a laugh-a-minute. Good times.

[Beausoleil]

47. They were in Texas too (naturally!)

We hung out after work when I was in HS.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

14. It's on the list (nt)

[left-of-center2012]

16. Sambo's is in the linked article

Here's more:
The name was taken from portions of the names of its founders
(Sam Battistone Sr. & Newell Bohnett) but soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s

[jimfields33]

8. 1,2 and 17

I loved burger chef!!!!!!!!

[walkingman]

9. I loved Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips - anyone know of

a similar restaurant these days?

[left-of-center2012]

19. "similar restaurant"?

The only one I know of is “Long John Silver's”, which I consider inferior to Arthur Treacher’s.

Googling ‘fish and chip’ restaurants only gives me more ‘upscale places’, like Red Lobster.
A lot of local places on the coasts, but for me in New Mexico I got nuthin!

[walkingman]

25. Yeah, I can't find anything either - LJS definately not the same.

Those fish filets with that malt vinegar were delicious!!

[rsdsharp]

32. I last ate at a Long John Silver's in September 1982.

Both my wife and had fish. I was in college at the time, and we were living in married student housing. The apartment had one bathroom. We spent the next thirty minutes telling the other to hurry up because we had to use the toilet again. That stuff they give you before a colonoscopy has nothing on Long John Silver’s. Never, ever again.

[yellowdogintexas]

80. Captain D's is far superior to Long John Silver's

The Tennessee stores had a wonderful breakfast buffet on weekends.

[MOMFUDSKI]

65. Me too and

it tasted exactly like it did in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England back in the sixties when I lived there. Sure do miss it.

[smirkymonkey]

71. So did I! My dad used to take us there when I was little.

That was where I picked up the habit of putting malt vinegar on my fish and chips (chips especially). Now I'm getting hungry and it's 2am, so way too late to eat! I don't really eat fried food, but I love fish and chips once in a blue moon!

[AngryOldDem]

83. Is Long John Silver's still around?

[walkingman]

91. They are in our area, although I haven't eaten at one in years. When I was working

and traveling within Texas via auto I would stop and get finger food for the roadtrip. That has been almost 25 years ago for me. I googled it got lots of results around Austin.

[PXR-5]

10. I loved Arthur Treacher's!

So much better than Long John Silvers.

How about Roy Rodgers?

They are still around in NJ

[yellowdogintexas]

81. Roy Rogers used real roast beef as did Arby's

I do not know if Roy Rogers is still in business, but Arbys has not used real roast beef for decades; instead they use a sort of compounded beef mess. They still use real ham in the hame and cheese though.

I do not patronize Arby's here, because our local one became a hotbed of hepatitis infected workers and therefore customers.

[Wednesdays]

12. Didn't Burger Chef become Hardee's

And then Hardee's became Carl's Jr.?

I remember the sign on Burger Chef touting 15¢ hamburgers.

Edit: the restaurant chain from the 70's I miss the most is Farrell's.

[left-of-center2012]

15. "Hardee's became Carl's Jr.?"

"Carl's Jr. locations predominantly populate the West and Southwest of the United States, while Hardee's fills the gaps in most remaining parts of the country."

Read More: https://www.mashed.com/209467/whats-the-difference-between-hardees-and-carls-jr/?utm_campaign=clip

[rurallib]

68. We had a chain burger joint called Sandy's (Scottish motif) that was bought

by Hardee's in the early '70s or so. Hardee's was always Hardee's I think.

For a while I lived almost nest door to a Burger Chef. Bad choice for me.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

13. I still buy Bob's salad dressings actually ...

They're all pretty damn good, and a taste of my childhood.

I mostly ate at the one in Reno, when we lived in Quincy, CA in the 70's, Reno was the nearest big city. It's where our dentists were, and when we'd sojourn to Reno we had to go to Big Boy. My mom grew up in So Cal so Big Boy was part of her young life as well.

I also recall a Red Barn on Main Street in Walnut Creek in the 70's, near Treat and Main.

[jpak]

18. Yup

HoJo was a staple

And AT was a treat.

Now I'm hungry....

[Walleye]

20. Our first fast food hamburgers from a chain called Geno's I believe

It was a good big Mac type burger

[left-of-center2012]

26. Gino's Hamburgers

Mentioned in the linked article.

More here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino%27s_Hamburgers

[jcgoldie]

22. Didnt burger chef become hardee's?

I do remember my mom taking me there in the 70s.

[left-of-center2012]

24. It was sold to Hardee's

"In 1982, the General Foods Corporation, owners of the Burger Chef trademark and name, divested itself of the restaurant chain, gradually selling to the owners of Hardee's. The final restaurant to carry the Burger Chef name closed in 1996."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Chef

[El Supremo]

23. I really miss HoJo's Friday clam fry. n/m

[geardaddy]

50. Me too!

All you can eat!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

27. One place that easily COULD be on a list like this, and I'm SO GLAD it is not!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation%27s_Giant_Hamburgers

Awesome that one of the founders is still the CEO!

[LakeArenal]

28. There are still Howard Johnson's

Much more upscale.
No salt water taffy or fried clams.

[left-of-center2012]

30. Where?

As of 2016, only one Howard Johnson's restaurant remains: in Lake George, New York.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Johnson%27s

[Tomconroy]

33. Think that's right. I ate in one of the last ones in Lake Placid NY

In 2010. But I know that closed.

[LakeArenal]

34. Madison Wisconsin as of 2019.

[Tomconroy]

38. I'm headed there in my car right now!

Do people know that the 3D burger was created by the famous french chef Jacques Pepin?

[LakeArenal]

29. Arthur's sucked where I was.

I turned 18, went to Lum’s and got drunk.

[Nittersing]

35. Howard Johnson's was a very occasional treat

when we "camped" across country for summer vacation (2x). Usual fare was sandwiches made by us at the nearest rest stop. Remember rest stops?

[left-of-center2012]

37. Remember rest stops?

Yep.

[doc03]

36. Always liked Arthur Treachers far more than

LJS. Now they have LJS and KFC in the same location
ruined both.

[TomSlick]

39. Howard Johnson was a running gag in "Blazing Saddles."

[cinematicdiversions]

87. I believe this was the first one.

[The Magistrate]

40. There Was A Burger Chef On My Paper Route In Indiana

A fifty cent piece would get you a burger, fries, and a coke, and a nickel back --- each item was fifteen cents.

I spent a fair amount of time in a particular Howard Johnsons, near where my girlfriend and I lived when we met. We'd repair there for coffee after walks late at night.

The other two you mention I recall though with no particular affinity. They did put up a Lum's at North and Wells, which was my stamping ground at the time.

[wcmagumba]

41. In the Wichita area there was Sandy's hamburgers and Peter Pan Ice Cream...

Apparently Sandy's was another forerunner to Hardee's with a competing (with McDonald's) Scottish theme, Peter Pan Ice Cream stores also sold burgers, fries and other stuff. I remember they had one day a week specials of 5 burgers for a dollar....

[AngryOldDem]

84. Sandy's morphed into Hardee's.

There was one near my elementary school and it was a red-letter day when my mom would pick me up for lunch we’d stop there.

[Polybius]

42. I think of #2 as more of an 80's restaurant

Commercials were all over the place in the late 80's in NY/NJ.

[OriginalGeek]

45. I worked at a HoJos

hotel when I was in Vo-Tech school - We had a restaurant attached and as a bellman I delivered a lot of room service.. There was a really cool punk rock girl that worked there that had to wear a wig because she shaved her head bald and I woulda asked her out but she thought I was too square being into Led Zep and other dinosaur bands. lol. But I liked talking to her when I went to pick up meals to deliver.

I still love Zep and a lot of punk bands but mostly death metal now.

[geardaddy]

48. I remember a lot of those.

We didn't have Lum's, Burger Queen, Pup N Taco, VIPs. Wag's, Gino's or White Tower here in Minneapolis. And it was Marc's Big Boy here. Not Bob's

[geardaddy]

51. Does anyone remember the fish and chips place called H. Salt?

[El Supremo]

59. Yes. H. Salt Esquire.

Were they started by KFC?

[geardaddy]

73. According to Wikipedia they joined with KFC in 1969

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Salt_Esquire

[geardaddy]

52. Happy Chef still has one location

The original location in Mankato, MN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Chef

[whistler162]

53. Bob's Big Boy was TJ's Big Boy

in our area. Lum's made a great Reuben, last one, in this area at least, was in the Corning/Horseheads area but has been closed 20+ years.

[El Supremo]

58. It was Kip's Big Boy in Dallas.

I wonder how many different ones there were.

[Earth-shine]

54. Beefsteak Charlies, anyone?

Yesterday, I was telling my wife about a story involving a teenage me, BC's all-you-can-drink sangria, and trouble.

[SCantiGOP]

60. Anyone who ever traveled on an Interstate

knew Howard Johnsons.

I liked the Arthur Treacher F+C, and good Fish and Chips is still a favorite of mine. (BTW, I remember Arthur as the second banana for Merv Griffin on his talk show)

Lum's sucked. There was one near my college campus, but it didn't stay in business more that a year, even with thousands of drunk and stoned college students to serve as customers.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

61. Fish and chips

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

62. In 1970 where I lived in Philly a burger, medium fries and coke cost $1.04 including tax.

All doubts removed, I'm an old fart.

[left-of-center2012]

63. Inflation

“In 1970 the Volkswagen Beetle carried a list price of $1,839“

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/16/archives/volkswagen-raises-1971-beetle-prices-for-a-second-time.html#:~:text=In%20the%201970%20line%2C%20where,West%20Coast%20price%20of%20%241%2C924.

[El Supremo]

66. Dairy King.

I threw up on the way to Colorado after eating at a road-side one in the fifties.

[3catwoman3]

67. In Rochester NY, there was a McDonald's precursor...

…called The Golden Point. Burgers were 15 cents.

I remember when they raised them to eighteen cents. My brother and I commented that is was only 3 cents, so no big deal. My dad, who was very frugal, pointed out that it was a 20% increase in the price.

[wcmagumba]

69. Someone else mentioned the Sandy's Burger chain (along with me)...they had a Big Scott burger...

[DFW]

70. We had all four where I grew up

That was, at the time, barely rural northern Virginia. I never visited an Arthur Treacher's, but saw them. I always preferred Burger Chef to McD because they used a little pepper in the burgers, which gave them a less bland taste than the McD variety. In those days, stories abounded as to what was really in those "all beef" patties. Grain filler, sawdust, you name it, it was supposedly in there.

MAD once did a great satire on HoJo's where a waitress was crying on the way to delivering some plates to a table. Another saw her and asked what was wrong. She said that she had to deliver a steak to table number whatever, and she couldn't find it on the plate any more. The second waitress asked if she had looked under the parsley garnish. The first one said, "no, not yet, and if it's not under there, I will just die!" I guess their steaks were not known for their generous size.

We used to enjoy going to LUMS, too. They were still around when I started my job. One time, a group of guys were in a LUMS, and were giving their waitress a hard time, joking around at her expense, but she took it all in stride and kept her good humor. Their bill came to something like $6.50. They put down a $50 bill on the table and left. In those days (mid-1970s), $50 was real money, and they went outside and hid to watch her reaction through the window. It was apparently appropriately jubilant.

[electric_blue68]

72. Ate at Ho Jo's on a rare occasion. Heard of Treacher's ...

When I was in a particular part of the West Village I found a local Fish & Chips place that I'd eat from time to time.✔️

[Wicked Blue]

74. HoJos, Arthur Treachers and (gag) Bob's Big Boy

Bob's was one of the most awful fast food places I ever encountered. Once was enough.

[left-of-center2012]

75. "Bob's was one of the most awful fast food places"

Fast food?

The Bob's I knew was a family dining 'sit down' restaurant.

[Wicked Blue]

78. You're right, it was a sit-down place

It was at a NJ Turnpike rest area back around 1990. Our family stopped there for dinner on the day we moved to Maryland. It was horrible.

[AngryOldDem]

82. Remember Burger Chef and Treacher's well

The vinegar with the fish and chips was damn good.

Couple of fish pieces, big side of fries, cole slaw….good meal.

Treacher was also Merv Griffin’s sidekick.

[AngryOldDem]

85. Funny story about Big Boy

Long time ago in a city where I used to live the one in front of a restaurant was stolen and held for ransom. I think they found it dumped somewhere. It was an outrage, I tells ya.

[left-of-center2012]

86. Was that in San Diego?

Something similar happened when I was living in San Diego.
As I recall it was a bunch of college students.

[AngryOldDem]

89. No. In a suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

This was in the ‘90s, IIRC. Just remember thinking how absurd it was.

It was a VERY big deal, though.

[sinkingfeeling]

88. Really loved Howard Johnsons and Steak and Ale.

[Mad_Dem_X]

90. I used to absolutely LOVE going to Howard Johnson's!

Some good memories associated with that place.