Restaurant Chains that closed some markets and are much alive in others

[kphoger]

We had Furr's "Fresh Buffet" open here a couple years ago, though it's generally not as good as Golden Corral.

Braum's is alive and well around here.

Luby's was in Fayetteville, AR many years ago then left. They came back years later, but left again.

Is Bowen's still around? They were another buffet place.

Used to be a lot of Godfather's Pizza, but many of them have disappeared. The c-store locations taste like garbage.

I've seen Godfather's Pizza around St. Joseph (MO) and Omaha, but that was back in 2009.
Around St. Charles, Golden Corral is horrible. There used to be Ryan's around here, that closed down in 2008. From personal experience I could tell why- the place became unsanitary.

Godfather's survives in southern Illinois, many attached to Huck's gas stations.

[NYYPhil777]

Huck's- that's seen around here in St. Charles alongside BP.
Another candidate- Taco John's. I've seen it in Colorado, the Dakotas, and Nebraska. Only two markets I know of in Missouri- St. Joseph and Sikeston. Talk about a long distance!

[kphoger]

Huck's- that's seen around here in St. Charles alongside BP.

Yes, it's a relatively small chain.  The farthest northeast I know of is Robinson, IL; the farthest southeast is Mayfield, KY; the farthest southwest is Sikeston, MO; the farthest northwest I knew of was Edwardsville, IL, as I didn't know about St. Charles.  Back when I drove a company truck that used Huck's fleet gas cards, I carried a list of every Huck's station and whether or not they had diesel pumps; alas, I no longer have that list.

At any rate, quite a number of small southern Illinois towns have/had Godfather's/Huck's combinations.

[Scott5114]

We stayed at Venetian in Las Vegas about 4 years ago, and I was stunned to see Arthur Treacher's in the food court as part of Nathan's.  I used to eat there all the time as a child in CT, but hadn't seen one since.  I knew Nathan's had bought them out, but had no clue they would randomly be located in Vegas.

Random pet LV theory, semi-OT.

- All LV strip casinos are pretty interchangable. 
- Most people who visit LV, especially those from outside the In N Out footprint, do so via air, and do not rent cars while there.
- Being interchangable, casinos compete at the margins with "attractions", which can be shows, shops, themes, and high-end restaurants.
- While certainly not high-end, In N Out has a cultic (and well deserved, IMHO) status.
- The nearest In N Outs to the Strip are too far to walk.

Therefore, if I were trying to attract people to my casino, I would have an In N Out in my food court.

There's a bit more than meets the eye when it comes to filling in a casino food court. My casino has shuffled its food vendors around a few times since opening. Among other things, you have to think of:
*Does this restaurant's clientele mesh with my casino's desired clientele? You want a good range of price points; something like a McDonalds is good for your low roller with $100 to play with, but you want a fancy restaurant too for the guy who regularly deals with piles of purple chips.
*How fast is the service/do they do a good job? Fairly or unfairly your cocktail waitresses are going to bear the brunt of the restaurant's screw-ups. You don't want your customers (who have already lost hundreds) to have to wait 20 minutes to get a burger.
*Is this going to make an unholy mess on the slot floor? People can and do throw their trash in between/behind the machines instead of getting up and using the trash can. (I think this is why my casino gave Cinnabon the boot, but I can't be sure, of course.)

Every casino being somewhat interchangeable is the challenge of the business. While restaurant selection plays a role in differentiating between you and the competitors, casinos tend to compete on good customer service, number and type of available games, and comps programs over the specific restaurants available.

[NYYPhil777]

Scott5114's "criteria" for casino restaurants has been criteria I've seen around strip malls and shopping malls. One time, a strip mall on Mid Rivers Mall Drive featured a arcade for kids and teens, which closed down two years later because of some coffee shop that was right next door and got in trouble with the law over indecent exposure. I don't want to talk about that on here, but it goes to show that the law too can be involved especially when dealing with casinos. Cities often have high crime rates because of legalized gambling.

[US71]

Huck's- that's seen around here in St. Charles alongside BP.
Another candidate- Taco John's. I've seen it in Colorado, the Dakotas, and Nebraska. Only two markets I know of in Missouri- St. Joseph and Sikeston. Talk about a long distance!

Taco John's has 2 locations in Arkansas: both in Russellville.

Pizza Inn seems to be suffering: half the locations in Arkansas have closed within the last 5 years.

[corco]

Taco John's is pretty much the largest non-energy company based in Wyoming and I miss it.

[jp the roadgeek]

Chick Fil-A seems to be avoiding the Northeast like the plague.  Only see about 4 locations located north of NJ: 2 in NY, 1 in MA, and 1 in NH.  Keep seeing their ads all over tv, but there aren't any within 100 miles of me. Reminds me of the old Sonic effect.

[roadman65]

Chick Fil-A seems to be avoiding the Northeast like the plague.  Only see about 4 locations located north of NJ: 2 in NY, 1 in MA, and 1 in NH.  Keep seeing their ads all over tv, but there aren't any within 100 miles of me. Reminds me of the old Sonic effect.

What about Golden Corral ads on NJ TV?  There is only two of them in NJ and both are in South Jersey in Hammonton and in Little Egg Harbor. 

Then we had Red Robbin air on Orlando Market Stations before the only Central Florida location opened in New Smyrna Beach.

Speaking of Chick Fil A, Bergen County, NJ would love them because of them not opening on Sunday just like the retail stores are not allowed by their continued Blue Laws. 

[bugo]

Tulsa is the melting pot of chain burger joints.  We have the usually suspects like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC, Arby's.  We also have Whataburger, Carl's Jr, Jack In The Box, Taco Bueno, Backyard Burgers, Smashburger, Burger Street, Braum's, Popeye's, Church's, Chick Fil-A, Long John Silver, A&W, Sonic, and we're getting a Five Guys.  It is nice having the different options.  Some of these places like Jack In The Box are open 24/7 which comes in handy.

[DandyDan]

I think LUM'S is extinct now....stumbled upon one of the last ones off NY 17 back in 2001, and they were not selling hotdogs or Ollieburgers any longer....

They have one of those in Bellevue, Nebraska, right on Fort Crook Road.  I wasn't even aware that was a chain until I saw this post here, as I've never been there.

[mukade]

How does Aunt Jemima then be allowed to market? 

BTW, back in the 1960s, I remember seeing an Aunt Jemima Pancake House (in Wyoming MI). I assume it was part of a chain. Talk about long-gone.

Yes, [Huck's] is a relatively small chain.  The farthest northeast I know of is Robinson, IL...

Huck's goes into northeast Indiana.

[ctsignguy]

I think LUM'S is extinct now....stumbled upon one of the last ones off NY 17 back in 2001, and they were not selling hotdogs or Ollieburgers any longer....

They have one of those in Bellevue, Nebraska, right on Fort Crook Road.  I wasn't even aware that was a chain until I saw this post here, as I've never been there.

According to Wikipedia, they opened one up in Seekonk, Mass a couple of years ago....i may have to check them out my next New England Road Trip....

[roadman65]

I think LUM'S is extinct now....stumbled upon one of the last ones off NY 17 back in 2001, and they were not selling hotdogs or Ollieburgers any longer....

They have one of those in Bellevue, Nebraska, right on Fort Crook Road.  I wasn't even aware that was a chain until I saw this post here, as I've never been there.

According to Wikipedia, they opened one up in Seekonk, Mass a couple of years ago....i may have to check them out my next New England Road Trip....

Their website states hot dogs cooked in beer is one of their many specialties.

[ctsignguy]

I think LUM'S is extinct now....stumbled upon one of the last ones off NY 17 back in 2001, and they were not selling hotdogs or Ollieburgers any longer....

They have one of those in Bellevue, Nebraska, right on Fort Crook Road.  I wasn't even aware that was a chain until I saw this post here, as I've never been there.

According to Wikipedia, they opened one up in Seekonk, Mass a couple of years ago....i may have to check them out my next New England Road Trip....

Their website states hot dogs cooked in beer is one of their many specialties.

Even better...........i remember those and the spiced fries!

[huskeroadgeek]

Lots of memories just reading through this. Bonanza, Burger Chef, Furr's, Rax, Sambo's-all places I used to eat at when I was little. If memory serves, Burger Chef had their kids' meal(called a "Fun Meal") even before McDonald's had their Happy Meals.  Rax used to be one of my favorite restaurants. Didn't eat at Arby's much back then-if we wanted roast beef, we ate at Rax. Now, the Rax my family used to eat at is an Arby's.

[NYYPhil777]

Lots of memories just reading through this. Bonanza, Burger Chef, Furr's, Rax, Sambo's-all places I used to eat at when I was little. If memory serves, Burger Chef had their kids' meal(called a "Fun Meal") even before McDonald's had their Happy Meals.  Rax used to be one of my favorite restaurants. Didn't eat at Arby's much back then-if we wanted roast beef, we ate at Rax. Now, the Rax my family used to eat at is an Arby's.

If I remember correctly, Burger Chef was located around Indianapolis.
Speaking of Arby's- here in St. Charles, MO, the location at MO 364/94 and Jungermann just closed down a day ago with the signs stripped off and everything. Though the prices are too darned high, I prefer Lion's Choice just for the taste.

[texaskdog]

Are there any Rax locations still open? The two I remember most -- Aberdeen, Ohio and London, Ky. -- have been long closed. Think there's something else in the London location, but the Aberdeen store was vacant and falling in when I was last through there back in the spring.

I remember a roast beef place called Lotts back in the 70s. In Lexington they were a very big competitor to Arby's, which hadn't expanded a lot back then.

Noticed that someone mentioned Krispy Kreme. I know they expanded quite a bit at one time but have scaled back. They used to have a location in Bowling Green, Ky.; no more.

Popeye's has had a somewhat unspectacular incursion into Kentucky. The one in Winchester didn't last long.

Rax was awesome had a decent hold on Mpls St Paul and then they were gone

Rocky Rococo is another that seemed to have died off in most places

[The High Plains Traveler]

Lots of memories just reading through this. Bonanza, Burger Chef, Furr's, Rax, Sambo's-all places I used to eat at when I was little. If memory serves, Burger Chef had their kids' meal(called a "Fun Meal") even before McDonald's had their Happy Meals.  Rax used to be one of my favorite restaurants. Didn't eat at Arby's much back then-if we wanted roast beef, we ate at Rax. Now, the Rax my family used to eat at is an Arby's.

If I remember correctly, Burger Chef was located around Indianapolis.
Speaking of Arby's- here in St. Charles, MO, the location at MO 364/94 Jungermann just closed down a day ago with the signs stripped off and everything. Though the prices are too darned high, I prefer Lion's Choice just for the taste.

Burger Chef was located in New Mexico when I lived there in the 1970s. When I moved to the Twin Cities they had a small presence there too. Their TV ad featured "The Burger Chef and Jeff". I believe Hardee's bought them out; one meal that survived the transaction was a mushroom cheeseburger that I was fond of.

[BamaZeus]

We had Furr's "Fresh Buffet" open here a couple years ago, though it's generally not as good as Golden Corral.

Braum's is alive and well around here.

Luby's was in Fayetteville, AR many years ago then left. They came back years later, but left again.

Is Bowen's still around? They were another buffet place.

Used to be a lot of Godfather's Pizza, but many of them have disappeared. The c-store locations taste like garbage.

I've seen Godfather's Pizza around St. Joseph (MO) and Omaha, but that was back in 2009.
Around St. Charles, Golden Corral is horrible. There used to be Ryan's around here, that closed down in 2008. From personal experience I could tell why- the place became unsanitary.

Godfather's survives in southern Illinois, many attached to Huck's gas stations.

There's still one in Gulf Shores, as well, inside a grocery store shopping center.

[Rushmeister]

Except for small walk-up installations at gas stations (mostly along the interstate), Noble Roman's Pizza has largely disappeared from the Indiana landscape.  As I recall, in the 1980s Noble Roman's was a well-established Midwestern chain of full-service restaurants, but began to wither in the '90s.  Their specialties were a deep dish Sicilian pizza (extraordinarily good) and what they called "The Monster", a pan pizza that I don't think is available at the walk-ups.  (I'm not sure about that, though.)  In West Lafayette on Purdue football weekends, the Noble Roman's was usually packed; maybe even busier than the famous Bruno's Swiss Inn down the street.  I really miss Noble Roman's (and watching Drew Brees lead his teammates at Ross-Ade Stadium).

A couple of years ago on a trip which took me through Las Vegas, I was shocked to discover a Noble Roman's walk-up right on the Strip.  Yum.  Seems like they had The Monster there...

[NYYPhil777]

Until my most recent trip down in South Carolina, there was a Noble Roman's at I-95 and US 278.

[jp the roadgeek]

There's a Noble Roman's inside a bowling alley in Wallingford, CT.

[jdb1234]

A comment about Tastykakes being available in Texas recently scrolled across my Facebook feed, complete with photo.

They are also occasionally available in Kentucky.

Within the last 12 months, Publix and Walmart in Alabama have begun selling Tastykakes

I had not really noticed that until the last few days.  Not surprised to learn that Tastykakes is a Flowers brand as that is who stocks them at my local Walmart.

[mgk920]

Speaking of that, I have also noticed several restaurant chains (ie, IHOP, TGI Friday's, etc) that are selling frozen/bake at home versions of their more popular menu items.  How long before we see Waffle House doing that?





Mike