Restaurant chains that no longer exist

At least 3 Checkers in the Milwaukee area.

I miss Rax. Loved their sandwiches, baked potatoes and their shakes.

I think it didn't get big or last long, but there was a chain named D'Lites, partially owned by Herschel Walker. Served big salad bar and healthier versions of sandwiches... lower fat meats, etc. Pretty good, but probably ahead of its time in the early 80s.

 

When I was in college my dorm room overlooked the Rax across the street. We would see ambulances pull people out of there a few times a month. Wasn't a great advertisement for the place.

Naugles was bought out by Del Taco around the late 80s/early 90s, but it's coming back. Someone got the rights to the name and menu and has opened one in Huntington Beach with plans to bring back a full chain.

 

I loved Shakey's in the DC area. Lowenbrau on tap.

 

I remember Burger Chef. Their "Fun Meal" pre-dated the Happy Meal by close to a decade. There was one near Frandor in Lansing where we sometimes went when I was a little kid. They also had the original Star Wars merchandise tie-in. I remember getting a Grand Moff Tarkin glass there and a movie poster when I was 7 and the movie first came out. Don't remember much about the food -- probably run-of-the-mill fast food burger joint.

The other chain we used to eat at that I have to assume is long gone is Sambo's. Can't imagine how it could be acceptable these days. For that matter, I can't see how it was even acceptable back then.

The one I miss is Bill Knapp's (Michigan chain with some locations in Ohio, Indiana, possibly Kentucky and -- I believe -- Florida). Nursing home dining room decor and clientele, but the food was excellent. Completely homemade. The fried chicken was exceptionally good. Free chocolate cake (not a slice -- a whole cake) on your birthday. And however old you were turning, you got that percentage off your meal. If you were turning 101, they'd give you money back, I guess. Closed down in the 90s -- they tried to get young and hip and alienated their loyalists. By the time they figured it out, it was too late.

 

Sambo's was the compilation of the co-owner's names: Sam and Bo. Of course you'd never convince the PC police of that.

 

I'm sure it was the compilation of their names. But the pickaninny art on their menus (they knew what they were doing. Name compilation my ass. At least they weren't two guys named NIck and GERry) ain't helping their cause.

 

Arthur Treachers. Fast seafood place ala Long John Silvers. We preferred the AT over LJs. No idea why, but we did

 

When my dad talks about places we liked to eat while living in Michigan (I was born there, but we moved when I was 5 so I don't remember much), he raves about Bill Knapp's.

 

According to Wikipedia, one Happy Chef remains.

On more than one road trip, I may have had a Denver omelet at a Happy Chef.

 

Moving into college in Athens, Ohio, in the fall of 2003, there were operating Rax, Damon's and Ponderosa restaurants. I wondered if I'd gone back in time. All that was missing was a Chi-Chi's.

 

Burger Chef was on the square in my hometown, the hub. Best remembered by me as being the site of my piss call the first night I ever got drunk. Dependable, if not particularly memorable, menu. It was our McD's, but when McD's came to town, it was Burger Chef's death knell. It's a family restaurant now.

Chi Chi's had a great lunch buffet every day. I could be happy with just their queso dip, still one of the best in my memory.

Here's one from my youth -- Red Barn. More of a sit-down fast-food place, if that makes any sense. Didn't have a drive-through window. But it was always a top option for eating out. Great chicken, great burgers. Former Baltimore Colts lineman Glenn Ressler was one of the co-owners, and every Red Barn had a photo of him in that posed, cutting-in-front-of-the-camera shot.

 

I think there's a Shakey's on Los Alamitos Boulevard lol.