Restaurant chains that no longer exist

Anybody else from the Philly to Baltimore area besides me remember Gino's. It was a burger and fried chicken chain whose front man was Colts' Hall of Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti. Burgers weren't bad, chicken was very greasy. Eventually crushed between the pincers of McD's and the Colonel, the latter of which might've bought the chain out. In the event, Gino and partner Alan Ameche got pretty rich.

 

Rays Kingburgers - Richard Petty chain.

(I spent a few of my early formative years in North Carolina. That's where I learned the word "fuck" too.)

 

Had more than 300 locations. Bought by Mariott which closed them down and converted them to Roy Rogers.

 

Now that you mention it, I remember that the Gino's closest to my house became a Roy Rogers. Thanks for the info.

 

RR are all closed, right? Last time I saw one was a rest stop somewhere.

 

There are a bunch in Maryland.

 

Sepulveda and Jefferson in Culver City, across from the former Fox Hills Mall, now called Westfield's.

 

SoCal staple Woody's Smorgasburger

 

How about the Ponderosa, Bonanza and Sizzler discount steak chains? All had a big presence in the Chicago area during my childhood. I've heard they still exist, but only in a few areas.

Another big chain in the Chicago area during the '70s -- not sure they were anyplace else -- was Chicken Unlimited, which was a lot like KFC except it also sold burgers and a few other non-chicken items. They were a White Sox TV sponsor, and I remember Harry Caray doing an in-game commercial for Chicken Unlimited at Comiskey Park and waving to the fans with a chicken leg in his hand.

 

Great thread. We had a Red Barn in my little hometown, and a small chain place called Jester's. Both now long-gone.

My family used to stop at a Bonanza in Selinsgrove, Pa.,on trips to Virginia along US 15. There was a Bonanza in Microville at one point, too, and a Sizzler. Both are long-gone.

Are there still Godfather's Pizza places?

 

There's a sign for one on I-81 somewhere around Winchester, Va., but I can't remember which town. I used to eat it all the time in Hutchinson, Kan., probably haven't had it in 15 years.