Restaurant chains that no longer exist

I eat a lot of pizza, but in most cities there are better local or regional places than the Big 3. I haven't had a pizza from PH, PJ or Domino's that wasn't part of a group event or party in ages.

That said, the best thing Pizza Hut ever did was offer those Final Four mini basketballs in the 90s. What a treat!

 

There is a Shakey's in Auburn, Alabama, of all places. I'd been hearing Adam Carolla talk about how awful it is for years on his podcast, so I decided to see if he was exaggerating or not when passing through Auburn on the way to an Atlanta Braves game last year.

Carolla's right. It's horrible. Makes Chuck E. Cheese seem like Famous Original Ray's.

 

Oh man, my all-time McDonald's favorite. It actually tasted like the food it was supposed to be.

 

Probably deserves another thread, but how about chains that exist but shouldn't.

Tops on my list for that is Long John Silver's. It's been years since I've been there, so I guess it could have gotten better. And I know the combo stores with KFC and A&W have helped prop it up.

But man ... I don't know how they do it, but every food they serve tastes exactly the same. Like crap. I don't think I've ever gone there and not been perched on the toilet 30 minutes later, wanting to die and with an immense sense of self-loathing.

 

Waffle House and the ashes from the waitresses' cigarettes in your food.

 

I remember a years ago an incredible thread on worst chain restaurants where somebody noted that nothing matched the "sheer culinary terror" of eating at Long John Silver's

 

Blasphemy. Waffle House is an American treasure.

 

The annual Bill Simmons, Cousin Sal, Dameshek, Hamm, etc. fantasy draft is at a Shakey's Pizza, according to them. It's because they're all horrible people, and the person who wins the previous league year gets to vote out someone.

 

Agreed completely. Twenty years ago, they pulled that move with the Arch Deluxe, which had peppered bacon and a good house dressing on a third-pound burger. It was a good sandwich by McD standards. And now it's long gone.

 

Same with the McDLT. Brilliant execution and the best sandwich on their menu.

 

Former mall staples; The Big Loafer, Orange Julius and Baskins Robbins.