Your favorite Fast Food Joint from the 70's

[NuclearSnow]

I am guessing most will be Mcdonalds because of the big blitz of ads on Saturday mornings but I am sure there are some out their who liked the others..*G*..oh and one side thing when you took your kids or nieces,nephews to Mcdonalds and bought them a happy meal did they ever ask you what kind of happy meals did you have? I had my nephew ask me that when he was 6 and I bought him one I said "well we didnt have happy meals when I was your age" he just looked at me puzzled..LOL...

[DaveD]

Pretty interesting thread topic. There are not too many fast food joints around back then that are not still around now. The only one I can think of is Burger Chef. I don't even know if it was a national chain, or just around where I am on the east coast.

Funny you should mention McDonalds. That brings back a vivid memory of a couple of things. First, remember those McDonaldland drinking glasses they used to sell? Each one had a different character on them.

Also, does anyone out there remember a special promtion that McDonalds ran in the winter of 72'? It was called "McFebruary". Every day in that month they featured a different special. I even remember the ad jingle: "McFebruary! That's a very special month, at McDonalds.....every day's a suprise holiday! Lookin up, Cookin up good things for you! McFebrary...that's a very special month..AT MCDONALDS!!!"

That was even before the "You deserve a break today" jingle. What a memory! Mind like a steel trap! Now if only I could remember to change my shorts......lolololol

[emwhy]

Anyone remember Redbarn? They specialized in chicken mostly. They even had a cast of characters called The Hungries......BTW did you guys know the Kroffts sued McDonalds over the McDonald land characters? They won the suit, but it took several years to settle.

[GrumpyBrian]

Good for the Krofts, heh. I recall having a bunch of those McDonald's glasses with the characters around the house, and all of them shattered pretty quickly through use. One shattered simply because I was washing it in the sink; I didn't bang or drop it, I was just washing it out with a sponge, when it completely shattered, ripping open my finger. I had to go to the emergency room, and still have a permanent scar decades later. If I'd known what you can win from McDonald's in court, I might have asked my parents to sue. *g*

A restaurant we had in Wisconsin in the 70's that I liked was Dog 'N' Suds. It was an old fashioned drive automobile drive up. You'd place your order through a speaker at your parking space, then a waitress would bring it out and hang the tray on your window. I also liked A&W, back when the root beer tasted much better and they actually served it in huge frosty glass mugs.

[NuclearSnow]

Here in the mid-west we had Mcdonalds,Burger Chef,Hardee's and Burger King..St.Louis also had Jack-in-the-Box and White Castle burger joints we didnt have in the sticks..LOL..I remeber McFeb promotion though I also went to places that had glasses ..like Burger Chef and their big Star Wars promotion posters and glasses in the late 70's.

[hollywoodenik]

In the 70,s I useta go to pizza hut and hardees on my way from NY to my parents vacation house in Fla. (which they plan on living in permanetly soon.)

I remember Pizza Hut"s commericals for the Star Wars Glass I must have been 5 or 6 than.

[imsleestak]

Arthur Treachers Fish and Chips Dude!:)
FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT AS A KID!!!!
Or the IHOP!!!!! OH YEA BABY!!! NUM!!!!

[JP]

I used to angle for Arby's especially after the introduction of the Beef n' Cheddar, what 78'-79? Are there any Pizza Inns left in the U.S.??? Also, who could forget good ole' Seargent Goobersmith's Corn Dawg Shack? Did anybody ever have something called a Pochito? I got the in elementary school and found them at the grocery only once. It was a Burrito sized tortilla filled with a beef-chilli mixture with a hot dog in the center and it was apparently fried. Please answer this and the Pizza Hut question if you can. Come on an' help JP, dont'ya know he's starvin'.

[brannon]

Burger Chef....

[DaveD]

This is for all you guys in California. Back in the summer of 1980 I and my family were in the LA area for a week visiting relatives, and I remember seeing a chain of hotdog resturants called "Derwienershnitzel".
Do they still exist?

[kjgonz]

DaveD,I remember Burger Chef. I grew up in CT. Can't think of any other fast food places that no longer exist. Maybe Jack in the Box?

[dinosaurfan]

My favorite fast food place from the 70s was Hardees because it had the Looney toons glasses and they were big and neat and always fun to drink out of.

[kjgonz]

Ok, thought of one. Not fast food but it was a sit down place - called Lums - served really big hot dogs if I remember correctly. Perhaps just an East Coast place.

[Mike M]

Oh yeah DaveD "Der Wienerschnitzel" is still around. You can get Chili Cheese Dogs, Chili Cheese Fries, Corn Dogs, Hot Dogs, and a few other dog combinations. They're in a little red shack that you drive thru the middle to pick up your order. One of their newer items is "Shaker Fries". You leave the fries in the paper bag, pour in a pack of powdered seasoning, and then shake.

I remember a place called Bob's Big Boy Burger when I went to Reno, Nevada as a kid. If I remember right there was a plastic statue of a big fat kid in checkered overalls holding a platter of burgers over his head with one hand as you enter the restaurant. I've heard its a national chain. Has anyone else seen it?

JP - Pizza Inn does sound familiar but I think they died out around here in the 70's. Still have Pizza Hut though.

[NuclearSnow]

There is a Bob's Big Boy over in St.Louis they just opened them up about a year or so ago but it's more a sit down dining place like Denny's from what I heard, I havent went in it..

[NuclearSnow]

Oh and Jack in the Box still exists over in St.Louis ,Burger Chef was bought out by Hardee's, and on the looney tunes glasses I have some from 1973,not ones I got at that time though I did buy some these were ones I bought at a comic book convention in Paducah,Ky in the 80's...

[DaveD]

kjgonz,
I remember Lums! There was one in the town next to mine. In fact my wife used to watress there years ago. It has been gone for about 20 years now though.

[trout]

I think I remember Lums....or there was one called Wuuvs or something with an ugly purple sign

[Marius69]

I always thought Straw Hat Pizza was very 70s. Most of the Straw Hat Pizza places all had brown carpets with brown wood walls & stained glass lamps shades. It was old looking & was always fun to eat at. We don't see that many Strw Hat Pizza places anymore...

[brannon]

Does anyone remember Shakey's Pizza? (I think thats the way it was spelled, if not forgive me)....

[unclejack2]

Thats Strange you mentioned Shakey's...
For I remember That way back in 79-80..
Especially those large Steins that they would bring you to fill your glasses with..
But from what I also remember as well is that Shakey's became embroiled in a lawsuit with Pizza Hut over something and after that I no longer saw anymore Shakey's Pizza restaurants..
2nd There use to be a fast food chain called Jack's which was a combination of Burger King and McDonalds in that they made their burgers like McDonalds yet their fries like Burger king.Lastly Way back in the early 80's my mother owned a small fast food restaurant which I will not reveal the name since its trivial but when my mother sold it.The individual whom purchased it was none other than the man whom own the chain of Jack's fast food restaurants...
Well..I could go on and on,but then that would be pointless therefore I will say its nice to meet some of the new faces to this messageboard.

[Saturnian]

California guy here. Shakey's is the correct spelling. First exposure to real video games was there: Sprint (a car racing game), being the first, sit-down Pong machines, of couse Space Invaders, and my favorite, GORF. Bob's Big Boy was quite common in SoCal. In Ventura, where I'm from, here's where we ate:
McD's, Burger King, Jack Box, Arby's, Bob's Big Boy (great free comic every month), Arthur Treacher's (got food poisoning once), Taco Bell (remember the Bellbeefer?) with fully-raging fire pit outside, Wendy's, Hi-Ho, Der Weinershnitzel, Sizzler, Carl's Jr., Red Onion (SoCal Mexican food chain), and my grandmother's favorite, Whataburger. I use to watch L.A. TV stations and see Pup-n-Taco commercials, but mom said there weren't any near Ventura.

[AFJones]

growing up in Norfolk, Virginia I remember Shakey's and Burger Chef. Shakey's was kind of what Chucky Cheese is now. It probably didn't matter to me as a kid, but I'm sure Burger Chef had pretty bad food. The reason we liked it so much as kids was they had the BEST kid's meals with cool toys and prizes!

Plus, we had White Castle of course. :)

[skylons_karen]

Sonic Drive In was cool because they used to always put a wonderful plastic animal in the drinks. They were made of plastic but looked like glass...all different colors. The most common animal toy was the monkey in assorted colors and the creme de la creme ultimate best one to get in my opinion was the giant blue swordfish. The mermaid was another common one. I liked Big Boy too. I still have my Big Boy comic books and bank. And I got to climb around on the giant Big Boy outside the restaurant. I still think the Carl's Jr. logo is very cute...it's a yellow star with a smiling face on it...don't know if you have them outside of California. Also liked Tastee Freeze. Does anyone else remember watching TV after school and being bombarded with an onslaught of Dairy Queen commercials?? It was the one that went, "In the Land of Dairy Queen...we treat you right" and they showed close ups of the sundae toppings that were arranged so they were supposed to look like a landscape of "The Land of Dairy Queen" I suppose...I always thought the flowing river of pineapple toppings seriously looked like vomit. There was a funny fast food joint I remember called, "Generic Burger" back when generic stuff was "in" and the building was painted all white with a black "genericy-looking" stripe.

[NuclearSnow]

Sonic has made a comeback here in the mid-west,I to remember the little plastic animals they gave you when you got a drink my friend still has some..LOL.,but I remember Sonic's starting closing up around here back in the early 80's now they are everywhere again and I love their food though it's a more expensive than the average fast food joint...
Carl Jr's are called Hardee's here after they bought out Burger Chef their fortunes have declined here the quality of their food has went down to..

[skylons_karen]

I remember Burger Chef! Their characters were a chubby older chef dude with round glasses (The Burger Chef of course) and "Jeff"...skinny freckled kid with brown or red hair, right? I remember the common Burger Chef kid's prize was a ve-r-r-r-r-ry cheap clear plastic glove, no, more like a mitten with the characters printed on it...their idea of a puppet, I guess.

I remember at Taco Bell there used to be pronounciation help under each menu item...pretty funny. Like under enchilada they'd spell out the pronounciation of it.."en-chee-lah-dah", for example to help people out. I hope they didn't have to do that with one as simple as "taco" too, but maybe they did.

[Big Al]

Sonic has opened a place recently here in Jacksonville - I've been meaning to try it out, but haven't gotten around to it.

[Saturnian]

Does anybody from California remember Taco Lab? It is/was your standard taco/burrito fare, yet the food was surgically prepared by "taco lab technicians" in full surgical regalia--masks, scrubs, rubber gloves, etc. It was kind of neat watching a 16 year-old kid fold over a quesadilla with a stainless steel tong and then have it quartered via scapel.

[NuclearSnow]

Sonic has really good food,It's made to order and I have always got mine hot and fresh, though like I said it's a little bit more pricey than Mcdonalds..
Burger Chef is missed,I always thought the food there was good,I remember going there in the late 70's to get the Star Wars posters etc...I have heard talk of a comeback for them but apparentaly the company that owns the name wont sell the rights..

[The Dude]

I would say MCDONALDS (And the food tasted MUCH better than it does now!!)

They also had "Mcdonalds ORANGE drink" which i loved (Which they sadly got cheap and got rid of)

Also,the nuggets were better (They dont seem to have as much flavour now being white meat)

The food in general was BETTER!

[Crawford]

Burger Chef, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. They were the first places to have drive-thrus. The menu liners actually had a diagram on what to do since they were such a new concept. LOLOL

Boy I miss that place thinking back on it.

[The Dude]

I dont think i ever ate there.......

Was it like Mcdonalds?