Restaurants of yesteryear
 

Tops Big Boy made some excellent greasy spoon fare back in the day.

Shoney's.

My dad ran A&W restaurants starting when I was in fifth grade, and ending when I was a senior in high school. You can't beat icy cold A&W root beer made on site.

I wish we had Mr Goodcents and Lamars donuts down here. I friggin hate Subway and Dunkin donuts. We don't have a single BBQ place worth a crap either, but there is some damn good seafood to take it's place.

My mom managed an original Dairy Queen(no burgers and no inside seating etc) for 25+ years and we always got a great MOM discount.Her working there became even better once I started my "stoner" years in high school.

From when we lived in NY state: Lums (roast beef sandwhichs), Shakey's Pizza

When traveling: Howard Johnson's (fried clams, mmmmm)

In KC, we didn't eat out too much. I remember Mom used to do consumer reports at McDonalds. She got paid like $3 a visit. We went out for pizza once in a while, but I forget the name of the place.

Henry's Hamburgers, caddy corner to East Jr. High in Leavenworth.

And Foe's Broasted Chicken just down the street.

Used to go there instead of eating the crappy cafeteria food.

Shoney's especially their breakfast buffet

Anybody remember an old fast food place called "Smacks" in the KC area? I remember those when i was a young kid.

This is a long shot, but does anyone remember Ed Lentz's restaurant on I-44 at the Richland exit? When I was a tiny kid, we ate there so often that, according to family lore, I told someone that my dad worked there.

http://www.66postcards.com/images/05July05.jpg

As a three or four year-old, that place held endless fascination for me, and may be a source of my love for old-style diners today. I remember being enthralled by the little juke boxes on each table, and by the big stand in the middle that sold all sorts of little trinkets. I particularly remember the ostrich with the mercury solution that you would put next to a glass of water, and it would regularly dip its head into the water for a drink and then raise back up.

Yep. And a five-and-ten called Katz.

I don't think so. There used to be one on 291 in Lee's Summit, but I think it is a Starbucks now. There also used to be a Browns Chicken right next door to it, but I think it is a bank now.

Me either. I worked there for a little while when I was going to UMKC and still living in Lee's Summit. Probably the dirtiest restaurant I've ever been in, but they made some damn good fried chicken back in the day.

here's a few I recall from st joe don't know if they were national or not


Dog N Suds
Sambo's
Dapper Dans(the pizza man)
Showbiz Pizza
Happy Joe's

I'll go with Zack's, which used to be Jack's Steakhouse and Tower Ballroom in Pittsburg. Zack is Jack's son. Also, Nick's Restaurant in Girard and, of course, the Mall Deli in Pittsburg.

I remember Sambos from way back in the day. They were sort of like a Dennys if i remember right?

In Wichita:

Willie C's Cafe (the one that used to be near Towne East) There's still one across town now, but the old one had a great Pac-man table that my sister and I would always sit at. Eat some greasy two-bite tacos and get down on some power pellet action. Nothing better.

Bombay Bicycle Club. Used to be off Kellog The food wasn't spectacular but who doesn't love saying the name? They did have a killer Monte Cristo sandwich though.

Yen Chings off Central and Rock. Still there and isn't as good as I remembered it. Schezuan Beef or House Beef are great dishes. I always remember the buddha statue at the front that we used to rub for good luck as kids.

Damn, I totally remember going there as a kid. I also remember going to some craphole diner at the old intersection of 291 & 150(before they redid it). I can't remember the name, but I remember the place sucking pretty bad.

Shakey's Pizza.

There was a window just inside the entrance where you could watch them make the pizzas. Also, they sometimes had guys playing banjos.

Washington Street Station

Every Friday night my parents, sister and I used to go up to Pizza Factory up in KCMO up on North Oak, we would get Sausage, Pepperoni, and Mushroom pizza. Then my sister and I would play Ms. Packman. Seems silly, but it was fun.

Also used to go to Tom's Green and Things on my birthday, huge hamburger and potato sliced fries. Yummy.

Key restaurants of my childhood/youth:

1. A&W (Rolla for the most part)
2. Johnny's Smoke Stak (Rolla)
3. Ed Lentz's (Richland)
4. Calvert's Cafeteria (Springfield, it was our post-church tradition)
5. Ken's Pizza (either Rogers, AR, or Springfield - don't remember now)

off 40 hiway?

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Speaking of places to eat ...

TUNA!

YES!

Medium rare please!

When i was up in KC over the summer i couldnt believe they had a "Waids" in Less Summit still!

Man, that place is ancient.

Damn, luckily I'm not at work looking at this thread.

Waids used to have some bitching cheese soup back in the day. I can't believe that place is still around.

Joe's Barn, 149th and Metcalf. Most recently I think it was Manny's South. Their cinnamon role ruled.

Here's another dead franchise: Burger Chef.

We had a Ken's here,it eventually switched over to a Mazzio's

I've seen a couple here i had forgot about, Burger Chef, Sambo's, Kens Pizza was my first job in Jax, Ill. Ahhh the glory days........

Putch's cafeteria..in the LL of Blue Ridge Mall.

Here's another we had down the road from us in Winston-Salem, mid-70s: Ollie's Trolley.

Very unique. Seasoned french fries, burgers had some kind of different sauce or seasoning on them.

They ever have those in the Midwest?

Thanks to Google:

http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/ollies.shtml

I also forgot about

Sirloin Stockade
Der Weinersnitchzel(or something like that)

Sambo's were Denny's.

Used to be one still by the name Sambo's in Santa Barbara.
They finally changed the name about 10 years ago.

Closed down a couple years after that.

Der Weinersnitzel was pretty good, until they switched to turkey dogs.

We used to eat at the Country Kitchen a lot when I was young. They had the juke boxes at every table like Rain Man mentioned, and if you ate all the food off your plate you received a token you could use for some worthless junk out of the gumball machines.

Cripes. How did I leave Sirloin Stockade off my list? I only spent five years of my life working there and eating there. I have many fond memories of Sirloin Stockade.

Texas Tom's

Sirloin Stockade?

That totally rings a bell.

In Independence?

Back in the Venture and Wild Woody's days? Also Rustlers BBQ which sucked as best as I can remember.

We used to have a Happy Joe's right by us. They had the window where you could watch them make the pizzas and an ice cream shop in the front. That place rocked.

We used to have a couple Showbiz's here too, but they're called something else now. Their pizza was terrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray Texas Tom's

Ohh yes 7-hwy in BS. Good Onion rings and tenderloins.

How bout Bettys Fried Chicken?

a buddy on mine, his stepdad (er, mom's boyfriend) owned those...

I worked there too,got promoted my very first night.Remember those heavy steels they served the sizzling steaks on?Well I loaded my bus cart too heavy on one end and crash over went the cart soaking a lady customer with the soapy water we had on the cart to soak untensils in.

I got promoted to cook after that.

A little hamberger place call LC's and Kelso's Pizza north of th river.

Yeah, those things were heavy. If you got a foot-tall stack of them, it was a real workout to move them.

I started out as a busboy, and then went to dishwasher, fry cook, and then head cook over my five years there. My best story about those steel plates was that once I stepped away from the dishwasher station, and one of the cooks brought back a steel plate that he'd been using on the grille all night, so it was about 400 degrees. I came back and picked it up, and fortunately my hands were wet. I heard the water boiling on my hand and dropped the thing without so much as a red mark. I'm amazed that I didn't roast off all my fingerprints.

So did your lady get a free meal? I could imagine a bunch of those things flipping a cart.

Here's an odd one. When I was a kid, I loved going to Der Weinershnitzel (sp?) on the west end of Business loop 70 in Columbia. It was a big red-roofed A-frame structure that sold Hot Dogs. I preffered that place to McDonalds because McDonalds always put mustard on my cheeseburger. They would give you a plain dog with packets of ketchup (or was it catsup) and mustard so you only had to put on what you wanted.

Wichita had a place on central & zoo called Estalitias best damn sancho in the world...the hot sause would burn your teeth, plus it weighed 2 lbs....

In Overland Park...

Here's the places I grew up with and still have to eat at every time I come back in town...

Taco Via
Haywards...I remember the little hole in the wall off of 95th street...and you had to wait an hour or more to get seated...
Pizza Shoppe....greatest pizza on the planet.
John's Space Age Donuts....yumm. (heard they're closed now??? is this true?? sad if so)
Wylies....outstanding double or triple burgers...

Can't believe someone got that one in before me.

Chuck E. Cheese. The pizza is now tollerable, but they only have one robot animal now and it's far lamer than the whole cast they had at the Showbiz on Metcalf.

Those are all over the place now. I love it. One of the few pizzas in town that doesn't taste like ketchup on a cracker.

A new Pizza joint that I like is Ci Ci's Pizza. Pizza buffet place with Pizza out all day long. Prices aren't too bad either.

Their deep dish is actually pretty good. It has a different sauce that has more herbs and stuff. My 2yo son loves to eat there so he can get chocolate pizza, and since it's just he and I every Wed. night we generally grab my dad and the three of us head up to CiCi's.

Man....that brings back some memories....the only other cinnamon rolll that came close was from Mrs. Winners....

Anyone in Junction City: You must eat at the Pusan Diner on N. Washington Street. Korean S(e)oul Food at it's finest, try the Bulgogi and Yaki Mandu, thank me later. Plus, it's within walking distance of a gentlmen's club.

How about King's Restaurant? The Cheese Frenchee was awesome!

Was that the place that had the phones at the table to put your order in?

There was a place in Claycomo called Bena's....they had a HUGE hamburger there....made all the ones they make these days look like White Castle Burgers.....we would go there on Saturday nights, sit in the car and listen to the A's, while eating burgers and having a chocolate shake.

BTW, the place a couple of you refer to was "Smaks" there was no "c" in the name.

mmaddog
*******

I don't remember the name, but my dad used to take me to some all you can eat mexican place in Independance. Seems like I remember it being off some main highway. Of coarse my dad doesn't remember any such place...

DT

There are a ton of Weinerschnitzel's in SoCal (though they dropped the "Der" a while ago) and they're still really good for a fast food dog. We also have Jack in the Box (which rules) and Shakey's everywhere.

I guess these restaurants didn't make it in KC and were pulled. Too bad.

Lots of old places that don't exist anymore, a few still exist.

In Independence:
Starlite Drive In: 24 Highway & Forest. Where Papa Johns is now.
Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, Also 24 Highway & Forest. Arby's is there now.
Golden Point Burgers: Used to be one at Truman Rd and River- Phillips 66 gas station there now, Polly Pop bottler used to be right behind it. Also a Golden Point was on 40 Highway just east of Cool Crest.
Hawthorne Cafe: 24 hour breakfast, great juke box. Noland Rd. & 40 Highway where Ruby Tuesday's is now.
General's Inn: Steakhouse at 40 Hwy and Noland Rd.
Morgan's Steakhouse Blue Ridge and 24 Highway, burned down in late 1970s.
Wagon Wheel BBQ: 40 Highway and Pitcher Rd.
Bamboo Hut: 40 Highway, steak house, still there.
Red Barn Chicken. 40 Highway & Sterling. Conoco station there now.
Blue Rooster: Blue Ridge Mall, now building a huge Wally World there.
Smak's: Old Hamburger chain, there was one at 24 Highway and Liberty.
Waid's: Still a few around. There's one in Lee's Summit, another at Southwest Blvd and State Line.
Griff's Hamburgers: Used to be one at 24 Highway and Noland across from William Chrisman HS. Now a used car lot. There's still a Griff's in Sedalia, MO across from Smith-Cotton HS.
Dog N Suds: 24 Highway and 291. Beer joint called Dr. Pickl's is there now.
Mugs Up Root Beer: 24 Highway East of Sterling. Abandoned dance hall is there now.
That's just a few. There used to be lots of good drive in's in Independence. Hi Boys is still around, Clem's on 23rd St. near Hill Park. Giant Tenderloin at 24 Highway and Arlington is still there too.