Last week on Yahoo, I saw a link that was a list of "America's Disappearing Restaurant Chains". I thought that would be good for 2 minutes of entertainment - I thought York's Steak House or Bill Knapp (that was then, this is WOW) would be 1 and 2.....
.... 30 minutes later, I was sad, depressed, with a tear in my eye. This list brings back so many memories! I have personal experiences with 8 out of the top 10!
1. Bennigan's
There was one mall in Iowa when we lived there in 2004-05, the Coralville mall. Attached to the mall was a Target, where we (of course) made 5,215 stops at over 2 years. Next to the Target, accesible through the mall and through Target, was Bennigan's. We spent countless winter nights at Bennigan's, watching god-awful Big Ten basketball (Penn St. vs Minnesota, anyone?) and trying to make a 4-year old Freddie eat one piece of honey-mustard drenched lettuce and a 18-month-old Warren just eat one piece of hot dog (and no, not the piece that just fell on the floor).
2. Ground Round
Wow, this alone makes me cry. What a treat for Layup and me growing up when Dad would come home on a Friday and say: "it's payday! Let's go to Ground Round!" We'd either go to the one in Timonium (there was one there, right?) or up in York...and I would have the Salisbury steak. I'm a grown man- I'm 14! No hamburger for me! Give me the Salisbury steak - and then I would drench it with A1. MMMmmmmmmmmmmmm......
(There was a Ground Round in Iowa - I tried to take Janice there, she wanted no part of it....)
3. Baker's Square
Well, this is a must for any college student in NE Ohio. How many locations of Bakers' Square were there in Cleveland in the eatly 90s? 40? 50? There was one near every Finast, that's for sure. A slice of French Silk pie to go, please!
4.Damon's
Bakers' Square was college food....but you aspired to graduate from college to eat and watch sports at Damon's! I disticntly remember driving by a Damon's in March, 1994 in Solon (or Mayfield - somewhere on the east side) saying to myself: "I can't wait to have a job and money, so I can blow 2 days just sitting at Damon's, eating the Big Onion Loaf and watching the NCAA tournament......."
and when I got my first job in Dayton, that's exactly what I did in 1996!!!!My friend Paul and I spent 10 hours at the Damon's on Dorothy Lane watching the games. My first car - a brown Toyota Celica hand me down from Mom and Dad - turned 100,000 miles as I was driving to Damon's.
And that's where I watched this game - a game that brings a smile to any ACC fan......
5. Don Pablo's
How in the hell is this place on the list? I went here for lunchat least once a week for 3 years. Find a warehouse, serve cheap Mexican food, overcharge for it, serve expensive and fruity Margaritas.....profit! How do you screw that up?
Don Pablo's was one of only like 4 restaurants near her apartment in 1996-7 in Springdale, near Tri County mall. It was packed at 4:30 pm every day. There was a 20 minute wait every time we went - and we went often. How did they screw this up so badly??
7. Big Boy
If you have stepped foot in Ohio, then you must have eaten here at some point. What's your favorite thing? I was not a regular customer, but several friends kept trying to take us to the Big Boy's breakfast buffet on the weekend. Sorry, I prefer Shoney's.
8. Tony Roma's
Ah, another restaurant which you only aspired to go to when you were in college. There was a Tony Roma's on Mayfield on Birch in Beachwood/Mayfield Village (Kermit, is that right??) that we would drive past every day to and from golf practice. Ribs.....is there anything better to eat after a round of golf? 2 or three times in our career,we would get our $8 meal money for dinner after a tournament, and then grab some more money from the ATM and head to Tony Roma's......for completeyly average ribs that seemed at the time to be worth a million dollars.
9. Country Kitchen
Ah, another Iowa speciality. I think I went to a few of these on my travels around the state for golf....taking my 15-year old caddy with me into the restaurant. A lower-quality Bob Evans, with good breakfast.
So many memories.....all about to disappear.....
5 comments:
Perring parkway
York Steak House was great. Beef tips smothered in the York Steak House special BBQ sauce was my favorite. It is a shame that they are out of business because I will have no one to sue when colon cancer catches up with me.
The Big Boy hamburger is also spectacular (with the white "Bob's Big Boy" sauce, not the shitty orange sauce they serve in Michigan Big Boy locations).
I'm hungry!!
York Steak House was great. Beef tips smothered in the York Steak House special BBQ sauce was my favorite. It is a shame that they are out of business because I will have no one to sue when colon cancer catches up with me.
The Big Boy hamburger is also spectacular (with the white "Bob's Big Boy" sauce, not the shitty orange sauce they serve in Michigan Big Boy locations).
I'm hungry!!
I really can't agree with you. Let em all fail. I detest chain restaurants. The only one I miss is Don Pablo's. Their Real Margarita was about the best I've ever had. P.F. Changs actually makes a good Agave Margarta too. Yes, it's a chain that I go to (for happy hour mostly). Their food is really not good except for the lettuce wraps. Overall, the food has way too much sodium and just doesn't compare to the authentic Chinese places. And, I'm not talking about the fast food Chinese places on the corner or in the mall.
Another place that I refuse to go to is Olive Garden. I think I've been there once. But, why would I go to a chain Italian place when we have Little Italy a few miles away? Or the multitude of family owned Italian restaurants that make a great homemade pasta.
I don't remember the last time I was at a Friday's, Applebys, Chili's, etc. Tony Roma's was good when I was 20. But, then the one in Mayfield turned into a dump.
The Outback is one chain that's OK. But, in general, I don't go out of my way to go to a chain restaurant. They're at the bottom of my list. If it's convenient and nothing is available, then maybe I'll stop in.
What a post! What memories. I loved York's Steak House.
Others I expected to see on the list:
- Morrison's Cafeteria (it actually had 'Cafeteria' in the name)
- Ponderosa
- Johnny Appleseed
- The Old Country Buffet
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