Fast Food Chains you miss

[apes3978]

Not really 'fast food' per se, but Ponderosa steak house was pretty good when I was a kid... IIRC, they closed them around here in 2006 or thereabouts.

[shaunaconda]

Burger Chef!

[msenger76]

I wouldn't mind it if Hot 'n Now made a comeback...

There is a hot n now in Sturgis MI, my wife and i drive over every few months

[Earth 2 Chris]

Is A&W still around? Used to love them.

We have them in central KY.

I miss Burger Queen, and the franchise that replaced it in my town, Druther's.

Not really fast food, but I miss Ponderosa steak house. At least how it was in the late 80s. We had one in our town as well. The only nearby one closed up recently.

Anyone remember Ritzy's? 50's style diner food, with really thin, LONG french fries. Delicious.

[Mikey]

I forgot about Ponderosa/Bonanza steakhouses.

We used to go their for their buffets

All you can eat fried chicken and make your own tacos !!!

Their breakfast buffet was cool too --- all you can eat biscuits and sawmill gravy !!!

Speaking of the above, I miss Shoney's breakfast buffet

BTW, Is Shoney's still in business ?

[Earth 2 Chris]

^There are Shoney's south of me, or there were, pre-pandemic. We used to have several in KY, but they pulled out about 20 years ago.

And yes, Ponderosa had a great buffet. Their fried chicken was the best.

[Mikey]

Back in the day was eating at a Shoney's breakfast buffet in Easton/Palmer Pa.

Guy in front of me totally pigged out on their sausages (left me nothing) …

Found out a while later the culprit was Bam Bam Bigalow

Captain Lou (who was there too) bought me a free break-buffet

NEVER say WWF badguys are REALLY bad

[jwyblejr]

^agreed. A&W, for me, disappeared in the 70s because Sonic (gag) took over. At first, that wasn't terrible because Sonic was still regional, but once they went national, they became my LEAST favorite fast food ever. Sonic in the 70s and 80s was kind of comparable to to today's Whataburger. Past that, I don't know what they are and they seem to be getting worse.

I miss when it was Kentucky Fried Chicken, not KFC. And I miss Taco Bell...before they started sticking them together with a "KFC" and it became something else but kept the name. I miss Long John's....before they started mashing them together with KFC or Taco Bell or A&W and then everything but "KFC" and "Taco Bell?" disappeared.

Kentucky Fried Chicken use to have some pretty good BBQ chicken. I don't mean like small pieces of chicken. I mean when you use to have the choice of their regular version of chicken or BBQ. I miss Nathan's Hot Dogs myself. Yeah,I know they have their main place in NYC but I'm talking about when you could walk into a mall and get their hotdogs. Another one,though not really fast food is Perkins.

[Duncan]

I thought Cooker's had wonderful food, are there any left?

Nah, they had one in Sandusky and were thinking about more, but it looks like they're currently closed. You can still see the old menu, tho:

http://www.cookerbarandgrille.com/

[PNGwynne]

Thanks for the link. They had the best mashed potatoes I've ever had in a restaurant, and you're right about their pot roast.

I used to go to the one in an Akron suburb, after it closed the site became a Panera.

[Mego-Amigo]

Rax Roast Beef and Taco Town. Loved eating at both of those in the mid to late 80s but they both closed down shortly after. Loved Big Boy as a kid but they changed it into Shoneys in the mid 70s. Not really fast food but I miss Godfather's Pizza too.

[apes3978]

^^^ I forgot about Godfather's Pizza... Good choice... ^^^

[Confessional]

Snaps, home of the Snappy Joe.

And for posterity, the first experience in 1980 at Jay's Hot Dogs was indeed life changing.

[Mikey]

Anybody else remember Chicken Delight ?

I used to pig out on their pork ribs

[Mikey]

More of a chain restaurant then a chain fast-food but I also miss Beefsteak Charlie's !!!

Beer, wine or sangria