Think they died of prices too low. They used to have a special when my kid was young adult meal with beverage and small sundae was 9.99 and kid ate free including drink and sundae. 0.0 chance of making money doing this.Originally Posted by tgull
If you are not from the North East you would have no idea what this place is. I went to this chain literally like 200 times as a kid. A couple years ago I went to one somewhere in Massachusetts. Yeah not so much. How memories change.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
A few posts too late kid.
Little Black Sambo’s. End of discussion. Mike dropped, exiting stage left.
My mom took me to Friendly's all time when I was a kid. Can't say I remember the prices but she would always leave a $5 cash tip. I would always get hamburgers.Think they died of prices too low. They used to have a special when my kid was young adult meal with beverage and small sundae was 9.99 and kid ate free including drink and sundae. 0.0 chance of making money doing this.If you are not from the North East you would have no idea what this place is. I went to this chain literally like 200 times as a kid. A couple years ago I went to one somewhere in Massachusetts. Yeah not so much. How memories change.
A tremendous success story is Waffle House. Probably because its employee owned. People start at Waffle House at age 18 and never leave, the people there for 30 years make millions. I had a regional manager come up to me a couple years ago and asked how my meal was and introduced himself. He was like 50, and I asked him if he was the franchise owner and he just laughed and said their are no franchises at Waffle House since they are 100% employee owned, but he did say he worked there for over 25 years. He left when I did, and he hopped in a loaded Escalade.
I live about 20 minutes from the original Waffle House they recently turned it into the WH museum the place is always packed.My mom took me to Friendly's all time when I was a kid. Can't say I remember the prices but she would always leave a $5 cash tip. I would always get hamburgers.
A tremendous success story is Waffle House. Probably because its employee owned. People start at Waffle House at age 18 and never leave, the people there for 30 years make millions. I had a regional manager come up to me a couple years ago and asked how my meal was and introduced himself. He was like 50, and I asked him if he was the franchise owner and he just laughed and said their are no franchises at Waffle House since they are 100% employee owned, but he did say he worked there for over 25 years. He left when I did, and he hopped in a loaded Escalade.
Granny's Country Omelet with a banana nut muffin instead of pancakes was my go-to hangover cure during my college days. All of the Perkins in Canada have since closed.
Fond memories of this place, my Dad used to take me for breakfast like once a month, just a father/son Saturday. They are all gone now.
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Golden Corral i think was pretty much a mid west/central US thing, we even had one in our small mid west town of only 10k population in the late 80's/early 90's, they had a buffet, their chicken strips were awesome, soups were good and the mac n cheese was surprisingly good, dinner rolls were always good, nice dessert bar too, i am not a salad person so never hit the salad bar but there was always plenty of people at the salad bar too, price was very reasonable especially for dinner buffet type place, i can't remember if they had a breakfast buffet or not, either that or i just didn't go there for breakfast, girl i dated in high school and shortly after high school liked to go there, we hit it at least once per week, usually on an early friday or saturday night then we would go out drinking... anyways was a decent place with a decent price.... kinda miss the place, they closed up shop in my small town in the mid 90's, and then a local guy bought the joint and just made it a regular restaurant with buffet for dinner and breakfast also... and still operating till this day, it's ok, i go there about once/twice per month...
My first job at 16 was at a Friendlys. Learned a lot about the real world in my 3 months there lol. I was pretty sheltered in catholic school and had never been around real white trash minimum wage workers, whoa were my eyes opened. I was amazed the manager who was probably around 40 was dating a waitress who was definitely not 20, probably not 19, likely not 18, maybe not 17, etc.If you are not from the North East you would have no idea what this place is. I went to this chain literally like 200 times as a kid. A couple years ago I went to one somewhere in Massachusetts. Yeah not so much. How memories change.
Everyone was drinking or on drugs or both, was pretty much a loser stoners dream job. Another fun friendlys adventure was just sucking on the nitrous from the whipped cream cans, that's fun when you have unlimited free whip cream cans lol.
What sucked was washing dishes that was so gross and especially Sunday morning breakfast was a disaster to clean after. Slightly better but still crappy was ice cream counter. Just an fyi for everyone who enjoys ice cream, those tubs are fucking gross. they are there open for like 2-3 weeks + and your constantly shoving your arm into it to get scoops and you always touch the sides or edges etc, all the germs are frozen just waiting for your mouth to warm them up back to life inside of you.......no way no thanks lol...
I couldn't take it and needed to quit, but i was a pretty shy/nervous kid so I had an outgoing friend of mine call and say "hi this is AJ i quit , bye" lol and thats how I ended my friendlys ice cream shop career.
"Just Do Your Job"
"Discipline or Regret"
my contribution is OG - I used to enjoy quite a few meals there, bread was epic, and salad was too. I would not go to Olive Garden today if you payed me, I have like $250 in gift cards Ive been collecting for 10 years maybe roughly. I think I can use them elsewhere but I digress.
Someone told me OG was created by General Mills in the 80s, not sure if true - but I believe it and spread that to people like its fact lol!
"Just Do Your Job"
"Discipline or Regret"
My fast food working experience was Dominos, I was a driver in the summers for like 3 years. It was the most unsanitized place you ever saw. The refrigerated cooler was in the back of the store and drivers would stash a case of beer back there and drink beers them between runs, the manager did not give a shit either. Some drivers were 4 down by 9pm on a Friday, I saw two guys shotgun two beers before a run and just laugh. The assistant manager was even worse, when he was working drivers would just routinely grab pepperonis, sausage and cheese with their bare hands (which were coated filthy handling cash) and put it on a paper plate and heat it in the microwave in the back and open up the door and smoke a cigarette. There were literally three lawn chairs out there. And the employee bathroom, was so filthy the lone female driver would go next door to the 7-11 to use the restroom. I mentioned this before, but the most egregious thing I ever saw was when the manager spilled an entire can of pizza sauce on the floor, calmly scooped it up and used it the rest of the night for pizzas. He was like I have food costs to manage.My first job at 16 was at a Friendlys. Learned a lot about the real world in my 3 months there lol. I was pretty sheltered in catholic school and had never been around real white trash minimum wage workers, whoa were my eyes opened. I was amazed the manager who was probably around 40 was dating a waitress who was definitely not 20, probably not 19, likely not 18, maybe not 17, etc.If you are not from the North East you would have no idea what this place is. I went to this chain literally like 200 times as a kid. A couple years ago I went to one somewhere in Massachusetts. Yeah not so much. How memories change.
Everyone was drinking or on drugs or both, was pretty much a loser stoners dream job. Another fun friendlys adventure was just sucking on the nitrous from the whipped cream cans, that's fun when you have unlimited free whip cream cans lol.
What sucked was washing dishes that was so gross and especially Sunday morning breakfast was a disaster to clean after. Slightly better but still crappy was ice cream counter. Just an fyi for everyone who enjoys ice cream, those tubs are fucking gross. they are there open for like 2-3 weeks + and your constantly shoving your arm into it to get scoops and you always touch the sides or edges etc, all the germs are frozen just waiting for your mouth to warm them up back to life inside of you.......no way no thanks lol...
I couldn't take it and needed to quit, but i was a pretty shy/nervous kid so I had an outgoing friend of mine call and say "hi this is AJ i quit , bye" lol and thats how I ended my friendlys ice cream shop career.
After I 'quit' Friendly's I started working at Carrabbas that was a much better experience, it was still full of drugs and shit, but the level of human-trash was elevated, and the people really cared about the food and I honestly thought it was amazing after seeing Friendly's and expecting all restaurants to be run the same.My fast food working experience was Dominos, I was a driver in the summers for like 3 years. It was the most unsanitized place you ever saw. The refrigerated cooler was in the back of the store and drivers would stash a case of beer back there and drink beers them between runs, the manager did not give a shit either. Some drivers were 4 down by 9pm on a Friday, I saw two guys shotgun two beers before a run and just laugh. The assistant manager was even worse, when he was working drivers would just routinely grab pepperonis, sausage and cheese with their bare hands (which were coated filthy handling cash) and put it on a paper plate and heat it in the microwave in the back and open up the door and smoke a cigarette. There were literally three lawn chairs out there. And the employee bathroom, was so filthy the lone female driver would go next door to the 7-11 to use the restroom. I mentioned this before, but the most egregious thing I ever saw was when the manager spilled an entire can of pizza sauce on the floor, calmly scooped it up and used it the rest of the night for pizzas. He was like I have food costs to manage.
Carrabba's was really good and the people really cared. It restored my faith in humanity.
But they wouldn't give me enough time off for tennis practice and matches so I left Carrabba's after a little less than a year, good times though.
Later in college I worked at a local pizza place as a delivery driver, and the things you mention above make the pizza place i worked at sound like a 5 star Michelin, I have so many un-godly stories from that place but suffice to say everyone was drunk delivering pizzas that was just entry into the club, the owners were heavy alcoholics, real alcoholics, they had delirium tremors etc, etc.
when i have time i should return and recount some stories they are WILD, hard to believe honestly.
"Just Do Your Job"
"Discipline or Regret"
After I 'quit' Friendly's I started working at Carrabbas that was a much better experience, it was still full of drugs and shit, but the level of human-trash was elevated, and the people really cared about the food and I honestly thought it was amazing after seeing Friendly's and expecting all restaurants to be run the same.
Carrabba's was really good and the people really cared. It restored my faith in humanity.
But they wouldn't give me enough time off for tennis practice and matches so I left Carrabba's after a little less than a year, good times though.
Later in college I worked at a local pizza place as a delivery driver, and the things you mention above make the pizza place i worked at sound like a 5 star Michelin, I have so many un-godly stories from that place but suffice to say everyone was drunk delivering pizzas that was just entry into the club, the owners were heavy alcoholics, real alcoholics, they had delirium tremors etc, etc.
when i have time i should return and recount some stories they are WILD, hard to believe honestly.
Fairly certain I said this years ago in here, but if you have any sort of germophobia, literally just kill yourself.
Think restaurant stories are bad? Think of the processing plants....
Once you reconcile with the fact that almost every bite of food has probably a million bits of floating human DNA....
Boston Market was always a favorite.
Others- Big Yellow House, Bob’s Big Boy (still out there), Claim Jumper (went to one at Henderson, NV recently), Tony Romas (still one in Vegas), Dicky’s BBQ (few still out there).
And Fudd Ruckers burgers.
Last edited by desertrunner; 11-27-2024 at 09:12 PM.
Another one I miss and would actually eat at if I found one, and the food was how I remember it. There was one of these in the parking lot at this Lincoln Mercury dealership I
worked at when I was 20-21 ate at Fazolis about half the time I ate lunch, the meatsauce spagetti was good, the fett alfredo was good, the salad was good, and the bread was really
good, i rememeber liking alot of the stuff they had and It might have sucked but I remember it fondly.
"Just Do Your Job"
"Discipline or Regret"
Delivery driver at Dominos was a great college job, cash tips, cash for gas…never had such a wad of $20 bills in my life.My fast food working experience was Dominos, I was a driver in the summers for like 3 years. It was the most unsanitized place you ever saw. The refrigerated cooler was in the back of the store and drivers would stash a case of beer back there and drink beers them between runs, the manager did not give a shit either. Some drivers were 4 down by 9pm on a Friday, I saw two guys shotgun two beers before a run and just laugh. The assistant manager was even worse, when he was working drivers would just routinely grab pepperonis, sausage and cheese with their bare hands (which were coated filthy handling cash) and put it on a paper plate and heat it in the microwave in the back and open up the door and smoke a cigarette. There were literally three lawn chairs out there. And the employee bathroom, was so filthy the lone female driver would go next door to the 7-11 to use the restroom. I mentioned this before, but the most egregious thing I ever saw was when the manager spilled an entire can of pizza sauce on the floor, calmly scooped it up and used it the rest of the night for pizzas. He was like I have food costs to manage.
Great call. I remember going to Claim Jumper was such a big deal when I was a kid, and now I cant remember the last time I went to one. I drive out to the desert a lot, so pass the one off the 10 freeway in San Bernardino a lot, so in my mind it is still a thing. But you are right, there are only 3 total left in the entire greater LA metro area.
This place was great in the '90. Used to go with my then-girlfriend all the time.
They had a good soup/salad bar, unlimited (good) cheese bread, and quality main courses.
Unfortunately, they went downhill in the 2000s, and I quit them. As did most people I knew.
I'm surprised they're still around. The location I used to frequent in the mid-late '90s (Torrance, CA) closed. Keep in mind that joint was jumping and there was always a wait to get in, so they really shit the bed. Probably more corporate-level bedshitting than that location. There's only 4 left in California.
Here is another one that was a big deal to me growing up, that recently closed all their remaining So Cal locations for good. As a kid the idea that I could pour as much liquid cheese and ketchup on my burger and fries as I wanted was just mind blowing great.
I actually went to the one in Ontario Mills right before it closed for good a few years ago, and thought it was a pretty good experience still.
I was raised by my grandparents and they wanted to go to Western Sizzlin at least once a week. I was nearly 30 years old before i would eat a steak. Both of my grand parents liked their meat cooked extra well done, I just thought that was what steak tasted like.
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Great call. I remember going to Claim Jumper was such a big deal when I was a kid, and now I cant remember the last time I went to one. I drive out to the desert a lot, so pass the one off the 10 freeway in San Bernardino a lot, so in my mind it is still a thing. But you are right, there are only 3 total left in the entire greater LA metro area.
Here is another one that was a big deal to me growing up, that recently closed all their remaining So Cal locations for good. As a kid the idea that I could pour as much liquid cheese and ketchup on my burger and fries as I wanted was just mind blowing great.
I actually went to the one in Ontario Mills right before it closed for good a few years ago, and thought it was a pretty good experience still.
Ah yes, Ruddfuckers.
I used to go to the Torrance one semi-often in the '80s and '90s. and later in the '90s, I went to the Buena Park one, but not just to eat.
The Buena Park Fuddruckers was very centrally located in north Orange County, on the corner of Orangethorpe and Beach. It was also only about 10 minutes away from where I worked. This made it perfect to set as a meeting spot, such as where a friend and I would meet and park so we only needed to take one car into Disneyland or Knott's. Or for an in-person meetup with an OC girl I talked to online. Or when I was buying or selling something from the classified ads (remember those?) I even once met there to trade tapes of a TV show, with another fan who lived in the area.
Also was a reliable/clean place to stop and piss if you were driving through the area on the 5 or 91.
The burgers were actually solid. Always enjoyed my food there. But yeah, haven't been to one in ages.
“ aayjay: if i saw a functional boston market today id go”
You would be extremely disappointed. There are around 17 left but that changes by the day. Google some reviews for a good laugh or cry. They were sold a few years ago to some Indian dude who tapped the company for everything and ran it into the ground. They stiffed vendors, landlords and even employees. New Jersey closed them down a couple years ago for not paying employees.
It got so bad at the ones here in Florida the employee told me they were buying food from the Publix deli multiple times a day to sell as the cash came in.
But at one point in time they were the shit but those days are long gone and I doubt there will any left within a year. Actually had Thanksgiving dinner from there while traveling years ago.
Sweet Tomatoes was a decent Salad and Soup Bar restaurant that was national I believe. They all closed in early 2020 and as far as I know none ever reopened. Another victim of Covid.
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