A&W was a huge family favorite in the 50s and 60s. We would take a drive in the country and eventually end up at DQ or A&W. A&W used to serve free baby beers in small mugs to us kids. On a hot summer afternoon, the ice-cold root beer was heaven-sent. Very fond memories.
One of my friends when I was young his family had an A&W franchise. Our small town had few places to eat out besides the supper clubs. The root beer at A&W was the best. The burgers were different than most places, with a unique sauce like thousand island dressing. We had a Dairy Queen. That was it. Both only a few blocks from our house. Could ride our bikes to A&W or Dairy Queen. Later after I moved away they got Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hardees.
We were poor when I was a kid so going to McDonald's was a treat, but just before Christmas, every year, we went to Bonanza, to me that was high class, you didn't eat out of a styrofoam box and drink out of a paper cup, it was real glassware, and waitresses came to you for the order...those were good times.
I understand where you are coming from. I came from a similar background where we could never afford to eat out. I remember going to Bonanza and in thought it was a bug deal
Canadians are probably smart enough to know that a 1/3 pound burger is BIGGER than a 1/4 pound burger. Unfortunately a large number of Americans aren’t. Funny they didn’t mention this problem in the video.
You forgot K-Mart Delicatesons... and the Blue Plate Special. Nothing quite like the wafting aroma of hotdogs, popcorn, and chili in the air as you shopped at K-Mart. The entrance had Cotton Candy and ready-to-eat, sticky, caramel-covered, apples on a stick. No wonder the carts had nasty sticky handles! ICK!
Oh man, I remember this as a kid. Went away when I was still a kid… I had a few lucky years to enjoy it before it was gone for good. The ghost of the “food stop” was really sad. My Kmart stopped working it but it was still built it for YEARS. They used it as additional storage and caution taped it off. I was always so sad as a kid seeing it… I wanted my popcorn.
The Woolworth's lunch counter always made the best vanilla Coke. Pellet ice, real vanilla syrup. And I loved Shakey's pizza as a kid. Life was way simpler then.
only one thing goes better than chicken strips at McDonald's which failed for some reason was MCRIB sandwich with side fries and coke was best combo ever guess something don't work out.
Our A&W in West Palm Beach, FL, (corner of Southern Blvd and Parker Ave) featured three sizes of burgers dubbed the PAPA BURGER, MAMA BURGER and the BABY BURGER... Us kids graduating from BABY to MAMA to PAPA was a rite of passage in our family! They also featured the take-home / refillable gallon jug of root beer! What memories...
There was nothing greater on this earth than drinking that A & W root beer as a kid on a hot summer day. My mom would get one of those big glass jugs of it and bring it home once a month and chill it in the freezer until it was near frozen then leave it out for an hour ~ that was her trick
I've never seen an A&W restaurant other than from movie and TV footage in California until I found one in the food court in the Gulf View Square Mall in Port Richey, Florida. Now that mall is all but gone.
There was a Sambo's near Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. When we visited Disneyland, my parents would take us to Sambo's for breakfast. I liked the mural-story of "Little Black Sambo" that was painted (wallpapered?) around the dining area. I realize that the story of "LBS" would be considered "that's racist!" today, but I enjoyed the "theme restaurants" when I was a kid during the 1970s.
Shakey's pizza. 🍕 👍🏻 My town in central California only had an A&W Drive-In and a Shakey's Pizza. We were kind of (still) an "oil boomtown," so we had few nice, family owned, sit-town restaurants, too. The biggest buildings in town were the Crocker Bank and the Safeway grocery store.
@@droe2570 They didn’t last here in Rhode Island,McDonald’s and Burger Chef were undercutting them. Then Burger Chef tanked in 1982,becoming Hardee’s and Burger King,then Hardee’s locations in my area became Burger King..
Wikipedia A&W Canada. The company was initially a subsidiary of the U.S.-based A&W Restaurants chain, with the subsidiary opening its first franchise in Winnipeg in 1956. In 1972, Unilever acquired A&W's Canadian operations, leading to the subsidiary's separation from the U.S.-based company.[6] In 1995, a Canadian management group made up of A&W franchisees took ownership of the chain from Unilever.[7] The A&W chain in Canada remains privately owned and is headquartered in North Vancouver. As of 2022, A&W was Canada's second-largest fast-food hamburger chain with 1,029 franchises.[8]
@daryllmcgorman I remember in early 1960'sgoing into the A+ W in Brandon , Manitoba and grabbing an ice cold root beer in a frosted mug, boy that tasted swell! The building of A+W was little more than a ppl plywood shack! Lol! Looked forward to that weekly trip, on my paper route of 75 customers, I was 10/ 11 yrs old back then! Lol!!!
A&W is 2nd to McDonalds when it comes to burger chains in Canada with way more locations than Wendys or Burger King. A&W is my first choice out of the 4.
There used to be a Red Barn around here as "The Farm" but it closed in early 2020 (nothing to do with lockdowns). It's since re-opened as Burgers and More; it's still the Red Barn building.
The A&W's near me are long gone, but I'm glad to hear the chain is still around. I loved their mugs of root beer, as well as their burgers. I was always amused by the names: Papa burger, Mama burger, Teen burger, Baby burger... can't get more family-friendly than that, lol.
I worked for A&W back in the 80's. I had opportunity to work a few shifts at the last drive-in in 🇨🇦. We still made the rootbeer in store, whistle dogs and fresh hand cut n bettered onion rings! The worst mistake A&W made was going away from foil pkging imo
You always speak of a healthy new menu and food, and new concepts!!! News flash have you and everybody on this site been to some of these new restaurants??? You tell me I totally miss these restaurants!!
Last summer I went to an A&W restaurant in the small town of Fosston, Minnesota and that whole experience was fantastic. Especially their root beer float and cheese curds 😎
The first drive-through restaurant was created by Sheldon "Red" Chaney in 1947, in Springfield, Missouri. The restaurant was called Red's Giant Hamburg and was located on Route 66. It served customers until its closure in 1984
I can still recall going to the A&W in W. Springfield, Mass. shortly after I got back from Vietnam in 1972. I was much surprised to find the building boarded up. It had gone out of business a couple of weeks earlier. I was very disappointed because it was my favorite spot for having a couple of hot dogs and root beer.
I ate at Sambo's a couple of times before it went defunct in the west coast. I ordered their breakfast, burgers and NY Steak dishes, it was good. I thought it was better than Sizzler.😋
We'd go to A&W, and get root beer in the frosted glasses brought out by the carhops. Once the soft drink was sold in supermarkets, going to the fast food places wasn't as important. I like Sizzler's salad bar because they also had hot food like chicken wings too, something I had not seen before.
We had most of these fast food chains in NYC. I liked Wetsons, they were the predecessor of Wendy's. I remember Wetsons in 1975 when I was a very young man. Their burgers were very good. I took my dog there too. She loved the experience sitting in the front seat of the car. She was so happy with those little car trips.
Wetsons and Wendy’s aren’t related in any way, Wetson started in 1959 in NY and closed in 1975. Wendy’s was started in 1969 in Ohio by former KFC employee Dave Thomas and is still going. Looking at both restaurants backgrounds and their founders, they have zero in common. One was a success and the other was a failure
Sizzler and Ponderosa still hanging on in Kissimmee, FL. I forgot about Quiznos, Red Barn, Roy Rogers, and Steak and Ale I got a real mental through back with those.
Yes, Northern California chain, faded out in the 1990s. A steakhouse that had relatively cheap prices. Sizzler's (offering buffets)ultimately froze them out
Right now they are building an A &W/ Long John's Silver restaurant near my house. Not only has burgers and hot dogs but fish also along with the A&W root beer.
The main problem with most of the good sit down and dine restaurants is the intro to all you can eat buffets . I worked for one that took a nose dive and it was after the all you can eat added that it eventually closed . Mom and pop restaurants are still around because they didn't alter their menus much .
I remember many of these "fast food joints". Growing up, my family enjoyed going to Ponderosa. Ponderosa had the same service model as Bonanza (which came about a little earlier) and York (which came about later). The three of them probably have less than 25 restaurants left combined in the US. Was it the changing tastes of patrons or bad management (or both)? You could have several more shows on national and regional brands that have (all but) disappeared. I remember Kewpee hamburgers. Dave Thomas got the idead for his hamburgers from them. He was the much better businessman since Wendy's is a huge chain and Kewpee's has less than a dozen places left!
Always heard the Sizzler commercials in the 70's as a kid. Wanted to try it out. We moved to a state that, I'm not sure if it had any Sizzlers. I had my opportunity about 5 years ago (40 ish years later) in a neighboring state but , declined because my girlfriend at the time was a vegan and, the parking lot was kind of bare every time i drove past it and, i mentally questioned the food quality so, i decided not to go . We did find a nice quiet Restaurant next to a lake about a quarter mile from the Sizzler on the same street.
A&W Drive-Ins didn’t "flop." They were extremely successful for several decades, then "fast food" dining options exploded, nationwide, in the 1970s. When I was a kid, my town only had the A&W Drive-In and Shakey's Pizza. By the time I was in high school, they were replaced by McDonald's, Burger King and, eventually, a Taco Bell. Also, by the 1970s, fewer GIRLS were interested in being "car hops." It's much easier to take orders & serve food from a countertop w/ cash register(s) than roller-skating food out to cars. Drive-thru lanes are more convenient, too. A&W Root Beer 🍺 is still good. During the 1980s, some A&Ws in California were upgraded to sit-down restaurants, like a McDonald's or Burger King. 35 years later, I have no idea if any A&Ws still exist in California, but I still remember the "Papa burger," "Mama burger," and "Baby burger," 🍔 served in a basket, with fries, and a sweet pickles on the side. 😋
I remember a and w root beer restaurants. I love their Papa burger, mama burger and baby burger. They were awesome not to mention the root beer floats. I wish they would return.
I miss Gino's. Started in the Philly area I believe. Great burgers and fried chicken. The New York / Philly Corridor was just saturated with fast food joints. Gino's just couldn't compete.
I remember, in the mid 1960's, going to a "drive-in" chain restaurant in central Florida, called "Jerry's! They served a delicious, double-decker hamburger, called the "J Boy"! This predated McDonald's "Big Mac" & I have always felt that someone from that company copied the "J Boy" to make the "Big Mac" & made a fortune from it!
I loved Shakey's Pizza in San Rafael, CA. It was such good pizza sauce, and crust. They had video games that made it a fun place for kids. SIZZLER had the BEST cheese bread. A&W is still around with KFC in the same place. It's a KFC/A&W.
Videos like this just reminds me that things just gets worse with every passing decade. A lot of these restaurants reminds me of fun simple things of the past that we dont have anymore
SAMBO'S WASN'T RACIST ! GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT ! I loved "Woolworth's" fountain as a kid in the 50s. "Sizzler" was fine at first, but the meat was always low grade. "Soup Plantation" was ok . Never had much to offer. Never cared for the crowd. Always hated "Shakey's Pizza." Really cheap food and NOT ITALIAN !
The story of "Little Black Sambo" was "racist-ish," as originally presented. "Sambo" was actually INDIAN 🇮🇳 and not a black African at all. That doesn't mean the people who worked at or patronized the restaurants were "racists."
Wow, this video really takes me back! It's fascinating to see how many iconic restaurants couldn't keep up with changing times. A&W Drive-In and Shakey's Pizza were such a big part of my childhood. I'm curious, which of these defunct eateries do you miss the most, and why? Have you come across any modern places that capture the same nostalgic vibe?
A&W in Canada is the second largest chain after McDonald's... It almost tastes the same as the 1980's version with a few tweaks.. Still one of the better budget burger chains around...
What is your most missed fast food chain?
SAMS Hamburgers 5 for 5 dollars
The Hot N Now by me was turned into an auto store.
Not fast food, but definitely Howard Johnson. Oh man, Stuckey's pecan log rolls. Nothing compares.
Burger Chef.
McDonalds. Lost it's flavor.
I have an A&W right down the street from me. There are several through out Michigan and there are some in Wisconsin also.
The still have stores - but the drive ins closed.
I wish they were still in illinois
I'm 1 block from A&W in Michigan also. We have most of these restaurants still
One close to my house in Ohio as well. They still have the drive up window or you can park and eat in your car.
There building a new a & w in south Colorado
A&W was a huge family favorite in the 50s and 60s. We would take a drive in the country and eventually end up at DQ or A&W. A&W used to serve free baby beers in small mugs to us kids. On a hot summer afternoon, the ice-cold root beer was heaven-sent. Very fond memories.
Me too. Those cute little baby root beer mugs. 🥰
I have an A&W 8 miles north and one 25 miles south from my house.
One of my friends when I was young his family had an A&W franchise. Our small town had few places to eat out besides the supper clubs. The root beer at A&W was the best. The burgers were different than most places, with a unique sauce like thousand island dressing. We had a Dairy Queen. That was it. Both only a few blocks from our house. Could ride our bikes to A&W or Dairy Queen. Later after I moved away they got Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hardees.
It's in Birch Run Michigan. Right across from the Outlet.
We were poor when I was a kid so going to McDonald's was a treat, but just before Christmas, every year, we went to Bonanza, to me that was high class, you didn't eat out of a styrofoam box and drink out of a paper cup, it was real glassware, and waitresses came to you for the order...those were good times.
I can certainly relate to that!💯 Those were definitely the good old days!👍
I understand where you are coming from. I came from a similar background where we could never afford to eat out. I remember going to Bonanza and in thought it was a bug deal
@@Defiantone427 us to in Illinois suburban Chicago
Shaky's Pizza & Ferrill's Ice Cream for me and I'm 60 yrs old! Quite the memories for me!😀
I grew up calling it "shi#$ys" pizza. Sorry
Ferrillos was a blast
@@DoktorChill i think there is still one over near Redlands.
We had a Shaky’s in Cedar Rapids Iowa where I grew up. We didn’t eat out often, but did go there several times a year.
There's shakeys all over california
A&W in Canada is going strong. You even used footage from the Canadian commercials.
yeah, we have one in a gas station on the freeway 15 going back to los angeles from las vegas
Canadians are probably smart enough to know that a 1/3 pound burger is BIGGER than a 1/4 pound burger. Unfortunately a large number of Americans aren’t. Funny they didn’t mention this problem in the video.
I used to love Woolies food ,,it eas fast and chep
For brickky it had to be M,S❤️❤️❤️
They were just pointing out that they move from being drive in to dine in
I miss these old chains they were so much better than what we have now days
A&W was one of the best places to go in the sixties and seventies they need to make a comeback
I live 15 in away from a A&W❤ cheers from Chardon Ohio. I absolutely agree to your comment. Come back for sure!
A&W is everywhere in Canada. Still can get the Papa, Mama and Teen Burgers as well as the root beer in a frosted mug.
Real good smell of those malty root beers with the burgers, etc
You forgot K-Mart Delicatesons... and the Blue Plate Special. Nothing quite like the wafting aroma of hotdogs, popcorn, and chili in the air as you shopped at K-Mart. The entrance had Cotton Candy and ready-to-eat, sticky, caramel-covered, apples on a stick. No wonder the carts had nasty sticky handles! ICK!
🤣
Can't remember if it was KMart or JC Penny's, but the grilled cheese and orange soda was such a treat as a kid.
Bag of ham and cheese sandwiches and an Icee mix cherry and blueberry
Oh man, I remember this as a kid. Went away when I was still a kid… I had a few lucky years to enjoy it before it was gone for good. The ghost of the “food stop” was really sad. My Kmart stopped working it but it was still built it for YEARS. They used it as additional storage and caution taped it off. I was always so sad as a kid seeing it… I wanted my popcorn.
Walmart had this also
The Woolworth's lunch counter always made the best vanilla Coke. Pellet ice, real vanilla syrup. And I loved Shakey's pizza as a kid. Life was way simpler then.
My grandfather took me and my sister to Sizzlers in the early 70’s. Every Friday.
Sizzler was me and my dad’s favorite, miss him much
... was my* and my dad's favorite
When I went to Puerto Rico I was amazed to see a sizzles buffet!!! I was like wow man !
Sorry sizzles it was good
Darn it ! Auto type...sizzler
Sizzles was a treat when I was in elementary and jr. High
A&W Makes some Good Root Beer
In Canada yes, they do, with proper cane sugar and natural flavourings, the US version is corn syrup crap.
I always thought Bennigans was much better that TGIF
only one thing goes better than chicken strips at McDonald's which failed for some reason was MCRIB sandwich with side fries and coke was best combo ever guess something don't work out.
A&W is extremely popular on Okinawa, Japan. They're everywhere.
Similar to what you mentioned, I was in Ireland last Fall and there wasn’t a 7-11 or AM/PM in sight but there were Circle K’s everywhere you looked.
They are in Canada too, just had some raspberry pies a couple of days ago.
That like when artist lose popularity in the US and continue success abroad
Our A&W in West Palm Beach, FL, (corner of Southern Blvd and Parker Ave) featured three sizes of burgers dubbed the PAPA BURGER, MAMA BURGER and the BABY BURGER... Us kids graduating from BABY to MAMA to PAPA was a rite of passage in our family! They also featured the take-home / refillable gallon jug of root beer! What memories...
There was nothing greater on this earth than drinking that A & W root beer as a kid on a hot summer day. My mom would get one of those big glass jugs of it and bring it home once a month and chill it in the freezer until it was near frozen then leave it out for an hour ~ that was her trick
Thank you for bringing back some great childhood memories!
Bob’s Big Boy had the best burgers around. Their malts were amazing too.
‘……the ‘best’ burgers around.’???
I don’t know about that.
I liked their burgers with mashed potatoes and salad very good
The slim Jim’s were awesome
We still have many A&W here in Michigan. A&W is my favorite restaurant. ❤😋🤤
Yeah, I live in Mason and it's still here.
I've never seen an A&W restaurant other than from movie and TV footage in California until I found one in the food court in the Gulf View Square Mall in Port Richey, Florida. Now that mall is all but gone.
There's a drive-in location 10 minutes from my apartment and I used to be less than 3 miles from it!
Yeah A&W is amazing and all over here. The bacon double is soooooo good and the fries are the best even cold.
Walgreens had restaurants called WAGS. They went out of business too as I remember.
‘Wags’ are what the Orcs rode on in LOTR.
My memory of Stuckey's in the sixties was passing them by for more reasonably priced local offerings. My parents thought they screamed 'tourist trap'.
Kachina Dolls!
i remember sambos as a kid in the late 70s & early 80s. they shut down then they reopen as denny's
I loved Sambos as a kid. Our got turned into a Godfather's pizza, then a bank.
There was a Sambo's near Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. When we visited Disneyland, my parents would take us to Sambo's for breakfast. I liked the mural-story of "Little Black Sambo" that was painted (wallpapered?) around the dining area. I realize that the story of "LBS" would be considered "that's racist!" today, but I enjoyed the "theme restaurants" when I was a kid during the 1970s.
Not true. Denny's purchased some Sambos locations, but separate restaurant chains.
Downtown Woolworths in the 70's was a Saturday go to after wandering downtown for the day
We have a A & W here in Standish Michigan & the Drive up is open,, they have wonderful Chili Cheese Fries,,Dam it now I want A &W,,lol
Shakey's was awesome! Those Jo Jo potatoes were so good. I miss Ground Round, Zantigo and Big Boy too.
Zantigos. That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Good stuff!
Shakey's pizza. 🍕 👍🏻 My town in central California only had an A&W Drive-In and a Shakey's Pizza. We were kind of (still) an "oil boomtown," so we had few nice, family owned, sit-town restaurants, too. The biggest buildings in town were the Crocker Bank and the Safeway grocery store.
We have Big Boys here in Michigan.
@@droe2570 They didn’t last here in Rhode Island,McDonald’s and Burger Chef were undercutting them. Then Burger Chef tanked in 1982,becoming Hardee’s and Burger King,then Hardee’s locations in my area became Burger King..
Wisconsin loves A&W and we have many here!
As a kid , I remeber going to an A & W RESTAURANT on a very hot summer day and having an ice cold
A & W ROOT BEER in a frosted mug !
Wikipedia A&W Canada. The company was initially a subsidiary of the U.S.-based A&W Restaurants chain, with the subsidiary opening its first franchise in Winnipeg in 1956. In 1972, Unilever acquired A&W's Canadian operations, leading to the subsidiary's separation from the U.S.-based company.[6] In 1995, a Canadian management group made up of A&W franchisees took ownership of the chain from Unilever.[7]
The A&W chain in Canada remains privately owned and is headquartered in North Vancouver. As of 2022, A&W was Canada's second-largest fast-food hamburger chain with 1,029 franchises.[8]
@daryllmcgorman I remember in early 1960'sgoing into the A+ W in Brandon , Manitoba and grabbing an ice cold root beer in a frosted mug, boy that tasted swell! The building of A+W was little more than a ppl plywood shack! Lol! Looked forward to that weekly trip, on my paper route of 75 customers, I was 10/ 11 yrs old back then! Lol!!!
I will never forget the taste of Woolworths chicken, it was sooo good.
A&W is 2nd to McDonalds when it comes to burger chains in Canada with way more locations than Wendys or Burger King. A&W is my first choice out of the 4.
First and only!
A&W Restaurants are still around but the almost all the old Drive-ins are gone a replaced by Dine-in and Drive-thru service only.
A&W is the oldest fast-food chain in the country and is still going strong. We have a lot of them in Idaho and the northwest.
Not really, A&W sold root beer only before any fast food chains existed but White Castle started selling food before A&W did.
I still eat at A&W, they are not gone, and they have the best burgers
There used to be a Red Barn around here as "The Farm" but it closed in early 2020 (nothing to do with lockdowns). It's since re-opened as Burgers and More; it's still the Red Barn building.
Grew up in a small town with an old-school A&W. When it closed, I asked my mom why. She said "because they served warm root beer and cold fries."
The A&W's near me are long gone, but I'm glad to hear the chain is still around. I loved their mugs of root beer, as well as their burgers. I was always amused by the names: Papa burger, Mama burger, Teen burger, Baby burger... can't get more family-friendly than that, lol.
I remember Hills department store and the little eatery at the back of the store. Always got the nachos.
We always hit the A&W drive in after a day at the beach or pool. A frosty rootbeer and soft serve cone was a real treat!
We're I'm from here in central NY. We still have a drive in dine in A &W. Best place in town.
I hope Sonics doesn’t flop next. Girls on roller skates were fun to watch
I worked for A&W back in the 80's. I had opportunity to work a few shifts at the last drive-in in 🇨🇦. We still made the rootbeer in store, whistle dogs and fresh hand cut n bettered onion rings! The worst mistake A&W made was going away from foil pkging imo
There us over 1000 a&w location in Canada . Most small town in canada have an a&w subway dairy queen and tim hortans. For fast food options.
You always speak of a healthy new menu and food, and new concepts!!! News flash have you and everybody on this site been to some of these new restaurants??? You tell me I totally miss these restaurants!!
I remember when I was a kid, my folks for a treat would take us to Santa Monica to the A&W for a root beer float. Loved it.
I frequented a Woolworth lunch counter in Audubon NJ. Loved it!!
Last summer I went to an A&W restaurant in the small town of Fosston, Minnesota and that whole experience was fantastic. Especially their root beer float and cheese curds 😎
The first drive-through restaurant was created by Sheldon "Red" Chaney in 1947, in Springfield, Missouri. The restaurant was called Red's Giant Hamburg and was located on Route 66. It served customers until its closure in 1984
I can still recall going to the A&W in W. Springfield, Mass. shortly after I got back from Vietnam in 1972. I was much surprised to find the building boarded up. It had gone out of business a couple of weeks earlier. I was very disappointed because it was my favorite spot for having a couple of hot dogs and root beer.
I just drove back from the East Coast and there are Roy Rodgers on the turnpike.
5:08 Stuckey's roadside billboards had a simple slogan, "Eat with us and GET GAS!"
I ate at Sambo's a couple of times before it went defunct in the west coast. I ordered their breakfast, burgers and NY Steak dishes, it was good. I thought it was better than Sizzler.😋
Miss going to A &W! Had some good memories there with my parents and grandparents
Sambos..... used to work there as a teen
In actuality, Sambo' was made of the combination of the 2 owners names.
We'd go to A&W, and get root beer in the frosted glasses brought out by the carhops. Once the soft drink was sold in supermarkets, going to the fast food places wasn't as important. I like Sizzler's salad bar because they also had hot food like chicken wings too, something I had not seen before.
Now we have Sonics and they are pretty good
I miss a chili cheese dog and a root beer float from Dog N Suds.
I liked their coney dogs and onion rings. We used to call them Arf n Barf even though the food was good.
We have quite a few A & W fast food joints in Texas. I loved Shakey's never forget it. Great vid remember most of these.
A&W is still popular in Canada
Quiznos couldn’t compete with Subway as I recall.
Also the.owners fleeced their franchisees
Quiznos was far better than Subway. Q's business model was broken because the franchisees were forced to buy over priced goods.
@@billschlafly4107 the owners fleeced their own franchisees. Smart Move
I ate at Quiznos one time and that was anough for me to never go back.
Man, I forgot about sizzler. Are they still sround?
All over California, look them up on google.
I loved Bennigans😢 PS.. great video❤ you earned a subscriber
We had most of these fast food chains in NYC. I liked Wetsons, they were the predecessor of Wendy's. I remember Wetsons in 1975 when I was a very young man. Their burgers were very good. I took my dog there too. She loved the experience sitting in the front seat of the car. She was so happy with those little car trips.
Wetsons and Wendy’s aren’t related in any way, Wetson started in 1959 in NY and closed in 1975. Wendy’s was started in 1969 in Ohio by former KFC employee Dave Thomas and is still going. Looking at both restaurants backgrounds and their founders, they have zero in common. One was a success and the other was a failure
Sizzler and Ponderosa still hanging on in Kissimmee, FL. I forgot about Quiznos, Red Barn, Roy Rogers, and Steak and Ale I got a real mental through back with those.
Crazy to think there are almost double the number of A&W's in Canada compared to the US.
I’m Canadian and A&W is everywhere here.
Mr. Steak was another extinct restaurant I remember. It was not mentioned in this video however.
Yes, Northern California chain, faded out in the 1990s. A steakhouse that had relatively cheap prices. Sizzler's (offering buffets)ultimately froze them out
A&W O-rings and Root Beer could not be beat.
A must on Sundays after services.
Right now they are building an A &W/ Long John's Silver restaurant near my house. Not only has burgers and hot dogs but fish also along with the A&W root beer.
Momma burgers, papa burgers, Teen burgers , and how I miss that frosty mug .
The main problem with most of the good sit down and dine restaurants is the intro to all you can eat buffets . I worked for one that took a nose dive and it was after the all you can eat added that it eventually closed . Mom and pop restaurants are still around because they didn't alter their menus much .
Really miss Roy Rogers' roast beef sandwiches most of all, but Treacher's Fish n' Chips comes in a close second.
I remember many of these "fast food joints". Growing up, my family enjoyed going to Ponderosa. Ponderosa had the same service model as Bonanza (which came about a little earlier) and York (which came about later). The three of them probably have less than 25 restaurants left combined in the US. Was it the changing tastes of patrons or bad management (or both)? You could have several more shows on national and regional brands that have (all but) disappeared. I remember Kewpee hamburgers. Dave Thomas got the idead for his hamburgers from them. He was the much better businessman since Wendy's is a huge chain and Kewpee's has less than a dozen places left!
Always heard the Sizzler commercials in the 70's as a kid. Wanted to try it out. We moved to a state that, I'm not sure if it had any Sizzlers. I had my opportunity about 5 years ago (40 ish years later) in a neighboring state but , declined because my girlfriend at the time was a vegan and, the parking lot was kind of bare every time i drove past it and, i mentally questioned the food quality so, i decided not to go . We did find a nice quiet Restaurant next to a lake about a quarter mile from the Sizzler on the same street.
@@BossSpringsteen69And so as a result of the favourable experience, you turned that date into marriage! Lol!!!
A&W, Cortland, NY baby! 😋
A&W Drive-Ins didn’t "flop." They were extremely successful for several decades, then "fast food" dining options exploded, nationwide, in the 1970s. When I was a kid, my town only had the A&W Drive-In and Shakey's Pizza. By the time I was in high school, they were replaced by McDonald's, Burger King and, eventually, a Taco Bell. Also, by the 1970s, fewer GIRLS were interested in being "car hops." It's much easier to take orders & serve food from a countertop w/ cash register(s) than roller-skating food out to cars. Drive-thru lanes are more convenient, too. A&W Root Beer 🍺 is still good. During the 1980s, some A&Ws in California were upgraded to sit-down restaurants, like a McDonald's or Burger King.
35 years later, I have no idea if any A&Ws still exist in California, but I still remember the "Papa burger," "Mama burger," and "Baby burger," 🍔 served in a basket, with fries, and a sweet pickles on the side. 😋
In Virginia, I remember Stuckeys!
Burger Chef? No Burger Chef? You got Red Barn, which was one of the ones I thought of immediately but no Burger Chef (and Jeff).
I remember a and w root beer restaurants. I love their Papa burger, mama burger and baby burger. They were awesome not to mention the root beer floats. I wish they would return.
Stewart’s on Fridays our family would drive up and order food and have it hang on our window. Root beer 🍻 and hamburgers were great❤
Friendly's, Johnny Rockets, and Golden Corral should be on the list
A&W has never gone away, at least in Canada. Just the in car eating service has faded away.
I miss Gino's. Started in the Philly area I believe. Great burgers and fried chicken. The New York / Philly Corridor was just saturated with fast food joints. Gino's just couldn't compete.
Ah yes, the Gino Giant. They were good.
I remember, in the mid 1960's, going to a "drive-in" chain restaurant in central Florida, called "Jerry's! They served
a delicious, double-decker hamburger, called the "J Boy"! This predated McDonald's "Big Mac" & I have always
felt that someone from that company copied the "J Boy" to make the "Big Mac" & made a fortune from it!
I literally just ate at an A&W yesterday. They're all over the city in Vegas
I loved Shakey's Pizza in San Rafael, CA. It was such good pizza sauce, and crust. They had video games that made it a fun place for kids. SIZZLER had the BEST cheese bread. A&W is still around with KFC in the same place. It's a KFC/A&W.
They are open still. There is a Shakey in Redlands and one in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. For some to say Shakey is gone is not true.
Shakeys pizza was a great place. Love it
Videos like this just reminds me that things just gets worse with every passing decade. A lot of these restaurants reminds me of fun simple things of the past that we dont have anymore
Brown Derby, Bob Evans, and Chi-Chi's as well.
Very interesting! I do remember a few of them😅
Ryan's is missing by us
I remember A&W. thank for the memories.
A&w was a bit more classy and had really really good food. They're double burgers were the best and their milkshakes were great.
It seems that "FADED int History" might mean something different to you since many of these are still around.
SAMBO'S WASN'T RACIST ! GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT ! I loved "Woolworth's" fountain as a kid in the 50s. "Sizzler" was fine at first, but the meat was always low grade. "Soup Plantation" was ok . Never had much to offer. Never cared for the crowd. Always hated "Shakey's Pizza." Really cheap food and NOT ITALIAN !
The story of "Little Black Sambo" was "racist-ish," as originally presented. "Sambo" was actually INDIAN 🇮🇳 and not a black African at all. That doesn't mean the people who worked at or patronized the restaurants were "racists."
Wow, this video really takes me back! It's fascinating to see how many iconic restaurants couldn't keep up with changing times. A&W Drive-In and Shakey's Pizza were such a big part of my childhood. I'm curious, which of these defunct eateries do you miss the most, and why? Have you come across any modern places that capture the same nostalgic vibe?
Just stopped at an A&W in Kansas last year.
I had an A&W rootbeer in a frosty mug less than a week ago. They are around and still have wonderful burgers and rootbeer floats.
we have one of the last Pondarosa in my city
i loved red barn
A&W in Canada is the second largest chain after McDonald's... It almost tastes the same as the 1980's version with a few tweaks.. Still one of the better budget burger chains around...
We still have our sizzler here in Hayward California
Also in Corona, Ca
Many of these are still around, just way way smaller than they once were. Shakey's, Sizzler, Roy Rogers.