Search found 90 matches

by TheQuestioner
02 Jan 2009 08:04
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Mario and Luigi's Pizzeria
Replies: 7
Views: 8802

Re: Mario and Luigi's Pizzeria

Perhaps there was a pizzeria by that name in Redmond after Mario Bros. came out. I have heard the "Mario as grouchy landlord" story numerous places over the years, so unless it is a piece of invented "Nintendo Lore" I tend to believe it as the origin of the character's name. It m...
by TheQuestioner
02 Jan 2009 07:56
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Disappearing Sizzlers in your area
Replies: 33
Views: 22045

Re: Disappearing Sizzlers in your area

I was not aware of that, though it makes sense. Sizzler seemed to be everywhere in the late 80's and early 90's. I remember them entering the DC area in the mid-80's with much fanfare. That was the first time I had ever heard of them. This was the "pastel-colored-box-with-Arial-font-signage&quo...
by TheQuestioner
02 Jan 2009 07:06
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Bob's Big Boy former L.A. locations
Replies: 47
Views: 50146

Re: Bob's Big Boy former L.A. locations

Thanks for the info, I had not seen those articles. After posting last night, I went looking for more info and found an article talking about the Allie's plan, as well as another plan which outraged me even more. Apparently, a year or two before trying "Allie's," Marriott came close to buy...
by TheQuestioner
01 Jan 2009 06:53
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Bob's Big Boy former L.A. locations
Replies: 47
Views: 50146

Re: Re:

I'm guessing that the "Allie's" conversion scheme was some time in the 1980's, when Marriott bought out Howard Johnson. From what I have read, it seems like Marriott was fully behind the "Big Boy Concept" from 1966, when the first bought it from Bob Wian, until the early 80's. Th...
by TheQuestioner
18 Oct 2008 14:46
Forum: History: USA California
Topic: Mayfair Market in Century City
Replies: 24
Views: 17442

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Thanks for the photos! That old Mayfair was absolutely phenomenal-looking! They really knew how to make stuff look exciting back then. I feel lucky to have lived through at least the vestiges of that era, seeing a lot of 50's-60's architecture and design in my everyday life as a kid. Though I don't ...
by TheQuestioner
20 Sep 2008 14:02
Forum: History: USA California
Topic: A couple of Bay Area notes
Replies: 14
Views: 7778

Re: A couple of Bay Area notes

It is too bad that the Hyde & California Cala is going to die, but hardly a surprise. I was amazed to see it continue after Ralphs gave up on this region. I wondered if it was ever still run by Ralphs/Kroger, I didn't realize that they still had any distribution to this area. Someone mentioned t...
by TheQuestioner
04 Sep 2008 03:40
Forum: History: Miscellaneous and Not Region-Specific
Topic: Extinct Supermarket Merchandise
Replies: 177
Views: 94473

Re: Extinct Supermarket Merchandise

They no longer make Sizzlean, either! "Move over, Bacon!" Yeah, don't remind me... Sizzlean was my all-time favorite breakfast food. I have never liked "real" bacon, and I find turkey bacon to be a dry, flavorless substitute for Sizzlean. There were two varieties, the original w...
by TheQuestioner
19 Jun 2008 02:32
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Gino's/Roy Rogers Restaurants in LA?
Replies: 13
Views: 14305

Re: Gino's Restaurants in LA?

I have seen some other Arbys with this design, and a few former ones too. Jeff, where did you see the other Arby's buildings with this design? I am familiar with only two designs for pre 80's Arby's. One is the classic curved roof building, the other is a boxier building with a "curve" su...
by TheQuestioner
19 Jun 2008 02:29
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Gino's/Roy Rogers Restaurants in LA?
Replies: 13
Views: 14305

Re: Gino's Restaurants in LA?

The former Roy Rogers at 6833 Van Nuys Blvd. is still standing, and is open as an Arby's. From my semi-thorough browsing of site photos of LA area Arby's, that seems to be the only Arby's that is in a "typical" Roy Rogers building. The style of building was used quite a bit in Roy's main t...
by TheQuestioner
12 Jun 2008 04:46
Forum: History: USA California
Topic: Old photo
Replies: 5
Views: 3561

Re: Old photo

The statement in the caption could be at least partially true. The Groceteria history profile for Safeway lists a "Sam Seelig" company as the initial chain that became Safeway after merging with the Norther CA and Pac. NW Skaggs Cash Stores chain. Safeway's true origins are kind of murky b...
by TheQuestioner
10 Jun 2008 17:13
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Gino's/Roy Rogers Restaurants in LA?
Replies: 13
Views: 14305

Gino's/Roy Rogers Restaurants in LA?

While browsing Flickr I saw some photos and ads that referred to Roy Rogers Restaurants initial presence in the LA area. I am not sure why they didn't last more than a few years in LA while they went on to years of success in the Northeast, but that's another topic. What I noticed when I looked on L...
by TheQuestioner
16 May 2008 02:40
Forum: History: USA California
Topic: Rite Aid Castro Valley/Lee Bros. Value World
Replies: 12
Views: 7805

Re: Rite Aid Castro Valley/Lee Bros. Value World

Perhaps this old-fashioned Rite Aid persists because Castro Valley itself is kind of an odd town. I know San Leandro and Hayward pretty well (the neighboring towns, for readers who might have been unaware) and they are pretty similar, middle-of-the-road (demographically speaking) typical East Bay to...
by TheQuestioner
16 May 2008 02:24
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Older McDonald's Locations
Replies: 50
Views: 42213

Re: Older McDonald's Locations

The Willow Glen McDonalds in San Jose,CA is actually one of the first locations in Northern California. It kind of seems like McDonalds (as a company) doesn't realize they have left this very old location in its original form. In my opinion the San Jose location is far more original than Downey (bu...
by TheQuestioner
14 May 2008 15:38
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Older McDonald's Locations
Replies: 50
Views: 42213

Re: McDOnalds

The McDonalds in Hayward Ca says (or used to say) Home of the Mini Mac in there sign. The Newark Mall has a McDonalds by it that has a map of all the MicDonalds "firsts" All the times I passed by, I thought it just said "Mini Mac" and thought it was because the restaurant was re...
by TheQuestioner
14 May 2008 15:22
Forum: History: USA California
Topic: Rite Aid Castro Valley/Lee Bros. Value World
Replies: 12
Views: 7805

Re: Rite Aid Castro Valley/Lee Bros. Value World

While I will agree that the store isn't going to win any beauty contests, I have to say I enjoyed visiting it. It just has this feel that I haven't encountered in a long time. I remember when almost any store that dealt in "discount" items, be it drugs, food, or general merchandise, had th...