/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>17751851
It's been a good 10 years since I've been to one of them.

>>17751890

There is one by me and I went recently. It’s horrible.

This place was heaven to me as a kid. I remember always feeling like I was gonna vomit the rest of the night every time because I would eat so fucking much. I always remember the lines to this place going out the door every time, this place was so damn popular in the 90s then just went away, tho apparently there’s some still left I had no idea the last time I seen one had to be around 2002 or so

>>17751851

>>17751905
Buffets unfortunately tend to be.

>>17751851
>I now identify as a cat, so I must be referred to as a cat.

They were my favorite growing up until I discovered Chinese buffets in high school and they seemed so much better tho it has to be a good one.

How is Golden Corral? They seem a bit like the old 90s Ponderosa from the commercials I seen

I remember mine having a make your own taco bar and the taco meat they had a very distinct taste I remember being really good but never had any that tasted like it ever since. Was like a strong cumin type taste but some other kind of Mexican spice that was kinda spicy but hard to identify

>>17751930
I think there about the same. Some items are pretty decent, especially considering the price, and some should be avoided.

The chicken wings at the buffet were to this day some of the best ive ever tasted. Our family used to smuggle some in a bag and bring a bunch home for the next day which is pretty Jewish thing to do looking back

Roy Rogers was my fav growing up liked it so much better than McDonalds Wendy’s and BK. Then they all started disappearing one by one at all the ones in my state. I guess there’s some here and there left in the Midwest. That fixins bar was the best

>>17751851

Alaskan King Crab. And the biscuits. Maybe it's just childhood nostalgia bias but I could swear they used to be good. Haven't been in the last 20 years.

>>17752043
Same this was a place to get excited about when your parents took you here as a kid. It’s also been about the long for me I would say since I’ve been at least 15 or more anyway. I stopped going once I realized you can make most of the stuff here yourself only better

>>17752027
I don’t have any pizza huts in my state anymore never thought I’d miss it but every now and then I have a craving for their pan pizzas

Kmarts with Little Ceasars inside, so convenient!

>>17752115
aww fuck you brought me back. they closed that down, then the kmart shut down, it's a walmart now.

>>17752143
arent there only like 5 Kmarts left in total now? sad, Walmart has always felt like a soulless Kmart

>>17752027
Billy McHales
Old Country Buffet
Rainforest Cafe
Alfys Pizza

>>17751851
I actually enjoyed the pre-2000s Red Lobster.

>>17751930
All the Chinese buffets near me were already closing down already but COVID really put a nail in the coffin, I hope they come back in some form

>>17752256
yeah all the good ones closed by me as well. the only one still open is the shitty one that i have no idea has stayed in business all these years

>>17751851
pondegrossa.
used to be one a town over when i was a kid.
building was bought by somebody that made it a surf n turf place.

>>17751956
wings, rolls, ice cream.

>>17751986
they exist on interstate rest areas mostly now.
>>17752027
this was where you had pizza and arcade games in one place.

if you know, you know.

San Diego County fags of a certain age will remember these-

Ah man I used to eat the kids meal pizzas from here and love every moment. Miss u grandpa

>>17752397
My dad always got angry at Friendly's because they got his order wrong 100% of the time.
Loved those sundaes though. Love reese's pieces with ice cream. It is the best topping and the fact that more places don't have it is a damn shame.

Home town buffet

>>17751920
Bots are out of fucking control baka

>>17752098
I've been there more recently than that. I just meant to say they haven't been good since around that long.
Last I went was about 10 years ago when my parents took me there for my 22nd birthday. The place was practically empty, the menu sucked, and it took them forever to get our food out. Then it was all overcooked when they finally did. My dad was pissed and my mom barely said a word the whole dinner. They divorced shortly thereafter. Experience thoroughly ruined.

I miss these niggas. I hate subway

Did anyone else have Baker Square in their towns or was it just a Northern California joint?

Might be a regional thing but anyone remember those Jordan Marsh department stores from the 90s and how they made those delicious blueberry muffins in the store? To this day never has a better blueberry muffin

Fandangles in North Conway NH

It burned down sadly
>had no sprinker system
>had no smoke detectors
>was still considered up to code

apparently the fire started in the basement and employees tried to contain the blaze for several minutes while the restaurant was full of guests casually dining above them

>>17752552
One of the best places for a good price. Feel bad that it closed down when better places came in sadly.

I loved going to Burger Ranch as a kid. Comfy ranch themed atmosphere, better quality food than the big chains and they had these cool kids tables with saddle seats. Not sure if these even exist anymore, haven't seen one for years.

>>17752632
Is Subway your only other option? Even in leafland we have better options than Subway.

Celebrated my 6th birthday there

>>17751851
BENNIGANS

Eat at Ponderosa
Eat her out after pounding Rosa

>>17751851
Used to love teppanyaki places as a child, they even got me started in cooking: I tried to recreate the fried rice from my favorite teppanyaki place and that's what got me to experiment with cooking rather than just copying recipes, and eye balling ingredients rather than measuring everything. The secret ended up being tamari soy sauce , shit ton of butter, and a shit ton of garlic powder.
Last twenty years though every teppanyaki place I've gone to have had shit performances, cramped booths, horribly slow service, and over cooked food.

>>17751851
It was a family outing when I was a kid. The steaks were yummy, but always gave me the shits when I got home. Having worked in restaurants later in life and seen how unsafe the food conditions are, I've been redpilled about that childhood memory. Now I only eat homecooked meals.

>>17752454
when i was a kid, i thought the weevil mascot was really cute
there was one in bay ho (near the costco) that hung around for a long time, but it's been gone for... like a decade now? Went there all the time.

>>17752632
They are still around in NJ.

>>17755415
There's still a few in OH

>>17751986
>>17752103
Is your comma key broken?

>>17755483
Yeah, and there's one down the road in Harlan but mine was in Owensboro, KY.

Any Niagara Falls (US) chads?

>>17755622
god dude, i grew up there and i remember that place. My friend who stayed in the area told me they tore it down. I've never seen a more depressing place in NY

>>17751851
For me it’s mac and cheese, dino fries, a pepsi, a french silk pie for later, and mom and dad driving me home while I play pokemon trading card game in the back seat.

>>17751851
i don't understand, how much is it for 5,083,997,250 wings? Did they run out of sign space? I can see it's ~46¢ a wing for the smaller batch, and ~42¢ a wing for the 100 set.

Does it bottom out there? Do I really need to spend $2,134,770,445.275 if I want to get 5,083,997,250 wings? I would honestly be upset if they seriously expected me to spend over $2b for that, it's basically not worth it at all.

>>17751851

>>17751851
Shoneys. Then they got hit with the racial discrimination shit and got shut down.

How could one restaurant chain be so based.

>>17752234
>Rainforest Cafe

How is their chili and sea bass?

>>17752475
Fuck Shari's, they deserved to go under just like Village Inn and Dennys will at some point. No service, no quality. Literally waited 45 minutes for somebody to hand me a menu, and this was during the day.

>>17752475
Miss you too, sport.

BOO

>>17751917
Almost forgot about it. Was pretty good.

>>17756014
Only breakfast place that almost always had thick crispy bacon.

>>17752115
>>17752143
For me, it's Kmart with a Nathan's Famous inside

Used to go to the one on 9 Mile and Ryan in Warren MI with my parents back in the 70s.

unironically my local gas station hot dogs and an Icee were my favorite food. It's not like we didn't go out to eat at other places, but those damn icees were the best

>>17752115
>Little Ceasars
TRVE ROMAN BVSSY FOR TRVE MED BVLLS

>>17752682
Allegedly the recipe:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2868-jordan-marshs-blueberry-muffins

Damn this thread is making me sad and nostalgic Remembering passed on family I'll never get to see again sitting at the local restaurants having a good time.

>>17751917
Shit I remember my parents taking me to one of these as a little kid. Don't remember what I had.

>>17752397
Good choice, Friend

>>17756190
groomer

>>17751986
There's one in Calvert County MD. It has an ice cream parlor there too.

Sirloin Stockade
Magic Time Machine
Picadilly in 80's Arizona

>>17752115
I completely forgot about that, the Kmarts around here closed ages, it's a Uhaul now.

Used to love this place so much. I’d eat a whole rack of ribs and they even had a huge slide inside. If you wore a tie, they’d come over and cut it off. It was awesome.

>>17752454
lukitathesun is shinin outside

>>17751851
I still remember the radio jingle.

>>17756315
did they have lore for this tradition?

I know there are still some somewhere but this one was mine...and she's now a dentist building.

>>17757155
forgot pic

>>17756190
preach

i remember grocery stores have way better delis when i was a kid. this was my place as a kid, their deli had the best buffalo wings, honey wings, potato logs, tendies, slaws, potato salads, etc. aint never see no grocery stores with a good hot food deli no more

>>17752027
The salad bar was excellent, a great complement to the pizza.

black angus (i used to call it cowboy because there's a cowboy in the logo and i was 4)

>>17752552
another classic

Loved this place as a kid. I don't remember the food (I was a picky eater so I doubt I had anything all that exciting) but the animatronics were great fun.

>>17756014
>Shoneys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBMHKtmzqvM

Leafs know what I'm talking about...

>>17751851
Jewish Delis and Greek Diners

>>17751851

>>17757362

Been to Black Angus twice maybe as a teenager. I don't remember it good or bad. I just remember it being, unmemorable.

>>17756130

It looks like the 70s

>>17751851
Until Covid hit, we had one near me. Used to be two. The breakfast buffet was the fucking tops. Now there's only one in my state.

Going to Applebees for my birthday! Getting the chicken strip platter and not eating the coleslaw!

>>17751851
Man they used to be the shit, then the food just got kinda bland and it felt like all the love left. Might've just been that particular one though.

>>17752475
I still go there sometimes. I like their eggs Benedict and loaded hash browns/mashed potatoes.

>>17752383
wouldn't the ice cream have melted by the time you reached home

>>17751851
KFC 15 years ago (back when they actually put in some effort)

>>17755415
A Hooters competitor?

>>17755415
came here for this, never ate there but there was one at the intersection before getting close to my grandmas house so i am always nostalgic for it. right in east freedom pa. now its something else of course

Miss Chevy's and their enchiladas a lot, bros. Went here for my 11th and 12th.

>>17759657
Fuddruckers is gone, too. Used to play MTG there with the boys.

>>17759698
When I was a child I fell off a DDR machine at Fuddruckers into broken glass on the floor and had to get stitches so now they pay me a small amount of money every year until I'm 25
I'm sorry for contributing to the downfall of Fuddruckers anon

>>17754347
This sounds awesome

Bit jealous we only have major chains here nothing whacky like in the states

>>17755100
>teppan went to shit
yeah they cant do the gimmicks like food chucking without getting sued now and cant do really BIG fire shit without the same problem

not to mention the allure dies when u realize chef Tanaka is actually Juan or Felipe posing as a japanese person

>>17751851
It's still open (I think) but the food fucking sucks. I mean to be fair the food always sucked but it got so much worse and more expensive
The theming is the best part about this place. It's super cool. But I mean I'm also a faggot who likes looking at things and going "ooooooo so cool"

It's open again, can't wait to go.

>>17751851
>t. DC sniper
I'm onto you, pal

I ate Roy Rogers today. Fucking got a free kids meal with my combo. It's tuesday so that is a thing.

Lived in Vancouver for a couple years when I was little. My sister and I loved White Spot. They'd bring the kid meals in a cardboard pirate ship.

>>17759734
I don't care what race a chef is, only that they can do their job well.

>>17760042
>breakie

Immediately drive past. How unprofessional and demeaning to customers.

>>17760060
Well let me tell you something. You don't want a black, indian or arab to be anywhere near your food.

>>17752027
Pretty sure their salad bar made me like salads as a kid
Garbage now though dunno how they stay open. Nogs I suppose.

>>17751851
Home Town Buffet, Old Country Buffet

My fathers was a very late in life baby, his brothers and sister were all at least 20 years old when he was born.
Any time there was a family gettogether on that side, they all wanted Home Town or Old Country. Stereotypical old people wanting buffet shit is completely real.

And I remember being pretty young, but allowed to go and get my own food. Get my own soda, refill as much as I want. Going and getting as much Ice Cream as I wanted.
It felt freeing as a little kid and I loved it.

On birthdays and special occasions, would would go to Discovery Zone sometimes. Discovery Zone didnt have real food just concession shit, there was an Old Country next door so we would usually pop in there.

On the other side of the family there was a locally owned pizza place that side of the family loved. We would always go there with those gettogethers.

It also happened to be just around the block from ChuckECheeses. My parents refused to buy ChuckECheeses Pizza. They hated it, so any time we were there we would go to the local joint first.

I have pretty bad and spotty memory from my childhood, but I have a lot of good memories with family at both the Home Town buffets and that local pizza joint.

Aside from that, I cant think of anything that sticks out in my mind that was actually special. I liked fast food and pizza places just like everyone else.
I mean I was a kid, my parents would cook out on the grill every weekend, or every other weekend. I remember refusing to eat steak because it was "bland" and would eat oscar mayer hotdogs and burgers instead. kek

I remember the last time I went to a Home Town Buffet was in like 2008 with an old friend I hadnt seen in forever, and the place closed shortly after.
It wasnt good
And I went to a Golden Corral in like 2012 for a family get together, it was also really bad.

I wouldnt step into one nowadays.

>>17751851
Hardees Fried Chicken and Roast Beef, both were better than Arbys and KFC

>>17760129
buffets had to keep their prices low to keep their aging clientele. If they charged the actual inflationary prices, they would be vegas tier expensive in many places. Because of this, food and staff quality nosedives, and you end up with nasty food troughs instead of fun buffet experiences

>>17760151
some hardees still sell fried chicken in VA

>>17756315
>If you wore a tie, they’d come over and cut it off.
I thought that Frasier made this place up.

>>17756190
this will not be my most shameful fap.

>>17751851
JJ North's Buffet aka Chuckwagon can't even find a real picture of it anymore

>>17751851
100 wings for $40? Dafuq

Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel. He called me little buddy once but he looked like a drunk. Completely red.

>>17761461
Still kinda expensive. I could get quarter wings at my bar up until about two years ago. Think it's 35 now.

>>17751851
Tumbleweed restaurant, specifically their old Glendale Wisconsin location in the mall.

Used to go there and then to Barnes and Nobles as a treat when I was a kid.

>>17758649
Big boy buffet coming through

>>17760070
Agreed

>>17760070
I refused to order little chickies by their name at a sonic and the guy made fun of me so I hit him and when the police got their I made a big scene and them left. It's good to be white and wear a suit for work.

>billy graham and jerry falwell preaching in the morning
>shakers for lunch

Lord have mercy!

>>17752115
A better, simpler time.

Ponderosa was so damn good in the 90s. not only the buffet but the dinners you can get too usually we'd always be too full to eat them so we'd get them in a doggy bag and eat em the next day. i rememeber loving the sirloin tips dinner

i still remember that big board of steak dinenrs when you'd get at the counter, looked something like this probably the updated look but i think the 90s one wasnt too different looking

>>17752115
I still remember the smell of the K-Mart Cafes smelling like popcorn and little caesars pizza.

>>17761846
does anyone remember some kind of meatballs in gravy thing at the buffet? i remember liking them but dont know what the hell they were thinking back, never heard of or seen meatballs in gravy being a thing anywhere else. i remember think sorta tasting a bit salisbury steak like but with a better taste

>>17753152
Me too, brother.

>>17756003
My Jew therapist was right upstairs in that building, god rest your soul Howard you were a faggot but you helped me a lot.

>>17761896
rest in peace Howard

>>17751917
Ours survived right up until COVID. Was the only local restaurant you could order Fried Green Tomatoes from, I'll miss it.

>>17761896
Thank you howard for preventing this man from turning into a school shooter

>>17751851
for me it was Wyatt's

>>17756014
>Shoneys. Then they got hit with the racial discrimination shit and got shut down.
I loved their Breakfast Buffet growing up. Literally had everything you possibly envisioned when you first hear about the "Continental Breakfast" at an expensive hotel before getting disappointed or at the end of those impossible spreads they always showed on cereal commercials as "part of this complete breakfast". Ours underwent bad management and got closed down in the late 90s by the health inspector. There's still one about an hour away, but the last time we went the food options were sparse and only luke-warm.

>>17758636
Ahh, Zellers!

I miss it so much bros, they had the best fucking pancakes

>>17752475
RIP
It wasn't that good but it was the only place open at 2am

>>17757159
mine is a bank now

For me, it's Baldino's subs.
>>17758649
I remember going here with boys plenty in college, and every Thursday at lunchtime there was a pimp in full bright blue pimp suit with hat taking his 5 or so bitches out for lunch.

for me, it was flakey jake's

anyone else grow up with Hungry Howies? apparently theyre still around but i havent seen one in 20 years

>>17751851

>>17762068
oh nice, I live near this maccas

>>17751851
As a kid, it was an amazingly empowering novelty to go the salad bar and/or buffet and get whatever you wanted, however much, in any combination.

>>17762415
I've seen a couple locations here still open, was it any good?

>>17759204
The coleslaw wasn't great but not terrible. But yeah the Chicken strips platter is the only reliable thing to get at Applebees. I used to go back and forth between the strips and the burgers there but like 1/3 of the time the burger was dry/stale bun/tastes bad so i just stuck to strips eventually.

>>17762708
Blew my mind when my dad told me about this place and I realized south park hadn't made it up

>>17758636
I miss it

Woolworths

>>17758649
This place was based, but my local got shutdown for having Hepatitis C all over the buffet.

There was also an automat down the street that I would wander into when I was drunk. Sometimes get a sandwich but mostly take the free keychup/crackers/water and make a free hot soup and a coffee to sober up some.

>>17764045
Ryans was just a rebranded old country buffet.

>>17764050
Never been to OCB, but Ryans was based as a kid. The best part was the soft serve ice cream station.

>>17759734
All the ones around me closed due to financial issues. Prices went up, portions went down, people stopped ordering and the downward cycle continues. When covid appeared my favorite place had just been bought out 2 months prior and now the replacement is gone too after never even opening.

>>17762415
There's like three Hungry Howie's in my town. If I had to pick a chain pizza, it'd probably be them.
I used to get their Howie Rolls, but they don't do those anymore.

We’ll be ripe back… See you next thyme… ;_;

>>17764045
It was the first and last time I've been to a restaurant that had a live carving station.

>>17756050
Shari's went under? There's still one in the next town over from me. Apparently they have 98 locations in the PNW

>>17761953
he's still on /ck/ so howard had some more work to do

>>17762002
same here
why did Shoneys always have a fucking problem with keeping the hot water on?

Got replaced here with a Lone Star Steakhouse, which died after 10 years and then a Sergio's replaced that.

>>17764843
I ate at a shoney's once. My dad was nostalgic for their chocolate pudding. I wished for death soon after leaving the hovel of boomer sadness that was the shoney's buffet.

For our fellow brazilians travelers (caro para porra)

I'm not posting this as a joke, or as an edgy meme. I really loved going to Sambo's as a kid. It was the perfect combination of cartoons and pancakes in a world where everything wasn't racist like it is today.

>>17762415
>>17762918

still quite a few in my area of Michigan, their niche seems to be serving low-rent shitholes while not being a money laundering enterprise like the local Happy's Pizza chain. Pizza was pretty okay for a cheap take-out only chain

>>17759473

>>17758666
>It looks like the 70s

It was the 70s.

>>17759698

>>17752115
>winning a small drink on the memory game

>>17762708
Same creator/owner.
I should follow in his footsteps
there need to be more crazy restaurants that smell like chlorine

>>17764913
I liked Sambo's as well.

>>17751909
I used to remember the same thing. I would also eat to the point of feeling like I was going to burst. The last time I ate at one was in 2006. However, I ended up getting food poisoning from there so that might be one reason why they aren't around anymore.

have fond memories of going to one of these and getting hot chocolate

>>17752574
>red lobster causes divorce

>>17759657
Used to love going to this place for birthdays. We would always get dough to play with and share the big hat

>>17755622
>>17755829
Niagara Falls stands as a testament that Buffalo isn't as bad as it could be.
God, its such a fucking shithole of a city.

hoss's. haven't seen one in ages

Their Mexican pizza was straight up just a better version of taco bells' (at the time that was quite a compliment)

>>17766912
I'm never eating at Taco Bell again because they got rid of the Mexican Pizza.

>>17766925
They're bringing it back next month

>>17751851
i would beg to go here every time my parents suggested going out for dinner. I should visit again. It's still open!

>>17766951
this too. Brigham City used to be the cutest little town.

>>17759746
this doesn't make you a faggot, anon. it's not stupid to find joy in things. don't let this soulless hellsite brainwash you out of genuinely enjoying cool things. I googled this place and it looks fucking dope. I'd gladly go with you and join you in purely enjoying the atmosphere.

>>17752115
This was the reason I'm addicted to their Italian cheese bread.

>>17752632
i watched my cousin barf in a blimpie cup immediately after eating one of their sandwiches and I could never eat it again :(
we were at the table still and everything.

It's been almost two decades since I've been to one but man, I remember it being the best burger and shake I ever had.

>>17756315
The restaurant that replaced it is so soulless too

At least Landry's is gone, I hear the owner was a giant asshole

My family used to take me here all the time back when I lived in Georgia as a kid, does it still hold up? It's been over a decade since I've been in one. I just remember the chicken tenders being delicious.

>>17760129
My favorite thing about the Country Buffet by my place was all the Norman Rockwell art they hung on the walls. Felt like an art museum trip.

>>17751851
Pizza Hut and Ponderosa were my shit as a kid; I'd load up on chicken wings and rolls and ice cream and just go to town. It was the nineties, I figured the entire future was going to be bright, and I had unlimited food options -- what else could anyone want?

Always debated going to the last Ponderosa within a three hour drive of me, but I figured it would just make me sad.

Sir Georges buffet was somewhere I hated as a kid. It looked straight out of the 60s even in the 90s.

>>17767081
>It looked straight out of the 60s
damn that's based

This place was where we went for cheap buffet food as a kid. Nowadays this stuff is pretty much slop to me but as a kid, getting to have fried chicken, pizza, and ice cream in one meal was insane.

The fries from this place were great

>>17752454
I went to one of these back in 2017. Are you sure they don't still exist? The burger was good, not incredible quality but pretty good for the price. I remember the condiment trays being pretty generous too.

America truly is hell.

>>17768900
rent free

>>17751986
There's a bunch in Maryland and Northern Virginia. They're my favorite fast food tb.h

>>17751851
for me it was Mcdonnalds, that was realy rare in my area in Germany in the 80s&90s.

i got once a Kindergeburtstag-Party at Mcdonnalds when i was 5yo. was cozy. Ronald Mcdonald was there too.

>>17755415
Shits on Arby’s, I miss you Rax

any midwesterners remember this chain restaurant? used to go with my grandparents. it was generally filled with senior citizens.

>>17751851
Billie's Bowling Alley concession stand. My friends and I would go down there every weekend and order a pizza and spend the rest of the day playing Magic the Gathering, Legend of the Five Rings, or Dungeon and Dragons in one of the party rooms no one ever used, or spend all our quarters in the arcade area they had. They legit had the best pizza I've ever eaten so long as you ordered a whole pizza and didn't just grab one of the slices they kept under a heat lamp all day. Place was family owned from Italian immigrants who came over in the 1950s, at least until 1995.

Then the original owner passed away and the grandson sold the alley. The place was given a modern redesign with darker lighting and neon lights all along the walls, the food went from fresh baked pizza to microwave shit, and the employees would kick you out if you just wanted to use the arcade or eat from the concession stand. I've no idea how they stayed in business as they went from always having 10-20 people inside to a ghost town, but stayed open for 4+ years.

i remember the chicken wings always being so popular at Ponderoas buffet, like that was THE THING everyone went there for, kinda like how the crab legs are THE THING!! at all the chinaman buffets. i remember one night in particular there was a long wait on them refilling them. and when they finally did my obnoxious white family and our obnoxious white parents family friends that were with us went and got them all at once and some black family was super pissed and confronted us at the table after like "YALL MUH FUGGAZ COULDA SAVED SOME FO DA REST OF US!!! GREDDY ASS CRACKAS!!! WE GONE REPORT YO ASS TO DA MANAGER!" then the staff didnt do anything about it cuz there was no rule about taking all the food and they just sat here fuming and staring us down the whole time

>>17753174
>employees tried to contain the blaze for several minutes while the restaurant was full of guests casually dining above them
This is why I don't go on planes, trains, or ships

>>17753174
You don't install sprinkler systems in a kitchen if you have any sense, water and oil fires don't mix. As for smoke detectors, those things are way too sensitive for an active kitchen.

This place is still open, but years ago I would stop there and have breakfast instead of going to school. They had the best omelets at the time. The cook would stuff the omelets with hash browns and other toppings, and it was so good. Plus they had great pancakes. I went back years later and it just wasn't the same.

>>17769540
>literally a fire extinguisher system built into the fryer
This is what maximum retardation looks like

>>17755415

That one specifically is Circleville, OH.

This thread has made me both jealous and nostalgic for restaurant chains that we don't even have here.

>>17769576
Aren't those extinguisher systems normally automated? It should have already gone off, so either broken or empty.

>>17766689
Oh, no argument here. I lived there about 20 years ago and went back a few years ago and holy shit it got significantly worse

>>17758636
Bros...

>>17769900
Nope way too likely to get false events due to a little flare up or something. You have to actually pull the cord.

>>17762191
Being open late was pretty much the only reason I ever went. Although, I had a friend who loved greasy spoons, especially places with a sign that said "EAT", so we ended up at Shari's more than I'd like.

>>17757159
You must be 90

>>17761445
Our JJ's was like a harbor freight Hometown Buffet, which is really saying something.

>>17770032
nta, I remember early-90s there being one a couple towns over

>>17755947
This dude really typed all this out three days ago and thought it was funny the entire time.

>>17770032
There was a Sizzler at the rockaway square mall in NJ until around 2010. Think its a wing place now.

>>17759746
tourist trap but it has its place, i dont hate it

>>17769540
did they died?

Rip

>>17756014
>racial discrimination shit
you don't say

>>17751851
I miss it so much bros. A lot of good memories eating their with my whole family growing up. Still makes me sad

>>17762415
there's a few of them in las vegas, the detroit style with onions and pepperonis is the best chain pizza.

Driving down to Florida on 95 in the 60s & 70s, these were all over the place.
There was another chain that had a live honeybee hive in the wall of the giftshop.
They sold the honey.
And then there was the king of all highway attractions, South of the Border.

The guy that ran it shut it down instead of selling it or letting his kids take over. The hot dogs were pink but the sides and toppings were good.

>>17769588
80% of these places are the reason for "flyover" and "slop" being memes in the first place. Some of the regional chains were at least safe to eat at compared to the one-offs if you were travelling.

>>17770355
And something I'm not fond of, the cafeteria experience.

>>17764549

>>17769568
Is there chicken poop on the floor?

For me it was Stagecoach

>>17757155
>>17757159
Didn't Weird Al get a part-time job at the one in Albuquerque?

>>17754347
Sounds like Proto Pizza Ranch

>>17753174
Damn you brought me back

bring back quincy's...

>>17757159
There's a few left in Southern California, unfortunately after a recent visit I found out they haven't served their fried chicken wings in the salad bar since the pandemic started. Price has gone up stratospherically too, used to be adding on a salad bar was $3.99, then $4.99, now it's jumped to $7.99 on top of an entree.

>>17752454
There's still one in Lakeside. I ate there about six months ago and it was pretty average. There was one years ago in Encinitas that I remember going to as a kid.

>>17762708
Hope Parker and Stone make the food better. When I first visited this place decades after the South Park episode premiered, my friends and I couldn't believe how terrible the food was. Sopasillas were great though.

>>17753152
They opened one of these near me in Southern California about a year ago and I was excited to try it. The food was fucking awful.

>>17770379
Oh fuck I just got flooded with memories of "vacations" that consisted of sitting in a car all day, walking around some faggity state park, eating at a place like this then waking up at the crack of dawn for the drive home

>>17764913
This looks like the Sambo's we used to go to in Downey.

>>17751851
HomeTown Buffet was the go-to place for birthdays.
>>17764549
I really miss the tuna tarragon noodles.

This shit right here

>>17752397
I prefer the Monster Mash sundae.

Food used to be a solid B and had a fun atmosphere. Last time I went ~10 years ago the food was barely taco bell tier and tasted like it'd been cooked in a microwave.

>>17752454
holy fuck this was erased from my memory
how many San diegans does /ck/ have?
i grew up in cardiff but could never afford to live there now

>>17751851
I remember this place had a huge smorgasbord, with loads of stuff. We'd go once every two weeks or so. I'd eat my fill of the great food and then have 2 bowls of ice cream.

>>17758636
I worked in one that had a diner up until they all closed

>>17771189
For me it was that and spending your whole Saturday going antiquing with a bunch of crones.

Place nearby that had good food at a good price which was a step up above anywhere nearby in terms of food and service. Always a treat to go there Sundays after church.

Been around since 1935 and all uses the original building. May still be good, haven't been in over a decade.

>>17751851
York Steak House in the Methuen Mall in Methuen Mass. Closed ages ago and even the mall is completely different.

>>17769568
is this in pontoon beach? the exit with two Denny's on either side of the offramp?I work at that refinery occasionally and stay near there

>>17753152
>poor mans sonic
Reminds me of this place we had here called Blimpie. I think it was a chain but it was basically a shitty version of Subway. They had the same layout in the store and everything. Even the food looked the same. Funnily enough all the ones here turned into Subways.

>>17762415
I got put in Columbia South Carolinas ghettoest hotel by work. The first room they put me in was covered in pubes and the workspace had cocaine and marijuana on it and the smoke detector was disabled. There was also a murder in the parking lot a few days prior. But Hungry Howies delivered to the room. Good pizza, gave that driver hazard pay tips.

>>17751851
Back in the 90s I lived in this small ass podunk town and there weren't many places to eat.
Like once a month we'd go to Ponderosa and I loved it.

There was this chinese takeout place called Hot Rice where I used to live. Small town about 15,000 people. There was a dish called the spicy beef which I'd get all the time. Turns out it was basically just schezuan beef, but I guess a town of 99% white people probably didn't want it to sound too ethnic.
Anyway I'd just mix the rice and the beef together and just fucking go to town on it.
I moved away when I started high school but had fond memories of that place.
I revisited the town a couple years after I graduated high school and met some old friends. Checked the place out but it changed quite a bit from what I remembered.

>>17773419
btw that pic is NOT me. Just a pic I found on google.

>>17771780
There's a weird amount of us here it seems
North County, went to school in La Jolla

>>17755415
>with style
Place looks soviet-tier grim

>>17773419
>Small town about 15,000 people.
Ok sorry, but small by my definition a small town is individually knowing at least half of the people by visual recognition.
15k is a city to me.
Like what do you guys put a name to a 500-400 town like I live in? Our main restaurant is Casey's I suppose.

>>17761862
swedish meatballs?

>>17764549
She's looking at you bro...

>>17773935
A village.

>>17752115
My Kmart didn't have a little ceasars that I can remember but it did have a food court and I miss that shit like you wouldn't believe.

>>17759698
Pudfuckers.
Neat atmosphere.

>>17759718
>fuddruckers decided to bankrupt themselves just to spite this anon
devilish

>>17752632
Fffuuuck this was it. There used to be a blimpie in a gas station/bait shop on the way to the marina my dad stored our boat at. We always had to be on the boat by like 7 because otherwise the islands were "too crowded". So he would always stop there and get us breakfast sandwiches and then subs for lunch later on. Blimpie was so much better that subway. God I miss those days, nothing like eating a sub that got slightly soggy in the cooler while sunburnt as fuck on a boat parked on an island.

>>17774550
i have similar memories but from a store's deli in arizona. cooled sandwich from the ice chest is great though

>>17761859
Nothing will ever beat the smell of k-mart. Popcorn and car tires.

>>17751851
for me, it's Bertucci's. they gave kids a ball of raw dough to play with before dinner. pure kino.

>>17752115
>>17756108
Does anyone remember the long pizza they sold? That was based. Little Caesar's used to actually be good. It's a little depressing how they're now complete trash.

>>17775024
They were shit back then and they aren’t any different now. Anyone with sense ordered from the local Italian jobs because it was cheaper and better. This was back when gabbagool shops were staffed by real Sicilians instead of spics. I’ve still got one and the guy owes me a pie and I live in the south.

>>17758636
>be like 7
>mom takes me out to the strip mall to do some shopping
>go to zellers last
>mom lets me buy a bionicle
>stop at the diner after paying and eat a cheeseburger while staring at my new bionicle's canister excited to open it at home

the quintessential late canadian millennial experience

>>17766912
Chi-Chis did some cheap as fuck margaritas and of course the fried ice cream. Shame about their farmers pooping in the greens. Also RIP Ground Round.

>>17762415
I've been to the one in Panama City Fl back in 2008. It was really good.

>>17752027
>Pizza Hut used to be the bomb
>Experimented with ideas to serve products in different ways without devolving into stoner food like Dominos did
>Some time in the mid 00s get the insane idea to drop the family restaurant aesthetic which was comfy as fuck and replace it with a fake sports bar that barely plays sports or even serves beer
>When the real OG Pizza Hut served beer already
>They merged with Wing Street for whatever ungodly reason
>mediocre wings at best when Pizza Hut's actual wings were miles better
>Spend around 15 long years circling the drain slowly while Dominos sells out its soul and buys up more territory
>The fucking sports bar gimmick made families stop coming so they lost that business too
>People who wanted that aesthetic would just go to a real bar so they were never their audience
>Every Pizza Hut around here but one has turned into a Dominos because how the fuck is their shitty pizza cranking out money?
>Only one left in the entire county now
>Find out later Dominos was garnishing employee paychecks and happening nobody would notice
>Literally unpaid labor
>Gigantic class action lawsuit being filed against them right now
>Apparently the decision to do all this was all the way up in the brass of the company
>This opens up the flood gates for the IRS to fuck them in the ass too since those garnished wages would have included tax dollars
>Like a cosmic sword of justice hanging over that shitty pizza joint

It still pains me that even if their main competition died tomorrow it still won't bring them back. Seriously, their bread stick seasoned crust pizza was god tier and I have nothing but good memories of it as a teenager back before it transformed.

>>17752632

I still have one close to my home but the bread is different now, the meats don't taste the same and it just isn't that same. This and Shlotsky's got completely changed in the past ten years and it's just somekind of souless monster walking around in their flesh.

>>17764045

Mine also got shut-down for having Hep-C outbreak...Are you in Georgia by any chance?

>>17764549

Ours was originally called "Lettuce Surprise You" and they changed their name when they got bought out...

Used to drive two hours to my dentist and I'd go to the last Fuddrucker's in Georgia. It closed down now and there's allegedly one left but it wasn't there when I tried to go. A legend in history.