Rene G wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:If Mr. Pie was an LTH'r, he'd say Checkers. Apparently they had really fantastic fries.

You can find out for yourself. There are others around but the one at 55th and the Dan Ryan is probably the closest.

Checkers
5451 S Wentworth Av
Chicago
773-268-5145

I was stuck in the drive through at that Checkers for nearly an hour once back in college. Almost missed a show at Second City as a result. I don't think I've gone back to Checkers since then.

I had no intentions of trying Jack in the Box, but there are many of them on O'ahu so I guess I'll give them a whirl this summer after seeing so many mentions.

As far as what I'd like to see come back, I'm with teatpuller - Cock Robin. Many fond childhood memories, and it would be great to be able to take my son there when he's older.

I would LOVE to see ChiChi's come back. I cannot find fried ice cream that tastes as heavenly as the ones made there. The tortilla chips and salsa they would give you before your meal was a staple of my childhood, growing up in Ohio. It was would be an every so often Saturday night treat.

Mr. Donut-As a child I was addicted to their sugar raised doughnuts.

Hmm, I just can't think of any other chain place but I can think of a lot of independants and mom and pop places over the years I would love to see again.

Fujisan wrote:I have fond childhood memories of Victoria Station.

Yep, one of our favorites when we lived in Louisville (the Dupont Square location).

Cork and Cleaver.

They sell dog and suds root beer, regular and diet at Utra Food stores.

My earliest dining out memories are of Burger Chef, I would love a funmeal about now. Maybe inaccurate but I have fond memories of the Kenny Rogers corn bread.

riddlemay wrote:Gino's and Ameche's, the burger chains owned by Baltimore Colts Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche.

Sounds like a line from the rarely seen, straight to DVD, "Diner II - The Middle Age Years."

third coast foodie wrote:My earliest dining out memories are of Burger Chef, I would love a funmeal about now. Maybe inaccurate but I have fond memories of the Kenny Rogers corn bread.

Burger Chef.

Buy a $0.39 hamburger the size of an Eisenhower dollar. Put on about 6-8 slices of tomato, lettuce, onions, condiments and pickles. Almost enough to fill up a 12 year old.

I too would like to see someone bring Victoria Station back.

Vital Information wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Gino's and Ameche's, the burger chains owned by Baltimore Colts Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche.

Sounds like a line from the rarely seen, straight to DVD, "Diner II - The Middle Age Years."

"Burger Chef.

Buy a $0.39 hamburger the size of an Eisenhower dollar. Put on about 6-8 slices of tomato, lettuce, onions, condiments and pickles. Almost enough to fill up a 12 year old."

I remember the first McDonald's to come to Hammond, IN. Circa 1956 I rode my bike there and for the princely sum of 50 cents received two hamburgers (.15 each), fries (.10) and a drink (.10). No sales tax back then.

Horn & Hardart! ... though unless you're from NY or Philly, you may not know of what I speak.

When I was in college in the late 80s/early 90s, the Duk's Red Hots at the corner of Ridge & Clark (now a park) was a regular late-night stop. I still have fond memories of the place, though I realize my opinion may have been tainted by alcohol at the time. (I realize there's still a location in Ukrainian Village... but it's no longer a chain if there's only one, is it?)

third coast foodie wrote:My earliest dining out memories are of Burger Chef, I would love a funmeal about now. Maybe inaccurate but I have fond memories of the Kenny Rogers corn bread.

I didn't want to be the first one to shout, "BURGER CHEF!" I think we loved it because it wasn't McDonald's. Could only get it in Monticello, IN, when we went to Shafer Lake-Indiana Beach.

Someone upthread mentioned Morrison's Cafeteria, so I was wondering -- were cafeterias ever a "thing" in Chicago? Across the South, they are pretty much mandatory.

I shared many pleasant meals at the K&W Cafeteria in Greensboro, NC, with my great aunt, who loved them for their value and, to her mind, great food.

BR wrote:Horn & Hardart! ... though unless you're from NY or Philly, you may not know of what I speak.

It's not likely anyone here remembers but Chicago had some Horn & Hardarts too. Starting around 1917 they moved into the Chicago market and by the early '20s operated two Automats and six Automat-Cafeterias. I don't think they were very successful here.

sdbond wrote:Someone upthread mentioned Morrison's Cafeteria, so I was wondering -- were cafeterias ever a "thing" in Chicago?

Yes, cafeterias were a very big thing in Chicago, from the late 1800s through the mid-20th century.

In the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Bruce Kraig wrote:John Kruger began a small chain in the 1890s, dubbing them “Cafeterias.” Soon, major chains such as Thompson's (with more than one hundred outlets), B/G Foods, Pixley & Ehlers, and many others were so numerous that the area around Madison and Clark Streets became known as “Toothpick Alley.”

Here's a favorite cafeteria postcard from my collection.



El Mar Cafeteria, completed in 1918 at a cost of $100,000, set a new standard in elegance for "help yourself cafes."

little500 wrote:"Burger Chef.

I remember the first McDonald's to come to Hammond, IN. Circa 1956 I rode my bike there and for the princely sum of 50 cents received two hamburgers (.15 each), fries (.10) and a drink (.10). No sales tax back then.

When I was growing up they advertised the same combo, but the price had gone up a bit, so the tag line was, "...and change back from your dollar."

sdbond wrote:Someone upthread mentioned Morrison's Cafeteria, so I was wondering -- were cafeterias ever a "thing" in Chicago? Across the South, they are pretty much mandatory.

I shared many pleasant meals at the K&W Cafeteria in Greensboro, NC, with my great aunt, who loved them for their value and, to her mind, great food.

I give the remaining cafeteria chains - Furr's, Luby's, Picadilly's, etc. - about twenty more years to survive. The clientele keeps getting smaller and older.

I do not not think that cafeterias were ever all that big in the Midwest (except Indianapolis). Office buildings used to have them - and most of those were just OK and faded in the 70's.

I insist on hitting up Bryce's when we are in Texarkana. As long as you skip the "cream" pies, everything is worthwhile, and certainly not what you'd get here (for one thing, all the food seems to be buttered). Wonder why the cafeteria is such a thriving tradition in the South, and a thing of the past up here?

Does the Woolworth counter count as a cafeteria? My friend from high school worked at Woolworth's for a short time, and she had the nerdy old-fashioned dress uniform and I loved to go there and give her hell. "How much longer until you get my Tulip Sundae, huh? I gotta get back to the office!" And then leave her a dime for a tip. Those were the days.

Also, K-Mart used to have a cafeteria in the back of it's store (at least the one on Harlem & Lawrence). I miss that one especially. We'd always stop in for a Coke & fries when I was a wee tot.

Another vote for Victoria Station - that was a pretty exciting place to go to when I was young. We were really living large when dad would take us all to Kon Tiki Ports (I know it wasn't a chain).

I really liked the "High Low" a Double Cheeseburger at Sandy's. There was one in Hillside across from the Hillside
Bowl by the Eisenhower entrance. Another on Spring Rd in Elmhurst.
http://www.captainerniesshowboat.com/sandys

Food Nut, there was a Burger Chef on Roosevelt Rd in Hillside/Westchester just east of Wolf Rd right by the original Dee's Diggety Dog.

As mentioned upthread: Prince Castle/Cock Robin

Also a place I liked alot as a kid/teen: Italian U-Boat

There was a Taco Bell-esque fast food establishment called Sancho's at the corner of 75th and Lemont in Downers Grove in the early 80s. I loved it. Haven't seen it since.

mrbarolo wrote:Howard Johnson's for the fried clams. Especially after a trip to the Bronx Zoo with the grandparent.
(I realize these may be both geographically and chronologically outside the implied parameters of the question. But there it is.)

Howard Johnson’s, an Orange-Roofed Symbol of a Bygone Era, Returns to Lake George

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/nyreg ... pot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Candy_Coated_Kimchee wrote:There was a Taco Bell-esque fast food establishment called Sancho's at the corner of 75th and Lemont in Downers Grove in the early 80s. I loved it. Haven't seen it since.

There was a restaurant in the north out-lot at Randhurst in the 80's which I never knew the name of, that had an item called a Sancho. Gotta' be the same chain! Yes, I really miss them. And now I know the name.

I would like Henry's Hamburgers to return. The three on the north side were in Skokie, Lincolnwood, and on Foster. They served fresh burgers off the griddle, fries, and shrimp cooked in pure lard, and made great home made pies. I worked at the Henry's in Lincolnwood part time from 1962-1966.

CSD

Brueger's Bagels. I know there is an Oak Park location and a few in Milwaukee but I'd love to see some more locations downtown and North shore suburbs

MBMVGgtT wrote:If there were a Pepe's or El Torito near to me I'd probably be there once a month.

Not so sure about Torito. While the one in Glenview was a regular stop for us 20 years ago (it beat the heck out of the on-the-surface similar Chi-Chi's), my tastes have evolved, and there are so many good little Mexican places in my neighborhood now. But I will admit that for what it did, it did a very good job, as family-friendly, flavorful food.

Orange Julius-there was one in Woodfield Mall in the 70s. I was fascinated by the big clear globe of circulating orange pop on the counter.