Speaking of long ago pizza chains...

[Jenise]

...like Shakey's, the other major eat-in pizza chain of my Southern California childhood--before Straw Hat, Round Table and Pizza Hut, was Me n' Ed's. I would never have remembered this and would have bet tham all gone now, but of all things yesterday while driving through Langley, British Columbia, I stumbled over one still in operation!

Jenise, I'm not sure if this was a chain more local to Santa Barbara and environs, but were there any Rusty's down your way?
They got pretty big over the years.

[Jenise]

Rusty's? No, don't remember any. Rusty Pelicans, yes, but no pizza....

Pizza chains?? Long ago?? They didn't exist here. Right now there are a few Pizza Huts scattered around the Buffalo-Niagara area (mostly in tourist or suburban areas) and I only know of one Dominoes, and none of these chains existed 30 years ago. There are just too many good established local pizzerias (some from the 1930s) for chains to make a dent in the local pizza market. When my teenage nieces visited here from Knoxville a few years ago, at first they thought our area was backward because there was no Papa John's, so I took them to my favorite local pizzeria and then they understood.

Pizza chains?? Long ago?? They didn't exist here.

Consider yourself blessed.
When I first moved out to SB back in the early 80s, one could only get pizza at chains. There was an independent shop or two, but mostly, everyone went to the chains.
I was horrified at what passed for pizza - but I did like the fact that one could get beer, often by the pitcher full, which was needed to choke down the terrible pies.

I am joyful that now, there are local places making delicious pizza as it was intended to be eaten. And even more joyful that my wife has really honed her home pizza making skills. All I have to do is keep her happy, and I get all the tasty pizza I can handle.

...like Shakey's, the other major eat-in pizza chain of my Southern California childhood--before Straw Hat, Round Table and Pizza Hut, was Me n' Ed's. I would never have remembered this and would have bet tham all gone now, but of all things yesterday while driving through Langley, British Columbia, I stumbled over one still in operation!

I thought they were all gone also Jenise, so looked it up on wikipedia for historical reference and surprised to learn there are about 400 Shakey's open globally, 63 in the U.S. and 55 in California, but LOL, where in Calif.?
Here's the link to it.
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakey's_Pizza

Pizza chains?? Long ago?? They didn't exist here.

Consider yourself blessed.
When I first moved out to SB back in the early 80s, one could only get pizza at chains. There was an independent shop or two, but mostly, everyone went to the chains.
I was horrified at what passed for pizza - but I did like the fact that one could get beer, often by the pitcher full, which was needed to choke down the terrible pies.

I am joyful that now, there are local places making delicious pizza as it was intended to be eaten. And even more joyful that my wife has really honed her home pizza making skills. All I have to do is keep her happy, and I get all the tasty pizza I can handle.

Sorry, I have to rise (at least partially) in defense of some of those pizza chains. We should remember that in the great long ago (when Thomas was as yet a mere child), pizza as a staple of life was not well known outside of the East Coast.

I know. Hard to believe, but true. And as abominable as the chains can be---and they can be----companies such as Pizza Hut brought some bright light to the interior wildernesses of our country. They were actually a tremendous novelty when they started spreading their franchises hither and yon. True, they might not have been that great (although I fondly think they were far better then than they are now, but that might not be the case), but when they were almost literally the only game in town, they were pretty splendid.

I remember when the first Pizza Hut opened up in Columbus, Georgia, it was a roaring success, and people would drive in from miles away, from all the smaller towns, to taste this exotic thing called pepperoni pizza. So the chains did serve a purpose.

Oh, another thing: speaking of old and forgotten chains---not pizza in this case---does anyone remember a chain called Lum's?

One of their major fortes was, oddly enough, classy beer steamed hot dogs. In a sit down restaurant.

I had a friend, Sylvio, who owned the Lum's franchise 1 block from the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. However, after a few years he dropped the franchise and re-opened it as Sylvio's, a bit more upscale place with a nice menu - good bouillabaisse. Sylvio was also a chess player, and on slow nights during the winter all the local chess players would gather there for 5-minute tournaments (10 cents per game). This was shortly before Bobby Fischer beat Spassky.

Hey, Hoke: as a matter of curiosity, did you live in or near Columbus, GA?

[Jenise]

...like Shakey's, the other major eat-in pizza chain of my Southern California childhood--before Straw Hat, Round Table and Pizza Hut, was Me n' Ed's. I would never have remembered this and would have bet tham all gone now, but of all things yesterday while driving through Langley, British Columbia, I stumbled over one still in operation!

I thought they were all gone also Jenise, so looked it up on wikipedia for historical reference and surprised to learn there are about 400 Shakey's open globally, 63 in the U.S. and 55 in California, but LOL, where in Calif.?
Here's the link to it.
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakey's_Pizza

And Me n' Eds website shows 58 stores in California with an emphasis on pasta too vs. the original pizza and chicken concept they started with in Fresno, four years after Shakey's opened their first store in Sacramento. They don't show any in any other state, let alone Canada. Wonder if they know it's there?

[Robin Garr]

Oh, another thing: speaking of old and forgotten chains---not pizza in this case---does anyone remember a chain called Lum's?

One of their major fortes was, oddly enough, classy beer steamed hot dogs. In a sit down restaurant.

That was a John Y Brown Jr. operation, I believe, Hoke, well before he got into fried chicken.

There were a lot of them in Louisville, and the best thing about it wasn't the hot dogs, it was an intriguing imported beer list in an era when imported beer was still a rare thing. They had Lowenbrau, they had ... um, Guinness? Maybe a half-dozen brands, probably stale and skunky, but still exciting to a kid barely old enough to drink who already knew that there was something profoundly wrong about mass-market swill.

[Robin Garr]

Lum's was "sit-down," yes, but it was decidedly fast-casual, by the way. The setting was pretty much appropriate to the food and beer, but yeah, you dined on your dog and slurped your beer at a table.

Oh, another thing: speaking of old and forgotten chains---not pizza in this case---does anyone remember a chain called Lum's?

One of their major fortes was, oddly enough, classy beer steamed hot dogs. In a sit down restaurant.

Oh yeah! I remember Lum's. There was one right across from my Dad's business so we always went their for lunch. Funny, I haven't thought of that place in 20 years.

Jenise, so discovered that there's a Shakey's on Santa Monica Blvd., a street I virtually never travel, around La Brea. I'm considering a pilgrimage to it and perhaps recover or LOL, find the fountain of youth, but darn, just found out that the Rent-a-Horse-and-Buggy company has gone out of business!

Hey, Hoke: as a matter of curiosity, did you live in or near Columbus, GA?

Yeah. Army brat.

Lived in Cusseta, GA (!) Went to the last two years of high school at Baker.

Parents retired there in Cusseta (both long gone now). I left shortly after graduation, courtesy of a special government program then prevalent which allowed me to see many different and interesting sites around the world in exciting circumstances. Never looked back, beyond a couple of obligatory visits.

Lum's was "sit-down," yes, but it was decidedly fast-casual, by the way. The setting was pretty much appropriate to the food and beer, but yeah, you dined on your dog and slurped your beer at a table.

I didn't realize it was as wide-spread a franchise as it apparently was, Robin.

I frequented the place in my Blue Period whilst at Eglin AFB. The local strip had a Lum's, and it pretty well fit the high end of my budget , so we'd often end up there.

I suppose I remember the hot dogs because they were soaked in beer. And yes, their beer program was highly entlightened at the time. And yes, especially since it was then one of the very few places in the US where you could actually find Lowenbrau (the original, not the travesty it became).

I also vaguely recall roast beef sandwiches---probably because this was just prior to the surprising explosion of roast beef sandwich franchises that were to come shortly. Of course, this was the same time frame where the local McDonald's was still a semi-novelty, and had no sit-down, but only a walk-up window in a building contained totally within the two golden arches. So it was long, long ago and far, far away.

[Jenise]

Jenise, so discovered that there's a Shakey's on Santa Monica Blvd., a street I virtually never travel, around La Brea. I'm considering a pilgrimage to it and perhaps recover or LOL, find the fountain of youth, but darn, just found out that the Rent-a-Horse-and-Buggy company has gone out of business!

Shel, the pizza might not be the fountain of youth but the Mojo Potatoes on the Bunch a Lunch Buffet might get your mojo working again, and there's a lot to be said for that.

Hey, Hoke: as a matter of curiosity, did you live in or near Columbus, GA?

Yeah. Army brat.

Lived in Cusseta, GA (!) Went to the last two years of high school at Baker.

Parents retired there in Cusseta (both long gone now). I left shortly after graduation, courtesy of a special government program then prevalent which allowed me to see many different and interesting sites around the world in exciting circumstances. Never looked back, beyond a couple of obligatory visits.

I've driven past Cusseta quite a few times while driving to my Uncle's farm for deer hunting. Don't think I'd want to live there.

That makes two of us, Robert.

It looks best in a rear view mirror.

...like Shakey's, the other major eat-in pizza chain of my Southern California childhood--before Straw Hat, Round Table and Pizza Hut, was Me n' Ed's. I would never have remembered this and would have bet tham all gone now, but of all things yesterday while driving through Langley, British Columbia, I stumbled over one still in operation!

I thought they were all gone also Jenise, so looked it up on wikipedia for historical reference and surprised to learn there are about 400 Shakey's open globally, 63 in the U.S. and 55 in California, but LOL, where in Calif.?
Here's the link to it.
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakey's_Pizza

There is a least one Shakey's here in Yokohama, Japan. It is near the big Yokohama Train Station. I was surprised to see it. I too thought that the chain was no longer around.