Remember When??

The WHITE Fries from In & Out Burger were just dunked in LUKEWARM, second hand oil (YUK!) AND, Iceberg Lettuce should be OUTLAWED!
Bill Trashedthem
 
There was an A & W a few blocks from the firehouse I worked at in Oakland, CA. We used to send a shopper out there for a gallon or two of their root beer and have him run over to Fenton's Creamery, half way across town, for a gallon or two of ice-cream. Those were the days. I'd get to Oakland a couple of hours before my shift began, run around Lake Merritt then go to work and have three meals. Never could lose weight, eventually growing from 176 lb. to 253 when I finally got serious and decided to get down to 220 or less.
 
We lived near an A&W in Carlsbad NM in the mid 60s root beer floats were awesome! We are getting WABACK Burgers, good burger, opening here but you need a bank loan to feed a family!
 
Our A&W is now combined with KFC, and both in my humble opinion have gone downhill in terms of quality. Either that or I was less of a snob about such things when I was younger.

Well I've wondered about that. Sometimes tastes change as we get older, but I still enjoy the same food as far as I can tell. Fast food used to be pretty tasty, if not always cheap. Now it's not very tasty, damnably expensive, and it ain't even fast.

I live in the middle of corn country and support agriculture. Corn syrup however, is not a very good sweetener at all. A&W Root Beer would be pretty tasty made with cane sugar, as it undoubtedly once was. Hires was another brand. French fries used to be fried in beef tallow. Good french fries are fried twice, and they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Onion Rings are a tastee treat too. I can't choke down even a small package of french fries from you-know-who anymore, they taste like cardboard. And that's when they are fresh. Really sad. The diners and mom & pop places still do it right though.

I suppose it's about saving a few pennies on costs. A genuine Root Beer, Cheeseburger & Fries and a shake made with Ice Cream (instead of seaweed derivative and chemicals) could get a little spendy. Funny money gets funny food, I suppose. Oops.
 
A&W used to be good in the 60's but the last burger I had there was in the early 90's and it tasted like soggy cardboard. I never went back. In 1975 I had a Whopper at Burger King, and it had a 1/2" x 2" tomato vine in it. It was at least 30 years before I went back.

For fast food Wendy's and Subway are the best.
 
A&W used to be good in the 60's but the last burger I had there was in the early 90's and it tasted like soggy cardboard. I never went back. In 1975 I had a Whopper at Burger King, and it had a 1/2" x 2" tomato vine in it. It was at least 30 years before I went back.

For fast food Wendy's and Subway are the best.

subways are a gamble - theres maybe 2/20 around that ive never gotten sick from, majority are a gamble - one day you eat it and your fine next time your on the toilet. Then theres the others that every time ive gotten sick along woth other people saying the same thing haha.

Wendys is good when the order is actually right - i like hardees as well.
 
Bill,
I love your sense of humor and usually agree with you, but I like in-n-out. I like their fries, but you have to eat them right away, before they get cold. I like their hamburgers.
In-n-out is my second favorite hamburger place. Five guys is my favorite.

:)
Neil
 
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In the late '50s, while draggin' our INFAMOUS Fulton Street "MAIN", we had GREAT Drive Inns, EVERYWHERE!!! Chasin' Girls, listening to Rock & Roll Music, & tinkering with cars, on our FAVORITE Parking lots, what a BLAST!!!
THEN, they tore up the street & built that DOOMED Pedestrian Mall:eek: Just recently, they RIPPED it out & re-opened the street.
The Movie, "American Graffiti" was supposed to be filmed here, but they procrastinated, until the Street was CLOSED:eek: Much of it was filmed in Modesto, Ca.
Russ Cochiolo & I were members of the INFAMOUS Pan Draggers of Fresno & HOT RODS were EVERYWHERE! The Club STILL exists, although many Old Friends have passed:( (RIP!)
I even met Pat, my "Main Woman", there:)
NOW, you know why I have a "soft" spot, about HOT RODS & DRAG RACIN':D:D
Bill Memorylane
 
It ALL depends on who owns and operates the fast food restaurants , as to whether the food will be fit to eat or not .
 
Bill,
I love your sense of humor and usually agree with you, but I like in-n-out. I like their fries, but you have to eat them right away, before they get cold. I like their hamburgers.
In-n-out is my second favorite hamburger place. Five guys is my favorite.

:)
Neil

Neal,

You got that right about the fries at In-N-Out. It's still my favorite and my grandson's favorite. My second favorite is Burger Lounge. I discovered it in San Diego and they have a location in Temecula. Don't know about anywhere else. We're alway the last to get the chain restaurants here in the Inland Empire.

Bill: it sounds like you have soft spot for the old '50's drive-ins too. Everyone used to lay rubber when they "pealed out" of the parking lot. Most of the time they were going out to drag race like in "America Graffti". Here in So. Cal. it was in the back roads in the Orange groves where you could block off a street. The cops were more laid back in those days. Don Prudhomne said he learned to Drag Race out in the Orange Groves in Orange County.

David Serrano
 
SONIC BURGERS SUCK as bad as IN AND OUT BURGERS!
Bill Yuk!

I have to agree with Cousin Bill on this one. As an East coast boy, I have heard about In & Out on the TV for years and years. On a family trip to California last summer, we stopped in to see what the fuss was all about. Was not a huge fan to say the least. I understand one trip can be different from another, and I should give them another chance when I'm there again. My favorite chain burger has to be the one from 5 guys.

As for car memories, drive-ins are a pleasant memory, as are the drive-in theaters. The MidWay Drive-In Theater that was right behind the neighborhood I grew up in is now a Super Wal-Mart....
 
Back in the late '60s while in high school. My buddies and I would cruise around to the different Steak n' Shakes in my original '29 Chevy. Everybody loved us because of the ahooga horn of the Chevy. Many times we would be kicked out because once we started ahooga'ing. Everybody else would start honking their horns too.

Bob-A:D
 
Back in the late '60s while in high school. My buddies and I would cruise around to the different Steak n' Shakes in my original '29 Chevy. Everybody loved us because of the ahooga horn of the Chevy. Many times we would be kicked out because once we started ahooga'ing. Everybody else would start honking their horns too.

Bob-A:D
Wasn't that a great time to be alive I don't envy the kids at today

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
 
Up here in WA state, beside A&W we had Dusty's in Ephrata and Wenatchee and Miner's in Yakima. They were the best and are all still in business as far as I know.
 
Some great memories here ... made me think back to the fifties and me driving my customized '50 Ford to the infamous Adventure Car Hop on Route 22 in Union, NJ.

A huge place, and an evening gathering place for youngsters with customized cars who just wanted to cruise the parking lot and show off. More adventurous types would pull out into the westbound lanes and drag race for money. I never had the guts (or the right car) to try that.

I looked the place up on Google and sure enough, it's covered. There's photos of the huge car hop, provided by the Union Township Historical Society. Nothing makes you feel old like seeing pics from your youth in a historical society.
 
YUP, just like many here, I also have fond memories of the drive in resturants here in our small town. I think there were maybe 5 at one time or another. A&W, and several others. Some Saturday nights we would hit all of them sometime during the evening. My wife (of 50 years) worked at our local A&W till she retired. Not since the old days, just the last 15 years. It is now a Long John Silvers? A&W combined. They have probably the best burger in town with the papa burger. Second best, is Runza, then Wendys. It is definitely true that it is not the chain as much as the people running it. My wife was just the bookkeeper for the owner, and there was a time when the owner was going through various managers, that even she wouldn't eat there. They now have a good manager, and have good food again .
 
OK, guys I’m going to share some good news for some of you. In Cave Jinction, Oregon there is a family owned restaurant called Taylor’s. If you want a burger and fries like you ate 60 years ago, get a Chuck Burger and fries for $7.95. They are delicious and worth every penny.

There, some good news. Eat only half the burger and save the rest for lunch the next day. The are almost as good cold as they are hot.

Sometimes it’s pretty hard to only eat half and put the rest into an air-tight container. Those fries are also great the next day with melted cheddar on them.

Mike
 
Lou's Burgers Sacramento, Watt Ave, early '70's, best triple burger I ever had, and killer shakes.
I wonder if they are still in business?

Yes sir they are but under new management (again). Still looks the same just a little more run down. Graduated Rio Linda High 1971. Haven't had one in a while...
 
I still remember stopping at A&W in W Haven, CT behind Savin Rock, grabbing a root beer then driving down the street to Jimmie's (still there) for hot dogs, fries, onion rings or whole belly clams. I still try to get there about once a year. Savin Rock and A&W long gone.
Paul in CT

Next time I go to the VA in W haven, I must stop at Jimmie's. You are making me hungry, Paul.
Over on this side of the state we have Harry's, which has been there since before I was born. Great burgers, and really good fries.
My cousin and I used to ride in his 50 chevy pickup to a drive in on RT 5 near Warton Brook Park and get clams and fries.
When I was in Oregon in the USAF, we would go to A&W, or Shakey's for burgers. My buddy bought a 46 Harley all apart and told me if I put it together for him he would keep my gas tank full and my belly full of burgers.
 

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