Restaurants from 80s/90s now gone

26 Comments

How many restaurants here in America do you remember from the 1980s and 1990s that disappeared since? Here's a few examples that I remember:

Longneckers: a burger bar with the style alot like Fuddruckers, but I thought was even better

Arthur Treachers: fried fish and chips, take out. A higher quality version of Long John Silver's, I thought Arthur Treachers was the much better of the two.

Annie's Santa Fe: Mexican and Tex Mex bar and grill, similar to Jose Pepper's

The Copper Oven: this has been gone since the mid 80s, Homestyle kind of food like prime rib, chicken fried steak, etc. and freshly baked bread that you could take home.

Waids: alot like Denny's, but disappeared after the 1990s

Max and Irma's: high quality and very popular bar and grill that disappeared after the mid 80s. And I also remember that they had a magician who went around to customers' tables

Any of you all feel free to write down any other restaurants from the 80s and 90s that have been gone since

Help us keep this site organized and clean. Thanks!
[ Report Post ]
Comments ( 26 )
  • Cuntsiclestick
    5 years ago

    I could've sworn I saw an Arthur Treachers that time I went to Selden, Ny a few months ago. It also served pudgies chicken. XD

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      5 years ago

      They disappeared here in Kansas city after the 1980s.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • Cuntsiclestick
        5 years ago

        Dang. You ever miss defunct department stores?
        :)

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
          -
        • Anonymous Post Author
          5 years ago

          Yes, here in Kansas city, we had the Jones store co. which I remember since I was like 4, and went out of business bout 10 years ago. Then there was Woolf Brothers I remember, gone too.

          I do miss Arthur Treachers, they were a much higher quality version of Long John Silvers, the closest we got to real British fish n chips outside the UK.

          Comment Hidden ( show )
          0
          0
            -
          • Cuntsiclestick
            5 years ago

            I never heard of those places, but I looked them up. It's sad to see stores just go out of business. You ever hear of Caldor? That was a great department store, similar to Target in some ways. Since Arthur Treacher is still around perhaps you should look for one next time you're out of state? You might just find one.
            :)

            Comment Hidden ( show )
            0
            0
              -
            • Anonymous Post Author
              5 years ago

              I looked it up, there are 7 Arthur Treachers left, all in New York and Ohio. They're long gone here in Kansas city. Back in the early 80s when they were here, there were about 600 of them all throughout the country, they were at their peak in the late 70s and early 80s

              Comment Hidden ( show )
              0
              0
  • leggs91200
    5 years ago

    Burger Chef - bought out by bHardee's/Carl's Jr.

    Ground Round, some hamburger restaurant similar to Denny's.

    Chi Chi's - Not sure when they shut down but yeah it was huge in the 90's.

    Max and Erma's is still around but very few locations left.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      5 years ago

      Where are the remaining Max and Irma's? Do you know if they still have the magician coming around to tables too?

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • leggs91200
        5 years ago

        They have a link on the top showing locations. Ohio has quite a few, the other states are pretty scant.

        https://www.maxandermas.com/

        One thing for sure - those burgers on that page look fuckin' delicious.

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
          -
        • Anonymous Post Author
          5 years ago

          I found the web page now, they're all around the Ohio and Michigan area. I couldn't find anything on the location that was in Kansas city in the 1980s. It seems that there aren't many websites on anything that disappeared before the internet began.

          There is a Copper Oven still in Wichita, KS, and there was one in Topeka too for a while. But the one that I was referring to up top was in Overland park, KS, and it was a different actual business, the new ones just got permission to use the same name for their restaurants. The Copper Oven in Overland park in the 1980s was also known for its fresh baked pies, and was gourmet home cooking. The ones in Topeka and Wichita are cafes.

          Comment Hidden ( show )
          0
          0
    • Anonymous Post Author
      5 years ago

      Chi-Chis was big here in Kansas city in the 1980s.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
  • WeirdGuyFromTheSouth
    5 years ago

    I miss going to a restaurant and smelling cigarette smoke

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • LloydAsher
      5 years ago

      Yeah I'm going to miss all that second hand smoke.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • WeirdGuyFromTheSouth
        5 years ago

        It was harmless in most restaurants they had high dollar smoke machines that blew it right out the roof.

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
          -
        • Anonymous Post Author
          5 years ago

          Yeah, but they then decided that they'd save more money by banning smoking rather than spending the money on those machines. Most restaurants don't even do the smoking/non smoking section thing anymore, they've just banned it completely.

          Comment Hidden ( show )
          0
          0
  • RoseIsabella
    5 years ago

    I miss Del Taco! There's no Del Taco back East. Taco Bell is not as good as it used to be.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      5 years ago

      I like Chipotle grill.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
    • LloydAsher
      5 years ago

      No! Taco bell is better they dont skimp on sauces either! Who goes to a taco fast food place for quality?!

      Taco bell is magical they can turn grade D beef into a passible B meat.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • Anonymous Post Author
        5 years ago

        Grade D meat is always gonna be grade D meat to me no matter how much they spice it up or fancy it up. Meat's the one thing that has to have at least some quality to it, I mean we're talking about meat. The reason why Burger King started always tasting worse after the start of the 2000s was that the corporate heads switched to lower quality meat to save money. I remember the quality flame broiled taste their burgers had back in the 1990s and 1980s. Then they had to change it, the cheapskates.

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
      • RoseIsabella
        5 years ago

        I still miss Del Taco!

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
          -
        • Anonymous Post Author
          5 years ago

          I remember Taco Via also, they're gone too.

          Comment Hidden ( show )
          0
          0
            -
          • RoseIsabella
            5 years ago

            I miss Taco Cabana from Houston!

            Comment Hidden ( show )
            0
            0
              -
            • Anonymous Post Author
              5 years ago

              My Dad lives in Houston. Everytime I visit him there, we go to Pappadeaux cajun, they're awesome. I don't think they'll ever go out of business, they're bustling every time we've gone there, and I can see why. It's as good as any cajun you'd find in New Orleans.

              Comment Hidden ( show )
              1
              1