20 Burger Restaurants From The 1970s That No Longer Exist!

[@iwuvmybigfamily]

I miss Burger Chef. It was right across from my high school and we used to go there for lunch.

[@samr.england613]

Did you happen to attend Roswell (GA) High School? Because there was originally a Burger Chef there, on the right of the school entrance street. They had really tasty burgers! And the fries were pretty dang good too!

[@iwuvmybigfamily]

@samr.england613 no I live in Iowa.

[@chrsn]

Yeah, I do too. It existed from my childhood through the teenage years. They had their own kids' meal called "fun meal" or something like that well before McDonalds introduced their Happy Meal. I thought their burgers tasted better than McDonalds too.

[@samr.england613]

@@iwuvmybigfamily Still, we both have fond memories of BC's tasty burgers and fries!

[@davidjackson2690]

You didn't go to Tech in Indy did you?

[@jackfrost3573]

I was born in 1958 and grew up in Minnesota. Sandy's was my first experience with takeout hamburgers. It still is a benchmark for me.

[@samr.england613]

Thank God, there's someone older than me here! (Just messin' with you, buddy.)

[@samr.england613]

Does anybody remember Pizza Inn? They had a unique pizza, AND an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet! They rocked man!

[@adams8132]

Absolutely.

[@centralillinoisrailpix453]

Yes

[@samr.england613]

@@centralillinoisrailpix453 I so miss their pizza! It was really good.

[@carriersignal]

The fact that you could buy a cheeseburger for 50 cents back then is still hard to believe. Now a cheeseburger is $6 or $7 where I am. I miss simpler times. Very sad.

[@samr.england613]

It's all relative, I suppose. My parents bought a two-story, four bedroom/two full bathroom and 1/2 bathroom house, with full basement and attic, with solid wood doors and hardwood floors, on a 3/4ths acre lot for $32,000 dollars back in 1969! They sold it, in 2001, for $350,000. It recently fetched $500,000. Inflation, I guess.

[@ButcherBird-FW190D]

We did not earn very much back then, either.

[@samr.england613]

@@ButcherBird-FW190D Yeah. People don't seem to understand relativity and inflation. The minimum wage in 1970, in most of the country, was around $1.50. So, it would take you about an hour to earn enough money for lunch at McD's or Burger Chef. Nowadays, earning a wage of $15 an hour, um, well, it takes you an hour of work to earn enough to eat lunch at McD's.

[@ButcherBird-FW190D]

@@samr.england613 Yes, exactly. People don't understand inflation; nor relative purchasing power. Nor that we experienced substantially higher inflation, and for a number of years, in the last 1970's and early 1980's. All they do is complain and nag, with very little understanding of how the financial system actually works.

[@centralillinoisrailpix453]

Sandy's and McDonald's both started out with burgers for a quarter, but low wage jobs paid about $40 a week.

[@BennettBramson]

One Royal Castle still remains in the U.S. at the corner of NW 79th Street and NW 27th Avenue in Miami, Florida. New owners recently renovated the shop, brought back the original Castle burgers and we (our Miami Beach boys) reintroduced their famous Birch Beer (no frosty mugs yet). Still reasonable prices and good friendly service for a 6 - pack of little burgers, fries and birch beer. ❤

[@SusanCox-pl9qp]

Salad bars need to make a comeback.

[@samr.england613]

So too All You Can Eat (good) Pizza Buffets! They lose money on both, that's why we no longer see them, I think.

[@matthewdouglas1567]

Because of COVID, salad bars and buffets are long gone. Communal utensils, open covers--states won't allow that any more. You touch the handle of a serving spoon by some one infected, they pass it on, you pass it on--even in the grocery stores now, bulk items and grind-your-own coffee are gone, replaced by pre-weighted bags and plastic containers.

[@darnellmitchell9357]

😂😂😂 I love Burger chef I missed it growing up I went there when I was in junior high high school and as an adult before they went out of business for they changed over but they were wonderful and their french fries were good too

[@Tomatohater64]

Yes indeed, Burger Chef had some very delicious burgers. Always got mine with heavy mustard & onions. Yummy.

[@samr.england613]

@@Tomatohater64 They really did. I remember the Burger Chef in my hometown of Roswell, GA., when I was 9 or ten years old. (1973). I don't know why they went defunct. Haven't google it yet.

[@samr.england613]

Yep! Same here. Delicious burgers and fries at Burger Chef. There used to be one right in front of my high school. But was gone by the time I reached 8th grade in 1976, or well, could've been gone before I actually went to high school. Long time ago. By 10th grade, the former BC building was bought by a breakfast and doughnut joint.

[@matthewdouglas1567]

Seattle misses Godfather's Pizza, Shakey's Pizza, Round Table Pizza, and Pizza Haven. Some of us Miss Frosty Freeze and A & W drive up service with window trays. But we still have a Burgermaster, which is always busy. The sign says, "Turn on lights for service" and you can listen to 80's and 90's music outside while you wait in your car. Love that place. About $15 a person, though, but worth it. There was another place in Ballard (part of Seattle) that had a Zesto's, and only a few of us remember it. Delicious, and 17 flavors of shakes. (Burgermaster has 12 flavors though).

[@rogertemple7193]

Most of these burger joints were in other states but i don't remember any of them being here in my state of Oklahoma over in Texas maybe but not here in Oklahoma however, but there are many here in Oklahoma that no longer exist as well, Thanks for the Delicious Memories.🍔🍟🥤

[@johnalexander7490]

Have only had Burger Chef once: When I was in 3rd grade, in Abilene Texas, back in 1974, there was a Burger Chef right next to the school. One day my Mom went over and got me a Double Hamburger. I don't like stuff on it, so she got it plain like I like and made it a Double ... brought it to me for lunch. One of the BEST burgers I can remember, and to this day: My fave is a Plain Double Burger! Sometimes with bacon and maybe cheese if I'm feeling cheesy. :) God rest her soul. Thank you, Mom!

[@danielanderson4428]

I live in Grand Rapids Michigan and I remember Mr Fables very well. Still miss them. Most of the others I never heard of or they weren’t in my area. One not mentioned that I also grew up with was Dog n Suds. We called them Arf n Barf even though the food was good. They were more of a drive in with curb service and not much of a sit down restaurant. Memories!

[@noahname6695]

Red barn was great. Buildings are still in use everywhere

[@titanman8302]

Whopper Burger had the best hamburgers I'd ever eaten. In 1970 it was $.52 I thought they might have been on this list.

[@davidpitchford6510]

In Queens, NY: Wetsons Burgers which sold "Big W's"; of course, W is just an upside down version of M

[@BxBabyDoll]

We had one in The Bronx. My dad used to take me there. I used to love the Big W. 😋

[@alansmith2537]

Wetsons was awsome!! Best greasey ass fries you could dream off!

[@SusanCox-pl9qp]

Eve Plumb from the Brady Bunch is on that Burger Chef commercial.

[@monmixer]

We had a burger chef on the south end of my town in the 70's. I never went there but maybe 3 times in it's existence. The new highway took it out.

[@christopherstafford3437]

Oh man burgers were so good back then and never broke the bank such good times

[@drbluzer]

In Louisville , Kentucky in the 1960's to 1970's we had a RED BARN RESTAURANT right across the street from the SHOWCASE CINEMAS on Bardstown Road !

[@newmanc6619]

I remember sambos. They had a delicious tuna sandwich. I am a connoisseur of tuna sandwiches and their tuna sandwich was one the best I ever had.

[@rickvoigt8720]

Either I missed it or you forgot Big Boy.

[@drbluzer]

My first hourly paying job was BURGER CHEF in the early 1970's ! I got paid $1.15 / hour .

[@danielanderson4428]

I worked at the car wash next to a Burger Chef, also in the 70’s for $1.15 per hr.

[@Sakja]

I can't believe White Castle burgers are almost $3. When I was 7, they were 10 cents and 25 cents when I was 22.

[@lonnieparsons6068]

Artic Circle was one we had in Washington.

[@tm423w74]

They are still around, 1 in Yakima. There is also one in Newport Oregon. Most of them are in Utah now. Still really big there.

[@marleonetti7]

i remember in the 80s there was a place here in LA called fat jacks and to this day i still have not had a cheese burger nearly as good as theirs was .

[@rong7204]

Sorry to say All American Burger still has one open in massapequa NY. It will never close cause it is on hell of a hot spot

[@BryanC-h1j]

Boy those were the good old days. Sure is a lot different from today. A cheeseburger, large fries and a drink at 5 Guys……about $25. Used to love going to 5 Guys, but not anymore.

[@eugenespencer9932]

Weston had fantastic burgers ❤

[@natureb1995woooo]

They reopened Gino's in the early 2010s in Towson Maryland.

[@mikeclontz5774]

I remember when they were 40 cents but back then we still couldn’t afford to many

[@novawagon1965]

Does anyone remember a place called Jay's in northern Wisconsin in the 60s. I remember us stopping there and my mom buying 10 hamburgers for a dollar they tasted a lot like a McDonald's hamburger if I remember correctly . I sure would like an original Big Shef before they switched ftom flame cooking to the grill. Red Barn had a really good Fish sandwich in one of those big split pieces of bread toasted .If uour ever in Sidney Ohio they have a place called Clancy's they have a double decker called the Topper it's the closest thing to a Big Shef that I've found

[@kristinlambert8811]

How about Roy Rogers

[@georgewilson1184]

There was a chain thatdominated in the Chicagoland suburban market for a while in the 1970s it was Yankee Doodle dandy they had a unique have game card contest for free food and they did have tasty Burgers we use to go too the shop on York/Elmhurst rd my Dad new the franchise owner threw a previous job my Dad use to service this man’s roof with Tar for leeks this place was a stand alone building typical fast food joint size It was out in front of the GreenStreet market Bensenville Illinois the other one was in Maywood Illinois on Saint Charles rd

[@samr.england613]

Burger Chef had really tasty burgers, I'm here to tell ya! I don't know wtf ever happened to them. Guess I have to google it or actually pay attention to this vid. :)

[@RW-bt6ex]

Red Steer , Idaho and Herfy's in Bremerton Wash .

[@jimmyday9536]

I'm 66 yrs old and I sure remember Ginos! "Everybody goes to Ginos, cuz Ginos is the place to go."

[@stevenreiser2599]

many must be regional - I live in the far west and never heard on many of these and I was born in the 50s

[@marleonetti7]

i think alot of these places went out of business simply because they could no longer afford to lease the property they were on . property values shot up so high over the decades that property owners told the restaurants they needed to pay double or triple when the lease was renewed . other places were bought out by the bigger chains like mcdonalds .

[@Sakja]

That was when we had to hold burgers in both hands.

[@OfSoulAndSin]

I’m from CA, Sambo’s is the only one here I knew and remember why they went out of business.

[@sclm087]

Cedar Falls Iowa had the best burger at Rollengers.

[@stevewashere4122]

I worked for Wendy's back in the late 70's. Wuv's came to town. The owner wanted to open Wendy's franchises but a single family had the rights to the whole county. So he opened Wuv's & if he could they were close to a Wendy's. We lost supervisors & managers to him. Boy, did we take a hit at my store money wise! Everybody was going to the New Wuv's. They went out of business after a year or so? Poorly run by the owner. My Wendy's moved over into the newly closed building! It's still a Wendy's to this day.

[@michaelbaucom4019]

Burger King put Burger Chef out of business as much as McDonald's did

[@samr.england613]

I don't know why, because BC was much better than BK. (Granted tho, at the time, that is, back in the mid-late 70s, BK was higher quality than they, and just about everybody else, is now.) Have you seen a Whopper burger patty lately? It's like two millimeters thick.

[@danielanderson4428]

In one area in my city there used to be a Mc Donald’s, a Burger King, and a Burger Chef, all on the same block, on the same side of the street. Mc Donald’s and Burger King are still there.

[@jamesbrackett575]

I always thought Hardee’s bought out burger chef and destroyed it

[@samr.england613]

@@danielanderson4428 It's a shame because, Burger Chef, as I remember it, was pretty damn good.

[@johnalexander7490]

@@danielanderson4428 Ugh. They had to close the ONE good restaurant out of the 3.

[@erickort1987]

A&W still going 105 years....1919...there famous rootbeer

[@c.d.scalemodels9198]

All American Burger is STILL in operation......it's in Long Island NY.

[@marcelobravo4270]

" Love juice " . Ejemmmm...uhhhh...wait ...ohhhh !!

[@samr.england613]

Anybody remember Jack's? Their burgers were good, but we'd get Jack's burgers and then go across the street and get McDonald's fries.

[@ameliadiaz8040]

MENTAL NOTE: Carrols was found in 1960, not in 1962.

[@Phil-gw9vr]

anyone remember Kemp's in New England?

[@deathstinger13]

do wish we could still have affordable fast food, but now even mcdonald's is overpriced

[@kencan4772]

Minuteman burgers are never mentioned

[@richardciavarella330]

Carrols restaurants started in Syracuse ny and I happen to know the people .

[@SamWicker-su7rp]

Hello.

[@marylist1236]

White Castle sued White Tower

[@samr.england613]

How 'bout Krystal?

[@Sakja]

Not as good as White Castle and more expensive. Not bad in a pinch, but don't let them put mustard on your burgers.

[@dukemexplorer481]

Carol'some restaurants was bought by Burger King

[@Lawyerboyleslie72]

Why would you put Minnie Pearles Chicken on a list of nostalgic BURGER joints? Also, half of these are not fast food places, but you call them fast food chains.

[@crosbonit]

After about 20 more years of attack on the beef industry, you'll be producing a video talking about how hamburgers no longer exist.

[@SebastianSmith-c5t]

The Last Sambo's restaurant was in Santa Barbara and closed in 2020, not 82. And how did ya miss Drax and that annoying cartoon mascot, Mr. Delicious.

[@kennykruger5866]

Hey ro youtuber of this channel it wasn't because of Competition it was because of the burger Chef murders in speedway Indiana and general mills owned it

[@samr.england613]

Spock! Explain.

[@erickort1987]

Sandy`s

[@Tomatohater64]

I love plastic; keep the jobs coming, let's all make money. 💰💰💰💰💰

[@jamesbrackett575]

The super chef was to die for at burger chef