Beginning in Eugene, Oregon in 1959, the TacoTime Restaurant Chain now has 350+ locations in the United States, Canada and Kuwait. Taco Time is owned by the Kahala Corporation, which operates a number of food-related franchises, including Blimpie, Cold Stone, and about 10 others. I often joke with people that when one goes to Taco… Continue reading Pacific NW – Taco Time
AM PM Mini Marts – Burgers and Dogs
AM/PM mini marts are co-located with ARCO gas stations; ARCO (and AM/PM) are U.S. brands of British Petroleum. In the late 70s, AM/PM started offering heat-to-eat hot dogs & burgers, and eventually expanded to a wide variety of snack and to go foods, nestled among a pretty respectible condiment bar. When I first started stopping… Continue reading AM PM Mini Marts – Burgers and Dogs
Little Caesar’s “Pizza Pizza”
I suppose they don’t use that tag anymore (pizza! pizza!) do they? Little Caesar’s hook in the early days was you got two pizzas (even different toppings) for the price of one, and they came wrapped in a special “double package.” The last time I ordered from Little Caesars was 1985, I know this because… Continue reading Little Caesar’s “Pizza Pizza”
A & W – Anywhere, and Everywhere
“All American Food” is their tag line these days. The A&W rootbeer concept (started by Mssrs Allen and Wright) is thriving and growing under the YUM (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silvers, KFC) unbrella, and it often co-located with one of its sister brands. Not much has changed on their menu since back in… Continue reading A & W – Anywhere, and Everywhere
California – Original Tommy’s
Sometimes, to the uninitiated, searching for a Tommy’s is a akin to searching for a pizza place named Ray’s in Manhattan. Success breeds imitation. So while there are a lot of places in Southern California with some variation of the name Original Tommy’s plastered on the front door, there is only one ORIGINAL TOMMY’s, albeit… Continue reading California – Original Tommy’s
Salton City, CA – Travertine Sports Bar & Grill
A review on Yelp said this place was “better than it deserved to be”, and although I am not exactly sure what that means (I think it is a compliment), this place is a big surprise for where it is located. The Salton Sea isn’t exactly a dining (or anything ) destination these days, but… Continue reading Salton City, CA – Travertine Sports Bar & Grill
Like Looking for a Haystack in Needles
One thing Needles has going for it is it’s on Route 66. Ok, maybe that’s the only thing. But that usually means a town is chock-a-block full of old cheap motels, and roadside eateries. Needles succeeds in the first, but fails in the 2nd. My motel was great in its day. To say it needs… Continue reading Like Looking for a Haystack in Needles
Taipei, TW – Ikea Hot Dog
Burger reporter Kayoumin checks in from Taiwan this week (France, next week, hopefully), with this pic of Ikea’s hot dog with ketchup, mustard, onion, and an Old Gold Beer. This is the epitome of multinationalism. A French guy, in Taiwan, at a Swedish store, eating American food! View Larger Map
Boise, ID – Bad Boy Burgers
It seems a couple weeks ago, I vowed never to try “the city’s best burger”. I forgot, and while trying to get to Boise’s pizza institution “Louie’s”, discovering it closed and replace by an Old Spaghetti Factory (their slogan should be “we know Italian like Olive Garden knows Italian!”, I happened by one of the… Continue reading Boise, ID – Bad Boy Burgers
The Dalles, OR – Big Jim’s Drive-In
While I have had hamburgers made with ground beef, shredded beef, ground pork, turkey, buffalo, alligator, I’ve never had a hamburger “made with love”, and that’s what Big Jim’s was offering. Found this place by accident off the frontage round from I-84, nosing around, not minding my own business, as is my want. Nothing on… Continue reading The Dalles, OR – Big Jim’s Drive-In