Monday Musings: Going Retro

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Have you heard about this movement?

I’ll throw my hand up and say I’m all for it. I loved the old Pizza Huts, I loved the table top Pac Man machines, I loved the all you can eat pizza bar, too. Red-dimpled cups. The tiny sizzling personal pan. Man, those were the days.

Some other nostalgic places I miss that have since given themselves the redesign/reboot:

Wendy’s and Their Early 20th Century Newspaper Tabletops (and stained glass restaurants):

Now I’m a sucker for McDonald’s french fries, but I loved me some Wendy’s burgers and fries. The restaurant had a different feel to it, too, from their unique menus to the railing you’d walk between in order to place your order.

Retro McDonalds

I used to have birthdays here, and I don’t even think they were doing play places back then. Food was good, cheap, and came in styrofoam that had the reputation of lasting longer than you, your kids, and their great grandkids. Supposedly.

Shoneys

All, hail, the Big Boy! Man I loved Shoneys, especially their breakfast bar, which I swear, to this day, had the best hash brown potatoes known to mankind. Everything else was great, too. Come to think of it, I enjoyed a lot of all you can eat places. Here’s another one:

Po Folks

Yes, they would run all you can eat specials, and I think we’d get the fried chicken and country fried steak all you can eat plates. How I don’t have diabetes today, is beyond me. I’ve been surprisingly lucky in that regard. Say, I need to re-up my life insurance while I still can.

Subway

Not only do I miss the old place, I miss their old prices and quality of food. Nowadays, you’re lucky to a five dollar inch long.

So how about you…which retro version of today’s food chains do you miss the most?

26 thoughts on “Monday Musings: Going Retro”

  1. I hope Pizza Hut doesn’t bring back their retro prices. When I was a teen back in Thomasville you couldn’t take your date but about once a month because the pizza prices where high as a Giraffe’s ass. Seems like I remember the large or could have been the extra large being $20 back in the 70’s. Most of the time we would take a group and split up the ticket. The girls didn’t eat much anyway.

  2. There is a classic pizza hut here in Dahlonega. However, they don’t have Pac-Man.☹️

    • Yes there is! And it’s original, not retro😁. Not sure about the salad bar, we actually do carry out for the most part. But the interior is a happy time warp. It’s a busy place.

  3. In Athens, l lived on ATL hwy just past alps rd. There was a Shoney’s walking distance from our apt. I loved the quarter pound ground round. Also 5th qtr was right next door. Had it all close.

  4. Shoney’s went down because Cracker Barrel crushed them as an alternative for the families traveling on the interstate highway system. That breakfast bar was the bomb back in the day.

    Subway sold too damn many franchises, and their quality went to crap. Other chains and grocery stores stepped in and kicked their asses.

    Pizza Hut’s business model got disrupted by the large delivery chains that didn’t have the overhead and the high-end pizza places … classic Sears.

    Wendy’s could have been the Chick-fil-a of the burger segment but decided they wanted to be everything to everyone. It’s still my favorite fast food burger, but I still prefer CFA.

  5. Man that Po Folks menu made me smile. Those are some great photos. I was to young to know what life was actually like in the early/mid 80s, but my memory makes me think it was pretty good.

    • I got to know Stephanie a little bit when I was Athens. She was super smart and pretty driven. I have been following her journey to bring back the family brand but it is an uphill battle.

  7. Back in the day Blimpies > Subway. Godfathers > Pizza Hut. Pizza Inn was good all you can eat. Sonny’s BBQ used to be much better. Wendy’s got bought by PE idiots, lost their way and now closing 100s of underperforming stores. One rule of success in the food business…consistency. You can have mediocre food (McDonalds) but if you’re always the same then your core customers keep coming back.

  8. I try to avoid fast food in general so I’m biased against most of the places mentioned, but Subway is the absolute worst. They should change their name to Shit Sandwich.

    • True dat about fast food. Every now and then I will succumb to the siren call of a burger and fries or some form of fried chicken, but cutting out fast food and any kind of soda took over 100 pounds off my frame over 4-5 years. It is a tasty slow death, but it will still kill you before your time.

      • Good on you for dropping the weight. One thing a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that they’re drinking a lot of their calories. I’ve never been overweight, but I pretty much gave up on Coke, sweet tea & other soft drinks over 40 years ago.

  9. Pizza Hut had the best creamy Italian dressing ever. Hope this is a nationwide movement.

    • With the skeet shooting big board video game, please. My tee ball coach, two pitchers of beer in, once put an umpire in a headlock at Shakeys post-game after a contentious call. Wild stuff

  11. To me, Steak n’ Shake has gone downhill. The burgers used to be a lot better. There’s something fast food tasting about them now and it still isn’t a quick meal. CFa used to be better also, everything tastes too artificial now. I doubt they care what I think though because it appears to be more popular than ever and it’s the only fast food my family will eat just about.
    Doritos used to taste better too😂 I did visit BK recently, after their supposed revamp, and it was actually pretty dang good. McDonald’s fries still kick everyone ass though….if fresh! Like a lot of fast food, Wendy’s can be good if made properly. The Wendy’s food bar, however, should probably never be resurrected. Subway is trash. Blimpie’s was good, I think it’s really just who wins the location game as to who dominates the market, not my mouth….🤔huh?

  12. In & Out, which is mostly on the west coast, is one of the better fast food joints. Fries are cut in the store, and they treat their employees well.

    Full-Time Associates and their eligible dependents get the following benefits:

    Medical
    Dental
    Vision
    Healthcare & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA’s)
    Basic Life and AD&D (Company Paid)
    Voluntary Life and AD&D
    Voluntary Short-Term Disability (Non-CA Associates)
    Voluntary Long-Term Disability
    Critical Illness Insurance
    Accident Insurance
    Hospital Indemnity Insurance
    Legal Plan
    Adoption Benefit
    Pet Insurance
    Associate Assistance Program – AAP (Company Paid)
    Business and Travel Insurance (Company Paid)
    Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (after meeting eligibility requirements)
    LEARN Educational Assistance Program (after meeting eligibility requirements)
    Gym Membership Discount
    KinderCare Discount

  13. I wish them luck but like I mentioned above with Stuckey’s, this is an uphill battle. I think the WSJ did an article earlier this year that said pizza as an overall category is declining fast. There are more coffee shops and mexican restaurants in the US than pizzerias.

    Plus pizza as a cuisine went through a moment a few years ago that elevated the higher end of the cuisine (like Antico pizza around Metro Atlanta) and expansion of smaller, less expensive Mom & Pop joints around the country that make high-quality authentic pies.

    Building a reputation on nostalgia is tough if it is just nostalgia alone. There are a lot of better pizza options out there. Pizza Hut started in Wichita, KS and it is just bland midwestern pizza. It had no claim to a regional style or specialty like Detroit, Chicago Tavern, St. Louis or Ohio Valley.

    Perhaps if the General Robert Montgomery Knight was still on earth, then maybe they could drive velocity with tv ads similar to this …

    https://youtu.be/Av6Mu8aLkio?si=S4r-G1CogIYVkDBF&t=218

  14. off topic a smidge but there used to be a tabletop Ms Pac Man at Carlos McGee’s in Buckhead back in the early 80. My crew loved that place on a Friday afternoon. Buckhead was a fun place in the pre-Ray Lewis days.

  15. A whole generation is going to be confused when they think they’re walking into a Mexican restaurant and it’s Pizza Hut.

  16. McDonald’s like Steak & Shake have become too computerized. Minimizing humans is crap for business. I miss the waitresses at Steak & Shake and the teenagers screwing up my orders at McDonald’s.

  17. Old-school Pizza Hut thin crust I could do SERIOUS damage to. Same goes for Shoney’s breakfast, or just regular-ass ‘salad’ bar. God help you if I got NEAR a Wendy’s SuperBar.

    That said, I’d do crime for Fuddrucker’s to come back, particularly with the vat-o-cheese that I could dump onto my fries/burger.

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