This isn't the picture of THAT Burger Chef but still, it looks remarkably like the one that we used to visit from time to time.
I loved the "fun meals" and the works bar was awesome. It was one of the earliest times in my life that I was allowed to make decisions for myself - i.e. what to put on my burger and what I could leave off. I was always a fan of tomatoes - lots of them. Not so much on the pickles or lettuce. Mustard was always left off but ketchup and mayo were two that were always found on the bun side that didn't face the cheese.
We only seemed to visit the Burger Chef at the Bluffton Road location - maybe because that's the one we lived closest to. I know that there were other ones located in the city - one on Coldwater Road and one on East State Street. Maybe there were other locations too...those are just the ones I remember.
If you're a fan of Burger Chef - you've got to check out this guy's website - http://burgerchef.webs.com/8memorbilliapics.htm
He has TONS of pictures and I had a blast looking through all of the old stuff.
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2 years ago
5 comments:
LOVED Burger Chef.
Saturdays after bowling Northcrest Bowling Alley parking lot.
daron
i wish i could have remembered it but we didnt go to eat out once. i remember asking about mcdonalds to my parents and after that i gave up the ghost. we did go to big boy a few times.
We would eat at the one by Kmart south. There was also one between Fort Wayne and New Haven on Washington.
Used to frequent the Burger Chef on Bluffton Road. And play Putt-Putt, which was right behind it. And also visited the Mr. Coney next door when burned out on Burger Chef. And used to go to the Roller Dome behind Burger Chef and Mr. Coney. And used to go trash picking behind the boat repair place across Sandpoint Road from the Burger Chef. Surprised it isn't a Brownfields site because the ground was saturated in motor oil and stank to high Heaven. All in all, plenty of trouble to get into for a child of the '70s.
The Indian Village Pharmacy was kind of on the same circuit of places a kid could blow his allowance. Later there was a Pizza King next to that, but I remember when there were a couple of houses there. Girl lived there named Marsha Bell. We used to play in the dumpy outbuildings in her backyard. Her mom was named Madonna and she used to work at Orchard Ridge. I think she also waitressed part-time at Mr. Coney.
Not only do the sights come back to me but so do the smells. The leaded gasoline smell and the vats of bacon lard for French fries.
What a toxic environment it was. Amazing I didn't grow another head.
The Burger Chef near the south Kmart hung in there for quite a few years after making the conversion to Hardees. The building's since been knocked down and a new McDonalds erected on the site. Meh.
The one on East State near Georgetown and the one on Coliseum Blvd. survived as Hardees as well. A few of the buildings are still intact, some of them still operating as restaurants. The Bluffton Road store is now a Spyro's Pancake House, with possibly the best pancakes in town!
But I didn't see any of the Burger Chef bird houses on the site you linked to. They were a pretty common sight around here for several years, usually in more rural areas mounted high on top of a tall poll.
I think they were intended to attract purple martins and looked like a miniature BC restaurant, right down to the colors and the Burger Chef logo.
Clay
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