When you were a child or teen, what fast food place did you like to go to? I honestly did not go as my parents did not

[debm55]

buy food out, except for the crappy hoagies at K-Mart.

[LogDog75]

1. We rarely had fast food

Back in the early 60s, we only hit McDonald's a couple of times. I remember when their sign on the Golden Arches say "Over 11 Million Served."

[debm55]

2. Thank you very much, LogDog75. Same here.

[Enter stage left]

16. But they were on their second cow!

[LisaM]

3. Occasionally McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken.

It was considered a treat. Neither restaurant had drive throughs or indoor seating, so we would get it (always in summer) and take it to a local park and eat it at picnic tables. Afterwards, I suppose my parents sat and smoked while my sister and I played on the playground equipment. (We always went to the same park when we did this, a really nice one that had playground equipment that was stuff like Flintstone cars with big stone wheels).

[debm55]

5. That sounds very nice. Thank you for sharing with us, LisaM

[rsdsharp]

4. We didn't have any fast food places in the town where I grew up.

If we went to Mason City (The Music Man’s River City) 30 miles away, we’d sometimes go to McDonalds.

[debm55]

6. Thank you very much for sharing with us, rsdsharp

[Ritabert]

7. We never ate fast food but this was 60+ years ago

There weren't many options.

[debm55]

9. Thank you, Ritabert.

[Eugene]

8. McDonald's was my family's regular Sunday afternoon treat when I was a kid.

There was also a nondescript pizzeria in Downtown Boston, when my mom took us shopping.

[debm55]

11. Thank you very much, Eugene. My husband is from Boston.

[malthaussen]

10. Big Boy was the closest thing to "fast food" we had as kids.

But that was a restaurant more like Howard Johnson's. We didn't start getting McDonald's type fast food until I was already a teenager.

-- Mal

[debm55]

12. I understand, We had Eat n Park.

[Diamond_Dog]

13. My father would not eat fast food, he considered all fried food unhealthy.

We didn’t have all the fast food choices back then, either, like there are today I remember McDonald’s, Red Barn, and maybe a couple little burger joints in town and that was it. I never set foot in a McDonalds until I was in high school, I went with friends a couple times but did not eat the burgers.

[Deuxcents]

14. After a day at the beach, my parents would take us to A&W for a frosted glass of root beer as a treat

Every once in a while to Howard Johnson’s for an ice cream cone. Those were bribes because when we got home, we had to wash the car because of the salt from the beaches! We were too young to get it but everyone was happy 😃

[Endlessmike56]

15. My family never bought fast food . The first time I had it was with a friend and his family at some drive through.

[Freddie]

17. My folks loved Burger King

We all did (I still do) and the closest one was a half-hour away in the “big city”. Whenever we shopped in the city (3 or 4 times a year) we’d stop for dinner at Burger King on the way home.

[jgo]

18. As a family, we occasionally went to a waiterless and orderless place

You slide your tray down a metal line, and pick up individual servings as you slide by.
I guess there are still some of these around - more fancy now than the one we went to when I was young.

[Zackzzzz]

19. We travelled by bus and at the hub we ate little White Castle burgers.

[CTyankee]

20. There was no such thing as fast food when I was a kid. Yes, I am old.

[Nittersing]

21. There weren't really any fast food places when I was a kid (I'm 71)

The only treat I remember going out for was an ice cream cone.

We camped across country for a vacation and on very rare occasions would stop at a Howard Johnson's.

[TBF]

22. Our village was less than 500 people,

so fast food was occasional weekends. I loved Pizza Hut, Shakeys (which was also pizza), and Taco Bell. Oh, and I forgot about A&W. That was the one place we had that was only 10 miles away & it was the drive-up kind. We'd do that sometimes on Friday night.

[mopinko]

23. 1 of the 1st mcdonalds was just down the street from me.

b4 that, we never, ever ate out. it was a big deal.
my 1st job was at a tijuana taco, the 1st u.s. mexican food chain.

a kid i went to school w got a job flipping burgers at mickey’s at 16. only co he ever worked for. now owns 23 stores and is a very wealthy man.

[Midnight Writer]

24. Burger King. Not the chain one. This was a locally owned and operated joint that pre-dated the chain.

It was a special occasion for our family. We couldn't pay the rent, let alone eat at "restaurants".

They had a running special, 6 burgers for 1 dollar. There were six kids living with us in the family at that time. Once in a while, on a payday, my Mom would stop and get 6 burgers, one for each of us. She would do without so each of us could have one.

In spite of the hardship, she provided us kids with a happy home.

Love over money, every time.

[JoseBalow]

25. "Big Hat"

When I was a little kid, I loved the Big Hat sign!

[happybird]

26. McDonalds, but very rarely

It was the only fast food option in our small town and a trip there was always exciting.
The real treat was when Dad would pick up Popeyes on his way home from the city.

[The Madcap]

27. Burger Chef

RIP. Only on the Sundays when I got to choose.

Oh, and Holly Farms Chicken restaurant. I just loved the seasoning on their fried chicken.

[Walleye]

28. We used to like to go to Geno's

I don’t know if it was a chain nationwide, but it was pretty popular around the Philadelphia area. They had a big Mac style burger that was much better than the actual big Mac, and before McDs came to town.

[Maninacan]

29. Mr. Quick

Mr. Quick was the first fast food place in my town. I lived too far out to ever go anywhere til i got a car.

[IA8IT]

30. A&W drive-in. 60's cars, girls in shorts take your order. Living Large!

[JT45242]

31. McDonalds for breakfast on Saturday mornings

Hotcakes and sausage with a High C Orange drink before little league games.

Or Long John Silvers for fish on Fridays (mom was Catholic and kept doing fish oonly on Fridays even after Vatican 2)

[Bluestocking]

32. Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips

It was my favorite.

[PJMcK]

33. McDonalds

I’m so old their sign said they had sold thousands of burgers!

[Coolgoober]

34. Thursday On Shopping Night

While my Dad worked my mom would sometimes stop at McDonald's. It was her pay day and if groceries didn't go over her budget and we behaved she would take us there. Of course there were no drive thrus or indoor dining. There were five of us kids and we could each eat for less than 1$. It was a good time. Great memories Some times us 3 boys would work at my grandfather's house/business ( not for money of course but a ton of life experience) and he would every now and again treat us and my dad to McDonald's. But he would only buy the burgers. They were 20 cents. He thought the fries and drinks were a rip off. We were always happy with the burgers.

[Fresh_Start]

35. white castle was a treat....

I think they were my stepdads favorites

[Bluestocking]

40. I have never been to a White Castle

It was my brother’s favorite. Our parents never took us there. Do they have holes with onions in them.

[debm55]

45. Thanks, Bluestocking, for sharing. The only place I saw one was in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

[debm55]

47. Thank you very much for sharing with us. I never had a white castle burger.

[johnp3907]

36. My parents only liked Long John Silver's and KFC.

[debm55]

46. Thank you very much, john3907. I liked the hush puppies at LJS.

[OLDMDDEM]

37. Del Taco in Nebraska.

[debm55]

43. Thank you very much, OLDMDDEM. for sharing with us.

[surrealAmerican]

38. As a family, we would sometimes go to Hardee's ...

... Friendly's and KFC. With other kids, I either went to one of the local pizzerias, or a place in the mall that served gyros. That was my favorite; I loved gyros.

[debm55]

42. Thank you very much for sharing with us. surrealAmerican. Sounds good.

[doc03]

39. There weren't any excep a couple ice cream stores that had hot dogs, hamburgers and

fries. The first fast food franchises I remember around here was Burger Chef and Elby's Big Boy. I think Pittsburgh's Eat &Park was originally Big Boy?

[debm55]

41. Thank you very much for sharing, doc03. I will have to look that up about Eat & Park being Big Boy's. I really don't

know,

[ProfessorGAC]

44. We Went To 2

One was Burger Chef, which was a small chain in the south & southwest suburbs of Chicago.
The other was a place called The Cuckoo Clock.
The building actually had a big clock on the front & the little door opened and a bird came out on the hour.
My dad knew the guy who originally owned it. That guy brought the first McDonald's to our city of 65,000, and signed an exclusivity deal with McD's corporate.
He got right of first refusal on any new location within 25 miles.
Ended up with 15 or 16 McDonald stores, and got a royalty from 5 or 6 others.
Started out in a little walk up burger joint, became a multimillionaire by around 1975!

[debm55]

48. Wow. Great post. I like the sound of The Cuckoo Clock place. It would be neat for kids to eat there.

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Building Is Gone Now

It was a fast food joint for a LONG time, but when the clock stopped they never fixed it.
There's a CVS there now & a BK across the street.
When that place first opened, it would be packed at say 5-10 minutes before the hour so folks would be there when the clock hit top of hour. They probably did 90% of their business in that 10 minutes!

[JMCKUSICK]

50. Been eating Big Mac's and Fries since I was ten.

[LuvLoogie]

51. White Castle and KFC were the bomb in the 60s

Chicken Unlimited in the early 70s was awesome, too. A Chicago thing.

Oh, and any random hotdog cart.

[LoisB]

52. The only "fast food" we had was a burger or hot dog or milk shake at the

local drug store.

[dhol82]

53. Hot Shoppe Drive-in Philadelphia

Loved that place! Now, long gone. Life was simpler in the sixties.

[moniss]

54. I have a couple.

One was "Dog 'n Suds" otherwise known as "Arf and Barf".

The A&W drive in was always good. Can't beat a place with carhops. There's still a big one in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that has hops on skates.

For a sit down place that was "fast food" we had the chain known as "George Webb". Thinnest hamburgers known to mankind. The grill and everything was more or less out in the open for customers to see. I got thrown out of one for making fun of their soup. The sign and the menu said chicken "flavored" noodle soup. I kept asking whether the "flavored" meant it didn't have any connection to real chicken or whether they just ran hot water through a whole chicken like on The 3 Stooges. A bowl of it was basically noodles, some dried parsley and the broth was a glowing neon yellow loaded with salt. Not a speck of chicken meat to be found. It had an "other worldly" smell and not like chicken at all.

But the George Webb was popular because they were open after bar time and you could get a cheap breakfast or those paper thin burgers. Being so thin they fried quickly on the grill and basically about 30 seconds or so per side and they were done. They used to have "bag" deals for "to go" orders. I think back in the early 80's you could get like 15 burgers for $10 or something like that.

"Dog 'n Suds" was a really cool drive-in chain because they had great root beer and in addition to burgers they had variations of hot dogs. Mostly they are gone now but there is still an independent one about an hour or so from me.

A&W of course is still around.

[woodsprite]

55. Gino's or Roy Rogers on Sundays and Shakey's when

Aunts/Uncles and cousins dropped by.

Favorites:
Gino’s - their burgers/fries
Roy Rogers - the ‘fixin’s bar’ and strawberry shortcake cornbread!
Shakeys - pepperoni pizza

[NoMoreRepugs]

56. Local hot dog & Italian beef stand in a small trailer.

[waterwatcher123]

57. A and W Restaurants (mostly for the rootbeer floats).

[MackinacBridge]

58. Two places

Burger Chef, where there was a "fixin's bar" to dress up your own burger. I was in heaven adding all the lettuce and dill pickles I wanted. Ours was in Greenville, Michigan. (I was happy to see a couple others had Burger Chef as their favorite. They've been gone a long time, and I'm not sure there were ever very many of them.)

Long before our family's Burger Chef days, we went to a drive-in quite often in the mid-60s that I thought was called Combat Burger. Reminiscing with my parents one day as a full-blown adult, they let me know it was actually Come Back Burger. Location was in Grand Rapids, MI.

[OldBaldy1701E]

59. So, in my home town there was what was originally a 'Dairy King'.

When I came along it had been bought out many times and the owner at the time named it 'The Patio'.

Prison food was more palatable. But, they made a mean Carolina Classic, so it was okay.

We seldom ate out anyway. Too poor.

Besides, one of dad's grilled burgers was WAY better than anything from a restaurant. And, as a farmer's family, we had enough beef around.

[u4ic]

60. Satellite and Harvey's

As a kid...Satellite was a small, family owned restaurant near us that was shaped like a satellite, including the antennas. They had amazing burgers and fries! That was a treat, maybe once or twice a month.

As a teen...Harvey's, which is across most of Canada. Far better than any other fast food joint around. Like Satellite, thick flame grilled burgers, and you pick all your toppings/condiments. Best fast food pickles, even to this day.

Satellite doesn't exist anymore; Harvey's does, and is my go to on the very rare occasion that I buy fast food.

[soldierant]

61. when I was a child or a teen

none existed.
McDonald's was the first, at least where I lived, and it did not start franchising until Ray Kroc bought the McDonald brothers out in 1961. I graduated from igh school i 1962 and went straight to college - still in the same area, but I was too busy with studies to think about fast food.
Yes, I'm old.

[Morbius]

62. My parents had a lot of kids.

McDonalds was extremely rare, almost beyond the realm of possibility. We were limited to one slice of bologna on a sandwich, unless it was a cheese sandwich. My mother bought us puffed wheat cereal (unsweetened), which was awful. We used a mixture of half reconstituted powdered milk and half whole milk - it was well known that my mother would go ballistic on anyone who drank the whole milk straight without mixing it with the powder. Hot dogs meant one hot dog, usually, with pork n' beans. When we had hot dog sandwiches it was on white bread, and a little person like me got two of them, tops. Everything was off-brand. I didn't realize at the time what I know now; times must have been really hard on my folks.

A bit later on when things were not so tight we would have KFC sometimes, but at the time it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken. I suppose my preference would have to be McDonalds back then, even if it was a once or twice a year thing.