The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[Keith1010]

VInce, yes you are right.  I think back in my day it was part of Marriott.  There were so many restaurants they used to run.  Not even close to the scale but in Texas when we arrived there was Brinker and they ran many different restaurants and always came up with new ones. There of course is and I believe still Chili's under them but they had many brands.  They would often sell some of the successful ones or maybe even ones which were not making money.

 

Patty, wow. I had no idea Roy Rogers was here but as you say 1970's long before we got here in 1991.

 

Keith

[KenzSailing]

1 hour ago, BWIVince said:

 

 

Roy Rogers is my JAM!!!  (I know Ken is not surprised in the least, and shaking his head.  LOL). I wish I still had my Buckaroo Club card from when I was a kid.  lol. My truck even has a perfectly sized Roys Fried Chicken box holder in the console.  😇  

Vince

 

 

Well, if you want a trip down memory lane, queue up "All The President's Men."  There's a scene where Woodward and Bernstein are strategizing over a fast food meal.  Yep, in a Roy's.  I think, maybe, the one that was in Georgetown, but that's a bit of a SWAG.  

 

Coincidentally, I'm reenacting my recent smashburger triumph for tonight's dinner.  With Wagyu ground beef.  Total excess.

[BWIVince]

1 hour ago, Texas Tillie said:

As I remember, Roy Rogers was in Texas for a short time only. I think it must have been around 1970 ish. Do remember that people joked about getting a Trigger Burger!! We didn’t have McDonalds for the longest time as someone owned the DBA and wouldn’t sell it 

 

Patty

 

My father called them that until he died!  😁 I think it must have been one of the original dad jokes.

 

This was before my time, but as my grandparents told the story, Marriott wanted it to be a national franchise chain and quickly converted it to a more regional corporate chain as that concept wasn't working.  Locations in TX in the early 70's would make perfect sense.  Why my grandparents told Marriott stories is a subject for another time.

 

Vince

[jssabs]

2 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

As I remember, Roy Rogers was in Texas for a short time only. I think it must have been around 1970 ish. Do remember that people joked about getting a Trigger Burger!! We didn’t have McDonalds for the longest time as someone owned the DBA and wouldn’t sell it 

 

Patty

Patty, you are spot on.  Roy Rogers was located next to the Galleria in Houston.  I don't remember the years but 70s sounds about right.  It then became an Arby's, later an adult "exotic" store and is now a Velvet Taco.

 

As to McDonalds, there was a restaurant near downtown that was family owned by a family named McDonald which also was the name of the restaurant and had been there for years.  Because they had prior rights to the name McDonalds, the only way that the chain could come into Texas was to buy the restaurant for a price that the family couldn't refuse and the rest as they say is history.  Shows you what the value of a name can have.

 

Jay

[rafinmd]

3 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

+1 about Giant...  In the context of the changes in retail, I was ok with how Sainsbury tried to keep the quality similar and many of the traditions of the Cohens, but the changes under Ahold have been very disappointing.  Our Wegman's opened years ago, and I think I've been in our Giant once since -- and I can't remember why.

 

Their history was fun...  They actually started as a Marriott concept, an offshoot from their Hot Shoppes group.  

When Marriott divested the restaurants, they got sold to Hardees, and all the locations became Hardees.

Then when sales tanked, they became "Hardees with Roy Rogers Breakfast."  (No, I'm NOT kidding.  ...and yes, the actual outdoor signs said that.  Seriously.)

Not surprisingly, after that Hardees changed them back to Roy Rogers.

By the mid-90's Hardees started selling off regions of corporate locations (before they ultimately sold their own brand), with our Roy's finally sold off to McDonalds for the real estate in 1996.  Our corp. locations here were closed and converted around 1997 or so.  

 

There was some back-and-forth over the franchised locations though, and eventually our local operator of the Frederick-area franchises bought the rights to the brand from the former owner of Hardees.  He was a former Marriott exec involved with the restaurant side, and his kids have been running the company for years.  They're a great local hospitality company -- I know a few people who work in their HQ.

 

Oddly for a Marriott concept, they actually have my favorite fried chicken of any chain around here...  Though Popeye's is a close second I guess.

 

Vince

My memory was getting fuzzy but that's pretty much the way I remember it.  Many years ago there was a Roy's within a mile of me.  Now most of the Roys are in Western Maryland (That's pretty much anything west of Baltimore).  It just happens that today I had lunch in one of the outliers, this in Burtonsville in the northern suberbs of Washington:

 

 

Unlike Keith I don't swear off anything I enjoy but I do splurge in moderation and I did today since it was my birthday.

 

Roy

[BEAV]

5 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

In College we would walk a few miles to Wisconsin and (oops maybe Van Ness) but I could be wrong to Roy Rogers.  I loved it.  Hamburgers or Chicken for me, French Fries (large), Cole Slaw, Chocolate Shake.

 

Guess that was just getting you prepared for 0226 (2010), Keith?!? 😉

Edited June 23, 2021 by BEAV

[BWIVince]

14 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

My memory was getting fuzzy but that's pretty much the way I remember it.  Many years ago there was a Roy's within a mile of me.  Now most of the Roys are in Western Maryland (That's pretty much anything west of Baltimore).  It just happens that today I had lunch in one of the outliers, this in Burtonsville in the northern suberbs of Washington:

 

 

Unlike Keith I don't swear off anything I enjoy but I do splurge in moderation and I did today since it was my birthday.

 

Roy

 

Happy Birthday Roy!!!  That's fantastic!  Can I ask what you got for your birthday meal?

 

I grew up about 15 minutes from that location...  I was trying to think what the closest "original" Roy's would have been to there, before that new one opened, and I keep thinking it was probably White Oak.  Both would have been about equidistant from my house back then.

 

Vince

 

[rafinmd]

2 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

Happy Birthday Roy!!!  That's fantastic!  Can I ask what you got for your birthday meal?

 

I grew up about 15 minutes from that location...  I was trying to think what the closest "original" Roy's would have been to there, before that new one opened, and I keep thinking it was probably White Oak.  Both would have been about equidistant from my house back then.

 

Vince

 

Just a small fries and coffee.  I think the previous time was in Westminster Memorial Day for a Bacon Cheeseburger.  I think once more in Burtonsville since March 2020 but don't remember exactly when.

 

Roy

Edited June 23, 2021 by rafinmd

[BWIVince]

Just now, rafinmd said:

Just a small fries and coffee.

 

Roy

 

That's a perfect splurge, with the spring you've had.  🙂

[Keith1010]

48 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

Guess that was just getting you prepared for 0226 (2010), Keith?!? 😉

Brian, you are so right.

 

That was the last time I had french fries until 2010.  😄

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

Can I add to Roy Rogers.

 

I remember there was a Roast Beef Sandwich.  The meat was thinly cut, great roll.  

 

In addition to plain Hamburgers, I seem to remember a cheeseburger and maybe a bacon burger.

 

I feel like the stools were wood but I can't remember but I see the trays and the cafeteria like counter.

 

I think the fries either came in a paper bag if they were small or a carton like container if they were large.

 

For me it was the best fast food restaurant at the time.

 

OK more on memory lane. We had Howard Johnson's in the Northeast.  I don't remember it in the WDC area but you all would know better.

 

Tomorrows discussion could be Krispy Kreme.  We would pick boxed up and sell them to raise money in the dormitories.  

 

Keith

[rafinmd]

They still have the roast beef and it is still good.  Howard Johnsons was definitely a factor in my area.  When I worked at Social Security Headquarters in suburban Woodlawn we had 2 within a mile of my office.  I'm not a fan of Krispy Kerme but they are offering a free donut with presentation of a vaccine card.

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Well, 

 

first of all, happy birthday Roy!  And you really know how to indulge.

 

Next, I don' know how far west they spread, but we had HoJo's in Omaha when I was a kid.  It seemed so exotic when my parents took me there for dinner.  And the ice cream display!

 

Lastly, I should have taken a photo of the smashburgers I made for dinner.  The photos alone would send several of you into cholesterol shock.  Gonna be cleaning the stovetop for a week, though...

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

Well, 

 

first of all, happy birthday Roy!  And you really know how to indulge.

 

Next, I don' know how far west they spread, but we had HoJo's in Omaha when I was a kid.  It seemed so exotic when my parents took me there for dinner.  And the ice cream display!

 

Lastly, I should have taken a photo of the smashburgers I made for dinner.  The photos alone would send several of you into cholesterol shock.  Gonna be cleaning the stovetop for a week, though...

All this talk of diner food made me hungry!! We had brisket burgers with bacon and cheddar on the BBQ for dinner tonight!😁

[Keith1010]

OK my story of Krispy Kreme.

 

Never heard of it until got to University in Washington, DC.

 

Back then I don't remember many choices.  Maybe a donut with chocolate on top and one with glaze, etc, etc.  Simple donut.  

 

I was used to donuts up North like Duncan Donuts and ones with cream inside them. Lots of choice, etc.

 

So to me Krispy Kreme was very simple and nothing to write home about.

 

We would sell them in the lobby of dorms to raise money.  One for a quarter and two for seventy five center.  LOL.  Just kidding.  But we did have a deal for two.  We would get these large boxes and they were piled to the ceiling (well not that high but high) and in a couple of hours they were all sold.  

 

At one point after we left the area Krispy Kreme became the Coors Beer.  There was a time you could only get Coors Beer in a few states so when it was distributed elsewhere it had this iconic name and was in high demand until people tasted it.  Just kidding but for many it was not what they thought. Same with Krispy Kreme.  When it was announced it was coming to Texas it was the biggest announcement of the year.  They built some Krispy Kreme stores and also put it into various grocery stores and people would stand in line for an hour before the store opened for these donuts.  I laughed and thought are you kidding me.  Stand in line for Krispy Kreme.  Anyway, I remember a few months after they opened where we were living at the time there was a warning to people about impacts on health to having too many desserts like Krispy Kreme and I remember that impacting sales. Oh well.

 

My favorite donut these days is the donut hole.  Oh, not the piece that was in the middle but just the hole.  No calories in the real whole.  

 

Keith

[Texas Tillie]

4 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

OK my story of Krispy Kreme.

 

Never heard of it until got to University in Washington, DC.

 

Back then I don't remember many choices.  Maybe a donut with chocolate on top and one with glaze, etc, etc.  Simple donut.  

 

I was used to donuts up North like Duncan Donuts and ones with cream inside them. Lots of choice, etc.

 

So to me Krispy Kreme was very simple and nothing to write home about.

 

We would sell them in the lobby of dorms to raise money.  One for a quarter and two for seventy five center.  LOL.  Just kidding.  But we did have a deal for two.  We would get these large boxes and they were piled to the ceiling (well not that high but high) and in a couple of hours they were all sold.  

 

At one point after we left the area Krispy Kreme became the Coors Beer.  There was a time you could only get Coors Beer in a few states so when it was distributed elsewhere it had this iconic name and was in high demand until people tasted it.  Just kidding but for many it was not what they thought. Same with Krispy Kreme.  When it was announced it was coming to Texas it was the biggest announcement of the year.  They built some Krispy Kreme stores and also put it into various grocery stores and people would stand in line for an hour before the store opened for these donuts.  I laughed and thought are you kidding me.  Stand in line for Krispy Kreme.  Anyway, I remember a few months after they opened where we were living at the time there was a warning to people about impacts on health to having too many desserts like Krispy Kreme and I remember that impacting sales. Oh well.

 

My favorite donut these days is the donut hole.  Oh, not the piece that was in the middle but just the hole.  No calories in the real whole.  

 

Keith

 

In the Houston area, Krispy Kreme came in and went great guns for a while. At some point, guess sales had declined precipitously, they pulled out of the area. Recently a few locations have opened again. There aren't any in my area. The location where they were near me is a cursed location, it has been at least 7 different fast food restaurants over the years. It's now a Jolibee, the famous Filipino fast food chain! Looking forward to getting back to Crystal and telling all my Crystal friends who are Filipino. (Never see many cars there, so I'm not sure it's not one more cursed restaurant!!)

 

Patty

[rafinmd]

My sunrise today is another from my 2016 Bermuda+ cruise on the Anthem of the Seas.  It was taken June 7 when we were in San Juan:

 

 

Roy

[Keith1010]

Roy a Happy Birthday to you.  Sound like you had a good one with the fries.

 

When we would take road trips Howard Johnson's was often a lunch stop.  Back in that day it was likely a grilled cheese sandwich for me at lunch.  They were on the turnpikes and other highways and once in a while we stayed at their Hotels or were they Motels.  That was fancy because often it was a motel.  Growing up we only had one hotel near our town and it was a Howard Johnson's and then there we the dinner specials.  Fish, fries and Cole Slaw and I think it as all you can eat.  All fried.  Oh those were the days.

 

Keith

[mskatiemae]

7 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Roy a Happy Birthday to you.  Sound like you had a good one with the fries.

 

When we would take road trips Howard Johnson's was often a lunch stop.  Back in that day it was likely a grilled cheese sandwich for me at lunch.  They were on the turnpikes and other highways and once in a while we stayed at their Hotels or were they Motels.  That was fancy because often it was a motel.  Growing up we only had one hotel near our town and it was a Howard Johnson's and then there we the dinner specials.  Fish, fries and Cole Slaw and I think it as all you can eat.  All fried.  Oh those were the days.

 

Keith

A happy belated birthday to you, Roy!

 

Keith, I also remember HoJo lunches on road trips - and yes grilled cheese was my go to, at least until my tastes went upscale and I opted for the open face hot beef sandwiches (just white bread, beef, smothered in gravy). It was the ice cream though that made for the best memories! 

[rafinmd]

16 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

My favorite donut these days is the donut hole.  Oh, not the piece that was in the middle but just the hole.  No calories in the real whole.  

This reminds me--

I think a number of people remember I am a Tim Hortons fan, and I may have told my Tim Horton's story before.  Many of you know I don't like to fly and I do like to actually cover the travel the ground I would otherwise fly over.  One of my crazier trips was in 2005.  I flew to Yellowknife, NWT and made my way almost all the way back on the ground including a bus, 2 trains and a ship with just a short flight from Winnipeg to Duluth.  The first leg back was a bus which left at 1AM and the station was closed in the evening.  I needed to return my rental car in the evening and asked the bus person if they had any suggestions about what to do in the evening.  Their response was "Go to a bar but if we smell alcohol when you get here you won't be allowed on the bus", not one I considered helpful.

 

There was a Tim Horton's next to my hotel, about a kilometer from the bus station.  The rental car guy dropped me off back at Tim Hortons and for the next 5 or so hours I hung out there, getting a steeped tea and a single Timbit every hour so to keep myself legitimate as a customer.  Something I could not do at Dunkin Donuts since I don't think they sell anything less than a half dozen.  Not the best evening I ever had but far far from the disaster it might have been.  I've been a pretty loyal customer ever since.

 

If it's breakfast time I'll get coffee and a Timbit or two, or perhaps one of their low fat muffins, but am more likely to go midday or evening for chicken noodle soup.

 

Roy

[Junelovestocruise]

22 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

The rental car guy dropped me off back at Tim Hortons and for the next 5 or so hours I hung out there, getting a steeped tea and a single Timbit every hour so to keep myself legitimate as a customer.  Something I could not do at Dunkin Donuts since I don't think they sell anything less than a half dozen.  Not the best evening I ever had but far far from the disaster it might have been.  I've been a pretty loyal customer ever since.

Roy, you obviously have more will power than I do. There's no way that I could limit myself to just one timbit per hour! (Especially if they were the chocolate ones.)

[Roland4]

31 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

This reminds me--

I think a number of people remember I am a Tim Hortons fan, and I may have told my Tim Horton's story before.  Many of you know I don't like to fly and I do like to actually cover the travel the ground I would otherwise fly over.  One of my crazier trips was in 2005.  I flew to Yellowknife, NWT and made my way almost all the way back on the ground including a bus, 2 trains and a ship with just a short flight from Winnipeg to Duluth.  The first leg back was a bus which left at 1AM and the station was closed in the evening.  I needed to return my rental car in the evening and asked the bus person if they had any suggestions about what to do in the evening.  Their response was "Go to a bar but if we smell alcohol when you get here you won't be allowed on the bus", not one I considered helpful.

 

There was a Tim Horton's next to my hotel, about a kilometer from the bus station.  The rental car guy dropped me off back at Tim Hortons and for the next 5 or so hours I hung out there, getting a steeped tea and a single Timbit every hour so to keep myself legitimate as a customer.  Something I could not do at Dunkin Donuts since I don't think they sell anything less than a half dozen.  Not the best evening I ever had but far far from the disaster it might have been.  I've been a pretty loyal customer ever since.

 

If it's breakfast time I'll get coffee and a Timbit or two, or perhaps one of their low fat muffins, but am more likely to go midday or evening for chicken noodle soup.

 

Roy

Roy, I think I can safely say, on behalf of all the Canucks on this board, that after this story, you now qualify as a "Honourary" Canadian!!🙂

[Roland4]

34 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

This reminds me--

I think a number of people remember I am a Tim Hortons fan, and I may have told my Tim Horton's story before.  Many of you know I don't like to fly and I do like to actually cover the travel the ground I would otherwise fly over.  One of my crazier trips was in 2005.  I flew to Yellowknife, NWT and made my way almost all the way back on the ground including a bus, 2 trains and a ship with just a short flight from Winnipeg to Duluth.  The first leg back was a bus which left at 1AM and the station was closed in the evening.  I needed to return my rental car in the evening and asked the bus person if they had any suggestions about what to do in the evening.  Their response was "Go to a bar but if we smell alcohol when you get here you won't be allowed on the bus", not one I considered helpful.

 

There was a Tim Horton's next to my hotel, about a kilometer from the bus station.  The rental car guy dropped me off back at Tim Hortons and for the next 5 or so hours I hung out there, getting a steeped tea and a single Timbit every hour so to keep myself legitimate as a customer.  Something I could not do at Dunkin Donuts since I don't think they sell anything less than a half dozen.  Not the best evening I ever had but far far from the disaster it might have been.  I've been a pretty loyal customer ever since.

 

If it's breakfast time I'll get coffee and a Timbit or two, or perhaps one of their low fat muffins, but am more likely to go midday or evening for chicken noodle soup.

 

Roy

Duplicate post.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Roland4

[mskatiemae]

On 6/17/2021 at 7:49 PM, KenzSailing said:

 

I've been remiss in not responding to this exciting development.

 

That much square footage will give you a lot of flexibility, more than I have experience using (counter space is at a premium in the Chez.)

 

First, as always, I recommend the America's Test Kitchen "Air Fryer Perfection" cookbook.

 

Next, since you're just branching out, how about, without heating up the kitchen, a loaded baked potato  for dinner?  Or as a side, if you're indulging.

 

Take one Russett potato, rinse, fork all over like it offended you.  Brush with oil (I like Canola), into the fryer at 400F for 40-45 minutes.  (Oh yeah, dampen and wring out a paper towel, then cover the potato.  Why? You ever had a baking potato go ka-blam on you?  I have.  Clean up is not fun.) 

 

Slice it, split it, top it your way.  Shredded cheese, sour cream, little chopped chive...oh my...

Haven't yet tried this recipe for baked potato but it's ATK so it has potential.

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2017/04/24/best-baked-potatoes?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=splendidtable

 

The best part is a fully scientific summary of exploding potatoes: "rapidly heating a potato causes pressure to build and cell walls to burst, releasing starch molecules that glue together the broken cell walls"

Edited June 25, 2021 by mskatiemae

[Keith1010]

Ok more on restaurants.  You would think I am a big eater.  🐷

 

Do those of you in Maryland and the WDC region remember Hamburger Hamlet.  I believe there were a few of them.  It was a sit-down restaurant specializing in all sorts of Hamburgers.  For us in school pricey so only went there once in awhile.  I think one of the places was in Bethesda.

 

OK.  Another one.  Do you all remember this very large dining venue.  Maybe between WDC and Baltimore. It had a sister location near Busch Gardens in Florida but that had a different name.  I want to say Peter Pan.  I remember if you got a large drink like a strawberry daiquiri you kept the glass.  I think you selected the entree and it was accompanied by all you can eat hush puppies, french fries and cole slaw.

 

And speaking of all you can eat there was Chesapeake's Seafood House.  I think that was the name.  Fried/Breaded fish. Very thin filets but the bread made it seem larger.  Flounder?  Trout?  A few other entrees?  Prices ranged but again all you can eat hush puppies, french fries and cole slaw.  We'd go there on occasion and in early years of marriage with not much money to do anything maybe a couple of times a year.  

 

Those were the days.

Keith