Growing up in the 70's and 80's means that I remember things that a lot of people just... don't. Sometimes that's a good thing. I remember when personal computers started, and they were just fun. I mean, yeah, they would eventually turn into a work tool and ruin everything, but at the beginning they were just fun.

And sometimes that's a bad thing. Things that are treatale and survivable now weren't so much back then. Although, thanks to misinformation and dumbshits with a platform, we're back-sliding into inexplicable anti-science, anti-vax nonsense. So make of that what you will.

And sometimes? It's complicated.

When I was a kid, getting to go to a restaurant for a meal was a special treat. And my most favorite places to eat were as follows...

1. Pizza Inn. Their crispy crust and phenomenal sauce made for a special treat that I would beg for. They closed for years and years, then the son of the owners opened with the same pizza under a different name. I was thrilled. Then that closed. After a while it re-opened in a different location. I was thrilled. Then that closed. No more throwback pizza of my childhood. I have a copycat recipe which I've tried a few times, but without a pizza oven it doesn't taste the same.
2. A&W Drive-In. I loved how they brought your order out to your car and set the tray on your rolled-down window. I started with Baby Burger (small burger with ketchup only), moved to a Mama Burger (large burger with pickles, onion, ketchup, mustard, and sauce), occasionally graduated to a Papa Burger (double meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and sauce), but then they came out with Teen Burger (bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, and sauce), and I never looked back. I loved a good bacon cheeseburger! I was very upset when they closed. To this day I occasionally search eBay for one of those old Teen Burger foil bags so I can frame it on my wall somewhere. A vegetarian version of this burger is a life goal.
3. Sambo's. And here's where it gets problematic. Suffice to say that my favorite breakfast was pancakes, and they were famous for their pancakes.

Sambo's was an old restaurant chain which got its name from the two founders... SAM Battistone Sr. and Newell BOhnett. And it's like... okay. Catchy.

Except... not really.

Because the restaurant leaned hard into a highly controversial children's book called Little Black Sambo. It had racist illustrations and it didn't help at all that "Sambo" would become a racial slur for Black persons...

In the book, Sambo gives tigers his clothes and they fight over them so ferociously that they turn into butter, which Sambo then puts on pancakes. The staple food of the restaurants.

When the restaurants began, they had murals of the story on their walls. But by the time my family was going to the local franchise, they had changed the story to a little Indian boy who ran around a tree until the tiger chasing him turned into butter that he could put on his pancakes. And that was the character in the murals that I remember...

In addition to racism, Sambo's was known for its low prices, as you can see in these commercials...

Eventually the restaurants couldn't outrun their racist connections and turned to butter. Or, in the case of our local restaurant, changed its name to "Season's." I don't remember anything about the re-brand except the name. But, alas, not enough people wanted to eat at the restaurant without the racism, and the chain folded. Ours eventually turned into a pizza restaurant.

I wish the local Big City had an IHOP, but the closest thing we had was a Denny's. Where the pancakes just aren't as good. Maybe they should try using tiger butter?

If you want to know more about Sambo's, here you go...

Don't miss the racist restaurants. Kinda miss the architecture and pancakes.

Though there are copycat recipes all over the internet, so maybe I only miss the architecture.