Old Businesses

wyo-cat · Post by **wyo-cat** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:30 pm

I've heard there's a Godfathers in Benson.

Daryl Zero · Post by **Daryl Zero** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:30 pm

Goazcats

Post by **UAdevil** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:12 pm

wyo-cat wrote:I've heard there's a Godfathers in Benson.

Nope. Just two mediocre local pizza joints. I work in the area and dining options are scarce...

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:21 pm

UAdevil wrote:
wyo-cat wrote:I've heard there's a Godfathers in Benson.
Nope. Just two mediocre local pizza joints. I work in the area and dining options are scarce...

There actually is a Godfather's in Benson.

Just happens to be Benson, NC.

http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/godf ... son-159282

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:29 pm

Are there any Round Table Pizza's left?
Used to be one in Chandler before we moved.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:39 pm

what about king's table buffets?

84Cat · Post by **84Cat** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:47 pm

UAEebs86 wrote:Are there any Round Table Pizza's left?
Used to be one in Chandler before we moved.

Only 1 in AZ is in Yuma.

http://www.roundtablepizza.com/rtp/find ... on_all.asp

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:47 pm

Daryl Zero wrote:Goazcats

Cattracks,

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:49 pm

ASUHATER! wrote:what about king's table buffets?

Every Sunday ... when I was a dorm rat. Only meal of the day. We'd sit at the king's table, and wear the paper crowns. As soon as the roast beef tray came out, we emptied it.

They hated us.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:59 pm

gumby wrote:
ASUHATER! wrote:what about king's table buffets?
Every Sunday ... when I was a dorm rat. Only meal of the day. We'd sit at the king's table, and wear the paper crowns. As soon as the roast beef tray came out, we emptied it.

They hated us.

that was my dad's first real job back in the late 70s when he was out of high school in mesa. he was the guy in back cooking the 9030 pounds of roast beef and mashed potatoes. thanksgivings were hell. fyi...if you ate at king's table in the late 70s in mesa on thanksgiving...the turkey was probably cooked a week earlier...

Longhorned · Post by **Longhorned** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:08 pm

UAdevil wrote:
wyo-cat wrote:I've heard there's a Godfathers in Benson.
Nope. Just two mediocre local pizza joints. I work in the area and dining options are scarce...

What's the place in Benson with the joke books on the table? They have diner and Mexican options, with sub-par food.

Post by **UAdevil** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:17 pm

The Horseshoe?

Longhorned · Post by **Longhorned** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:22 pm

No, it's like the Horseshoe but smaller and a little more on the edge of town. Oh, well. I have good memories of the place from 2011. I don't know why. It really was mediocre.

Post by **UAdevil** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:29 pm

Longhorned wrote:No, it's like the Horseshoe but smaller and a little more on the edge of town. Oh, well. I have good memories of the place from 2011. I don't know why. It really was mediocre.

Hmm...perhaps Reb's?

Longhorned · Post by **Longhorned** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:03 pm

UAdevil wrote:
Longhorned wrote:No, it's like the Horseshoe but smaller and a little more on the edge of town. Oh, well. I have good memories of the place from 2011. I don't know why. It really was mediocre.
Hmm...perhaps Reb's?

Yes! Thank you! I looked it up and my wife and I are laughing about it.

Post by **UAdevil** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:08 pm

I had a pretty decent omelette there yesterday.

Longhorned · Post by **Longhorned** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:14 pm

UAdevil wrote:I had a pretty decent omelette there yesterday.

I just wrote a Yelp review.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:35 pm

Farrell's Ice Cream at ElCon mall.

Daryl Zero · Post by **Daryl Zero** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:05 am

devilswin99 wrote:Just for Feet
Lucky's (grocery store)
Braniff (airline)
Winchell's (donuts)
The Good Earth (restaurant)
Lunt Ave Marble Club (restaurant)
PSA (airline)

Really miss Lunt Ave for the great Sunday brunch with the fried mushrooms.
Also the Good Earth.

Also:
Johnny's Fat Boy
Feig's (deli)
Austin's (ice cream)
The Bagelry (best bagels in Tucson)
Bagel Factory
Grossman's (bakery)
Yokohama Rice Bowl (there still is one but it is far inferior to the original store on Broadway)

There was this French bakery on Dodge just south of the JCC (name escapes me) which made the best carrot cake I remember) La Boulangerie or something like that.

Post by **UAdevil** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:26 am

When I was a kid and we visited friends in NW Phoenix we'd always hit Bobby MacGee's

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 12:22 pm

Rusty Scupper, El Torito, Solarium ... happy hour only. Otherwise too pricey for me. Hot Bagel Bakery for breakfast. Was it the Windjammer that had a comedy club? GF was hypnotized there. Got a post-hypnotic suggestion to be horny. Worked.

Reydituto · Post by **Reydituto** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 2:04 pm

gumby wrote:Was it the Windjammer that had a comedy club? GF was hypnotized there. Got a post-hypnotic suggestion to be horny. Worked.

And that's how you came to be, Son.

Loved the Solarium.

Other Tucson Restaurant faves gone by:

Le Bistro - Probably my favorite Tucson restaurant ever
The Olive Tree - My go-to date place in college
The Tack Room - only once when I was a kid, wore a blazer
Bistro Zin - Still Sam Fox's best concept IMO, which morphed into several others after they closed.
Marathon - good gyros BITD
El Cubanito - only reliable ropa vieja I found in Tucson
Yankee Doodle Pizza - always solid, didn't eat there enough, so I guess I was part of the problem

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:34 pm

I miss el cubanito. Been gone for like 7 years now. Only went a couple times but it was great.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:41 pm

Reydituto wrote: The Tack Room - only once when I was a kid, wore a blazer

Always thought the Tack Room would have been a good place to propose to my GF, but never made it.

Hidden Valley Inn up on Sabino Canyon had very reasonably priced steaks, and the cowboy kitsch was cool.

All the clubs I used to hang out in as a college student are all gone. It was nice being able to walk between the first 3.

Wildcat House
Bum Steer
The Outlaw
Cowboys
Chances
Sundance
Dooleys
Green Dolphin
Gentle Ben's (original)

Of course a couple of those burned down under very mysterious circumstances.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:45 pm

Well the wildcat house and bum steer were open until like 3-4 years ago. Never heard of chances or cowboys or Sundance or dooleys.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:50 pm

N. Stone used to be the hot spot for college bars, but I guess now it's around campus? Drinking age was 19 then in AZ, so a lot more bars then. Lots of drinking and driving too.

Chances was on Tanque Verde. That's were the DJ (Bob Lee?) who was also Tucson's most popular radio DJ on KWFM was killed by a fan. Burned down.

Cowboys (a college bar not a country bar) was on 22nd and Wilmot. 25 cent drafts on Wednesdays. Sundance was also on 22nd. It was a blue collar bar, lots of pool tables and stabbings. City finally closed it down due to the violence. I never had an issue there.

Dooley's used to be close to campus. I think it was an old library or church. Burned down.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:58 pm

Merkin wrote:
Dooley's used to be close to campus. I think it was an old library or church. Burned down.

After it became the Stray Cat is when it burned down.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 5:06 pm

Merkin wrote:N. Stone used to be the hot spot for college bars, but I guess now it's around campus? Drinking age was 19 then in AZ, so a lot more bars then. Lots of drinking and driving too.

Chances was on Tanque Verde. That's were the DJ (Bob Lee?) who was also Tucson's most popular radio DJ on KWFM was killed by a fan. Burned down.

Cowboys (a college bar not a country bar) was on 22nd and Wilmot. 25 cent drafts on Wednesdays. Sundance was also on 22nd. It was a blue collar bar, lots of pool tables and stabbings. City finally closed it down due to the violence. I never had an issue there.

Dooley's used to be close to campus. I think it was an old library or church. Burned down.

Lot of places super far away from campus. Hard to believe stone was ever a hot spot. Even 10 years ago it was a run down ghetto hell hole. These days students avoid anything north of speedway and west of about 6th avenue as if it was plague infested. Now though, even 4th avenue is seen by students as the run down old place where the weird 30+ Tucson locals go. It's all about downtown and maingate square. Mostly downtown now is where everyone goes.

Daryl Zero · Post by **Daryl Zero** » Sat Feb 28, 2015 5:23 pm

Shakey's Pizza

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:17 am

Merkin wrote:
Reydituto wrote: The Tack Room - only once when I was a kid, wore a blazer

Always thought the Tack Room would have been a good place to propose to my GF, but never made it.

Hidden Valley Inn up on Sabino Canyon had very reasonably priced steaks, and the cowboy kitsch was cool.

All the clubs I used to hang out in as a college student are all gone. It was nice being able to walk between the first 3.

Wildcat House
Bum Steer
The Outlaw
Cowboys
Chances
Sundance
Dooleys
Green Dolphin
Gentle Ben's (original)

Of course a couple of those burned down under very mysterious circumstances.

All of thexe, plus Stumble Inn, Someplace Else and Starz (a N. Stone bar ).

BearDown89 · Post by **BearDown89** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:35 am

You fellas are bringing the nostalgia big time. One blast from the past after another. How about Pleasure Time beverages on Campbell? Sponsored my little league team for years.

catgrad97 · Post by **catgrad97** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:31 am

Daryl Zero wrote:Shakey's Pizza

Still big in California. One that has an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet right next to Disneyland. Not bad for the buck.

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:43 am

A Shakey's popped up here recently. Hadn't been to one since college. I prefer the chicken to the pizza. The one on Stone had a projection screen to show games. .Really bad but seemed cutting edge at the time.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:11 am

ASUCatFan wrote:Back on topic: Is KB Toys still around?

No, thanks to Mitt Romney.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:32 am

gumby wrote: All of thexe, plus Stumble Inn, Someplace Else and Starz (a N. Stone bar ).

Oh yea, forgot about the Stumble Inn. That was my future brother-in-law's favorite pub.

Where did Chuck Wagon and the Wheels play? Maverick Saloon?

Chicat wrote:
ASUCatFan wrote:Back on topic: Is KB Toys still around?
No, thanks to Mitt Romney.

At the KB Toys' outlet in Gilroy I found a UA cheerleader Barbie doll for my daughter.

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:01 pm

Merkin wrote:
gumby wrote: All of thexe, plus Stumble Inn, Someplace Else and Starz (a N. Stone bar ).
Oh yea, forgot about the Stumble Inn. That was my future brother-in-law's favorite pub.

Where did Chuck Wagon and the Wheels play? Maverick Saloon?

Chicat wrote:
ASUCatFan wrote:Back on topic: Is KB Toys still around?
No, thanks to Mitt Romney.

At the KB Toys' outlet in Gilroy I found a UA cheerleader Barbie doll for my daughter.

Chuck was a Stumble regular. My favorite bar band.

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:09 pm

El Chaparral was a popular Mexican restaurant, partly because you could bring your own six pack and put it in their fridge. Midway Molina's was popular with out of state students because they'd take checks without local drivers license..

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:15 pm

I don't think students now even know what checks are

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:47 pm

gumby wrote:Chuck was a Stumble regular. My favorite bar band.

Oh yes, I liked them too. My favorite of course was Street Pajama, and I recall you were a fan of Merle too. Usually at Gentle Ben's but they performed at other clubs too.

The tall dude in the back actually looks similar to me with my 80's hair. Used to smoke weed in the parking lot with the bass player later sound guy with the mustache.

\

ghostwhitehorse · Post by **ghostwhitehorse** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 2:14 pm

UAEebs86 wrote:Are there any Round Table Pizza's left?
Used to be one in Chandler before we moved.

Got one up in my neck of the woods.

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:37 pm

I have a Street Pajama album. Also played at Tequila Mockingbird at El Con. Bob Meighan Band was another fave.

Daryl Zero · Post by **Daryl Zero** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:45 pm

I liked Street Pajama too - I mainly saw them as a two member band at Gentle Ben's. We should have a thread on old Tucson bands.

Here's a few:

Jonny Sevin (can't embed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuisPOZLWKk

The Pills:

Phantom LImbs:

Of course: Rainer Ptacek:

BearDown89 · Post by **BearDown89** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:52 pm

gumby wrote:I have a Street Pajama album. Also played at Tequila Mockingbird at El Con. Bob Meighan Band was another fave.

And Meighan was best friends with the twin brothers who owned Chances (mysteriously burned down as Merk mentioned above) one of whom is married to the ex-Mrs. BD89's best friend. Chances was the place people got excited about sneaking into when I was in high school.

I bartended at the original Gentle Ben's during Neon Prophet's hey day which came to mind at the mention if Street Pajama.

BMalo · Post by **BMalo** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:55 pm

I lived in Chico, CA for a few years in high school. The owner of the Wildcat House has a place there called The Graduate. They looks the EXACT same on the inside and out. There is also a place in Chico called Madison Bear Garden which I heard was also owned by the same person who owned the Bum Steer but I haven't been able to confirm. That place also looked similar to the inside of Bum Steer, from what I remember.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:59 am

BMalo wrote:I lived in Chico, CA for a few years in high school. The owner of the Wildcat House has a place there called The Graduate. They looks the EXACT same on the inside and out. There is also a place in Chico called Madison Bear Garden which I heard was also owned by the same person who owned the Bum Steer but I haven't been able to confirm. That place also looked similar to the inside of Bum Steer, from what I remember.

The Graduate in San Luis Obispo is there still. Think it's the last one. Quite a distance from Cal Poly as the Wildcat House was from UA but still popular. Go there for lunch occasionally, still has good burgers. Still has the old big wooden picnic tables.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:07 am

Didn't the owner of the Wildcat House also own the Devil House in Tempe?

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:49 am

"Disco Sucks" -- Topped the Dr. Demento chart.

Reydituto · Post by **Reydituto** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:05 pm

ASUHATER! wrote:I miss el cubanito. Been gone for like 7 years now. Only went a couple times but it was great.

Time flies.

Going to try my hand at ropa vieja this week.

Merkin wrote:
Reydituto wrote: The Tack Room - only once when I was a kid, wore a blazer

Always thought the Tack Room would have been a good place to propose to my GF, but never made it.

Hidden Valley Inn up on Sabino Canyon had very reasonably priced steaks, and the cowboy kitsch was cool.

All the clubs I used to hang out in as a college student are all gone. It was nice being able to walk between the first 3.

Wildcat House
Bum Steer
The Outlaw
Cowboys
Chances
Sundance
Dooleys
Green Dolphin
Gentle Ben's (original)

Of course a couple of those burned down under very mysterious circumstances.

Hidden Valley Inn was cool, although I'm not surprised that burnt down, that place was a tinder box, always had one eye scanning the room for potential fire hazards ...

I always thought it was weird at the time - late '80's/early '90's - that there were two popular college bars on that stretch of Stone. Was ghetto back then, and too far removed from campus.

ASUHATER! wrote:Lot of places super far away from campus. Hard to believe stone was ever a hot spot. Even 10 years ago it was a run down ghetto hell hole. These days students avoid anything north of speedway and west of about 6th avenue as if it was plague infested. Now though, even 4th avenue is seen by students as the run down old place where the weird 30+ Tucson locals go. It's all about downtown and maingate square. Mostly downtown now is where everyone goes.

See, I think 4th is where the immature, jagoff college students should go, let the weird 30+ Tucson locals have more of downtown. Most of the downtown bars and restaurants - with a few exceptions, old (Congress) and new (Hi-fi, Playground) - don't really cater to the students per se, they just offer up attractive options for large slices of the population at large. They can have Maingate Square, save for a visit to the Frog every now and then.

gumby wrote:Someplace Else

The original Jim Anderson Experience, where you could drink with a note from your Mom saying you were of age. Also a weird location for a bar IMO.

gumby wrote:Also played at Tequila Mockingbird at El Con.

Loved trying to sneak into that bar in HS. Succeeded once.

BMalo wrote:I lived in Chico, CA for a few years in high school. The owner of the Wildcat House has a place there called The Graduate. They looks the EXACT same on the inside and out. There is also a place in Chico called Madison Bear Garden which I heard was also owned by the same person who owned the Bum Steer but I haven't been able to confirm. That place also looked similar to the inside of Bum Steer, from what I remember.

Phoenix had a version of the Bum Steer too, with that "Grandma's Attic" themed decor, Minder Binders.

From last summer, when the Bum Steer property went up for auction:

The once-popular college hot spot northwest of the University of Arizona opened back in the early 1970s and closed in 2010.

The restaurant was founded by a group of airline pilots who simply wanted a place to have fun while in town, according to the auction house, Phoenix-based Cunningham and Associates.

Featuring a red barnlike structure and antique decor across its walls, the Bum Steer was one of several other similar properties the group opened across the country, including the now-closed Minder Binders in Tempe.

Auctioneer George Cunningham says the roughly 8,000-square-foot Tucson building is still sound and features an upper level that gives it a lot of potential for use as a brewpub or other uses.

Cunningham said the 1.4-acre land is valuable in itself, and much of the decor inside the restaurant came from the back lot of a Hollywood studio that was closing in the ‘70s.

Daryl Zero · Post by **Daryl Zero** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:15 pm

The two miniature golf places on Speedway and Alamo: Green Acres and Magic Carpet. Used to be a staple of my childhood.

The Drive In Theaters (Midway, Apache and DeAnza)

Nice history of Tucson's Drive Ins here:

http://www.driveinmemories.com/drivein/drive-in.htm

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:21 pm

We had tournaments at Golfland. Took it seriously. Ah, college.

Think I heard Minder Binder's is making a comeback.

Sure enough.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog ... l?page=all

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