If you live on the west coast or the southwest then you probably have eaten at or at least seen a Carl's Jr.
Their headquarters is in my home town of Anaheim and at one time there were two Carl's Charbroiler Restaurants. These were not the usual fast food places that Carl's Jr. of today are. These were sit-down restaurants with menus and waitresses. One was located in front of their headquarters building and the other was located near my parents house at the corner of Casa Vista and Katella Ave. The building is still there, but it has gone through several changes since Carl or whoever decided to close them down. It was Sundowners, Millies and then finally Denny's which it still is to this day. It's right next door to the former Stovall's Space Age. The Wonderbowl was directly across the street.
I used to stop by there on my way home from school and grab a star-shaped sucker or spinning top toy that they used to keep at the register counter for the good little boys and girls. My family ate there after church a few times. The Famous Star hamburger was sold here and it was huge, but you could get things like fried chicken or steak and eggs which were not sold at the regular Carl's Jr.
It seemed like Carl's had a lot more class back then. Their ultra-sloppy commercials of the last several years are a turn off for me personally and it's a rare occasion that I eat there or any other fast food joint these days for that matter.
If you grew up in Orange County in the 70s like me then you may also remember Carl's short-lived Mexican food restaurant experiment, Taco De Carlos. These were only around for a few years that I can remember and although I loved their machaca burritos, they just could not compete with Del Taco and the rapidly rising Taco Bell chain.
Carl Karcher got his start with a small hot dog stand in Los Angeles back in 1941 and grew quite an empire from those humble beginnings. Carl Karcher Enterprises aquired the Hardees chain in 1997 and their logo now features the Carl's Jr. "Happy Star"
3 comments:
I drove by the Carl's headquarters a couple weeks ago and noticed the closed restaurant. I didn't stop for a picture but will next time.
Is the location in the shot the one that was near your house?
Yes that is the one that is now a Denny's on Katella. It still has some cool old touches as seen here in my then and now feature of The Space Age.
http://65.254.59.194/%7Evstapf/SAM/sa2.htm
That's right. Isn't it funny how in the name of being cheap they leave some of the old character behind?
And by the way, those ghost signs behind Wonderland Liquor still appear to be alive and well...
Keep up the good work!
Post a Comment