300624 Wed Jul 27 00:14:33 -0700 2005 62 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1671843 When looking at online store locators for certain chains (mostly the cheap-eats variety), I notice many of them have a few strange locations in areas far away from their "base". For example, Del Taco is entirely in the western US, but has one store in Detroit and one in Georgia. Another example: the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf coffee chain has tons of locations in L.A., but just one lonely location in the Bay Area, on Fillmore St. in San Francisco. Anyone know what's up with this? Why do chains open these far-flung locations in the first place? If they're successful, why don't they expand in those areas? Wed Jul 27 00:14:33 -0700 2005 0 Hurricane510 1 1671845 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, for one, is basically a franchise peddler. They've had few takers in SF, where competition is keen, though they have more outlets in Singapore, Malaysia and Korea than they do in LA. They do have a second outlet in the works in SF, though, on Market St. near the Four Seasons, probably anticipating an overseas traveller market. Probably the weirdest outlying location I've seen was TCBY in Shanghai. They were there hard on the heels of KFC and McD's in the mid-90's, though few Shanghainese have any idea what yogurt is. Link: http://eatingchinese.org Wed Jul 27 01:24:52 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Gary Soup 2 1671876 Seeing a Pizza Hut in the Market Square in the middle of Brugge made my stomach turn. I was quite surprised how many Pizza Hut's I saw in Belgium and Germany. Wed Jul 27 12:44:48 -0700 2005 1671845 0 rl 3 1671879 Friend of mione tells of her trip to Egypt and the pyraminds and how happy her husband was to discover Pizza Hut and KFC there. He refused to eat local food, just stuck to the hotel. Theyr'e divorced now! Wed Jul 27 13:06:49 -0700 2005 1671876 0 LikestoEatout 4 1671914 I just returned from Egypt and yes, was shocked to see KFC and Pizza Hut. Even a Hard Rock Cafe in Sharm El Sheikh. Wed Jul 27 19:00:49 -0700 2005 1671879 0 Frosty Melon 4 1671917 Good for her! There might be a (mutually worthwhile) future for a ‘hound and a non-hound, but not if the ‘hound is me. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to find my husband (of eight years). Food is the tie that binds for us. Wed Jul 27 20:35:43 -0700 2005 1671879 0 BeaN 3 1671883 There are many Pizza Huts in Brazil, including one about 5km from my home in Bahia in the north east of the country. This outlet actually make a pretty good pizza. In addition to the familiar toppings like pepperoni and mozzarella you can get Brazilian toppings like catupiry & frango which is a creamy cheese and chicken -- and very tasty. Wed Jul 27 13:58:32 -0700 2005 1671876 0 Chilanga 2 1671910 According to the Coffee Bean website they are not franchising in the US at this time; and any overseas franchises are exclusive to one developer who must develop a whole country or region, not by individual store. Link: http://coffeebean.com/04_03_franchise_info.asp Wed Jul 27 18:28:57 -0700 2005 1671845 0 DanaB 3 1671911 In addition, all their CA stores are run by the company, and are not franchises. Link: http://coffeebean.com/04_03_02_franchise_faq.asp Wed Jul 27 18:31:16 -0700 2005 1671910 0 DanaB 1 1671851 i saw a Houston's in Amman, Jordan...the only other one i've seen was on third ave (?) in NYC. also, we have a TGIFriday's where I live in England. ick. Wed Jul 27 06:00:56 -0700 2005 1671843 0 kristen 2 1671852 There are two Houston's in Los Angeles -- one in Century City and one in Santa Monica (on Third Street Promenade). Wed Jul 27 07:55:16 -0700 2005 1671851 0 Das Ubergeek 3 1671860 Another Houston's in Pasadena. When my friend went to Malaysia and found a Coffee Bean there, after 8 months of being in Japan - she was so happy, that's all she could talk about for the longest time. Wed Jul 27 10:39:17 -0700 2005 1671852 0 jacinthe 3 1671884 There are Houstons in New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco that I have personally seen. There may be more. Wed Jul 27 13:58:36 -0700 2005 1671852 0 wally 4 1671898 Miami, Ft. Lauderdale. Wed Jul 27 15:39:34 -0700 2005 1671884 0 flavrmeistr 4 1671903 The Houston's in DC (Georgetown) closed some time ago. There are two in the Maryland suburbs, however. Link: http://www.houstons.com Wed Jul 27 16:32:41 -0700 2005 1671884 0 Lori D 5 1671907 It's been a long time, but that particular Houstons was a lifesaver a couple of times. It was very convenient at a certain time in my life. Wed Jul 27 17:12:29 -0700 2005 1671903 0 wally 2 1671894 I believe they started in Nashville, and the first one is the location on West End there. Used to go there a lot when it was new. I was astounded to find one here in Pasadena, CA! Wed Jul 27 15:13:16 -0700 2005 1671851 0 Will Owen 2 1671991 There is a Houstons in Boston as well. Thu Jul 28 16:03:05 -0700 2005 1671851 0 sandramr 2 1672020 When I was in Manila we met up with some locals who wanted to show us around. They took us to Starbuck's and TGIFriday's. Both packed. Fri Jul 29 09:03:13 -0700 2005 1671851 0 julesrules 2 1672115 I have personally seen (but not sampled) a Houston's in Bogota, Colombia!! Mon Aug 01 04:25:37 -0700 2005 1671851 0 pushslice 1 1671856 Well, they may be franchises rather than chains, and if so, potential franchisees might not want to assume the risk of widening the resto's range. Wed Jul 27 09:46:13 -0700 2005 1671843 0 neighbor 1 1671858 Jack-in-the-Box has locations in a small border area of TN, NC and SC, but those are the only locations anywhere near the East Coast. Wed Jul 27 10:29:40 -0700 2005 1671843 0 deibu 2 1671859 There are also east coast Jack In the Box locations in the Boston area. Wed Jul 27 10:32:34 -0700 2005 1671858 0 macca 3 1671897 Not any more. There was one near me in Brockton Mass when I was growing up, but not for a long time. Too bad, cuz I would really love one of those strange/delicious greasy tacos of theirs right now. Wed Jul 27 15:31:40 -0700 2005 1671859 0 Laughing Goddess 4 1671899 There is one on Rte 1 in Saugus, near Prince Pizza, Kelly's, Krispy Kreme, and KFC. A veritable line-up of fine dining!! Wed Jul 27 15:39:52 -0700 2005 1671897 0 macca 5 1671919 A Jack-in-the-box??? On RT 1??? Not that I've ever seen. There is Prince Pizza and a Taco Bell, Papa Gino's/D'Angelo's, it's a "greasy mile" if there ever was one, but no Jack. Wed Jul 27 21:39:52 -0700 2005 1671899 0 Princess Bakesalot 6 1671937 mea culpa- it is a Taco Bell- Sorry- I have never been to either TAco Bell or Jack in the Box, so I probably just drove by and noted signs with food that looked vaguely Mexican, and I automatically thought of Jack in the Box. Thu Jul 28 06:51:08 -0700 2005 1671919 0 macca 5 1671922 No such animal, according to Jack's website -- maybe it's brand new, and not made it to their site yet? If it's for real, let us know! Wed Jul 27 22:04:41 -0700 2005 1671899 0 Laughing Goddess 6 1671936 That's strange- I drove past their a few weeks ago, and I remember noting the line up of fast food places. I will have to check it out next time I am up that way. Will try and find out. Thu Jul 28 06:48:33 -0700 2005 1671922 0 macca 7 1671944 The Houston's in Nashville's West End was still there a year ago. My husband and I had a very good meal there on a long weekend trip to Music City. I think the DC location that was in Georgetown has closed - which is too bad - I really think Houston's is very nice for a mid-price meal. Thu Jul 28 10:06:06 -0700 2005 1671936 0 DC Gal 2 1671861 JACK IN THE BOX USED TO BE IN NYC. IN THE 70'S THEY HAD A BRANCH ON PARSONS BLVD IN FLUSHING/QUEENS VALLEY. I SPENT MANY A DUNKEN TEENAGE NIGHT IN THE VICINITY. I TELL YA, BEING DRUNK OR OUT OF YOUR MIND ON LSD AND EATING @ JACK IN THE BOX IS NOT A SMART THING TO DO. Wed Jul 27 10:45:51 -0700 2005 1671858 0 MORE KASHA 2 1671864 jack in the box used to be on the east coast. but then, right around the e.coli thing (i think that was it) they started closing and a few changed their name to just Jack's. not sure if they still survive. Wed Jul 27 10:51:56 -0700 2005 1671858 0 margaret 3 1671948 I seem to remember that they got caught using kangaroo meat for the tacos, and they claimed they bought their meat from Austrailia because it was cheaper but were unaware of what they were actually getting. I read it in the newspaper, not word of mouth, so there must be some truth in it. Thu Jul 28 10:53:35 -0700 2005 1671864 0 coll 4 1671955 That's actually an urban legend. Worms, kangaroo meat - both have been attributed to McDonald's and Jack in the Box. Neither is true. Link: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/wormburg.asp Thu Jul 28 11:52:05 -0700 2005 1671948 0 Linda W. 5 1671959 That's good to know, kangaroo meat wouldn't bother me, but earthworms is another story! Thu Jul 28 12:31:41 -0700 2005 1671955 0 coll 6 1672012 20 million robins can't be wrong. Thu Jul 28 19:50:28 -0700 2005 1671959 0 Shep 2 1671942 In the 80's on Long Island, I think Jack in the Box owned or was somehow associated with Arby's, because I remember visiting a friend who worked at Arby's during the late night shift and he'd make us all the free greasy tacos we could eat, and for some reason I'm sure they were in the menu because of this Jack in the Box connection. Those were the first tacos I ever had! I think I also remember a freestanding Jack in the Box in Port Jefferson. Thu Jul 28 08:48:26 -0700 2005 1671858 0 Chris VR 2 1672086 I used to work at a Jack in the box on Route 1 in Everett in 1978. It changed to some kind of roast beef place for a while and has been a Dunkin Donuts for many years. Back in 83 all hamburgers had to be pre-grilled and then stores in some kind of warm beef broth for flavor. The tacos were deep fried and I do not remember changing the oil often. Worse thing was getting delivers Wednesday evenings in the summer. Left outside in 80-90 degrees, while 1 person (me) spent an hour or 2 getting it into the freezer (that had its door open for those 2 hours). I am sure today that a lot of if started to thaw then slowly refreeze. Probably not good for germs. But who knew better in 83, surely not a 17 year old high school student. But even worse was the fate stored upon the pot heads that would drive by between 2 and 3 AM. We closed at 2 but it took us 1 hour to clean up and turn of the lights. Some pot heads could not accept this and kept banging on doors to get food. To get rid of them food was removed from the garbage and "sold". The extra cash went into our pockets since the registers were already shut down. And God save those poor pot heads that wanted extra, extra hot sauce on the tacos. We had two sauces, the extra hot was almost pure tabasco. Imagine getting a half a cup of that on your deep fried taco. The next morning in the bathroom must had delivered a big "ooooh!!!" Sat Jul 30 17:01:49 -0700 2005 1671858 0 mdibiaso 1 1671863 Now entering the Twilgiht Zone.....the burger chain Carrols that was a New England based chain in the 70's is still alive in Finland! They even used to have the same store and graphic design until recently. Boy is that weird. Who knows, maybe I'll see a Wetsons somewhere out there in America one day. Wed Jul 27 10:48:34 -0700 2005 1671843 0 MORE KASHA (Ivan) 1 1671866 How about regional chains with unexpected outlying locations? I grew up in Rhode Island, where Del's Frozen Lemonade trucks are ubiquitous, but RI-style frozen lemonade is close to unknown outside RI. Anyway, I was working in Baltimore, walking back from the courthouse on one of the hottest days of the year. I turned the corner onto Saratoga St. and there was a Del's truck. I thought I was hallucinating from the heat, but the truck was real and I was able to purchase a life-saving cup of delectable frozen lemonade. And I never saw a Del's truck in Baltimore again! Wed Jul 27 10:54:52 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Bob W. 2 1671870 Talking about ice cream, 8 years ago I was in school in Ann Arbor, MI and we ate Stucchi's ice cream by the truckload. I had never seen it anywhere out of Ann Arbor. Imagine my surprise when a year later I'm in Galveston, TX and they are serving Stucchi's at a local seafood restaurant. I still have no idea how it got down there. Wed Jul 27 11:35:09 -0700 2005 1671866 0 simply_victoria 2 1671927 Sometimes these solo outposts from regional chains occur when a relative or friends of the founders move to a different area, or in some cases, simply fans of the original locations who move away. I think there's an important distinction between franchises, where this kind of operation can work, and chain retaurants, where economies of scale often don't work unless there are several locations close by. Wed Jul 27 23:42:30 -0700 2005 1671866 0 Dave Feldman 1 1671871 L&L Hawaiian Barbecue now has 2 locations in NYC, introducing us East Coast folk to the concept of the plate lunch. There's also an outlet in East Lansing, MI for some reason. Wed Jul 27 11:45:37 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Chorus Girl 1 1671882 Coffee Bean needs to hop over to the east coast. I miss my L.A. CB&TL fix... Wed Jul 27 13:25:54 -0700 2005 1671843 0 pronek 1 1671892 I think it might be because sometimes a chain will decide to close all their restaurants in a certain location except one, or so. That happened in my area with Godfather's Pizza (no longer exists, boo hoo!), Sonic (there is now only one in my area and it is a 45 minute drive away) and Wendy's (used to be at least 3-4 in my immediate neighborhood, now there is just one). Wed Jul 27 15:08:48 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Michelle 1 1671905 Wierd one.. Bennigan's in Mexico City, also a Dominos Pizza. Costa Rica has Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. South Africa has KFC and Pizza Hut, I think I saw McD's there's last time too. Nairobi has a Pizza Hut and KFC, Cairo, Rio, Beijing have KFC and Pizza Hut, I could go on and on... it's like a virus! Wed Jul 27 16:56:05 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Pablo 1 1671912 There used to be lots of Del Tacos in St. Louis, MO--not sure if there still are... They bought out another slop-mex chain called Naugles back in the early nineties. There used to be a chain called Wags in Chicago (and may still be, though I haven't seen one in years). The only other outpost I ever saw in any other part of the country was in Bradenton, FL which always confused me. Wed Jul 27 18:47:37 -0700 2005 1671843 0 butterfly 2 1671925 Del Tacos purchased Naugles in the early '90s in order to have a presence in St. Louis. Naugles has a special significance as the ONLY restaurant in all of St. Louis that stayed open past 8 pm on one Christmas evening. Wags was founded by Walgreens and purchased by Marriott Restaurant Operations, converted to Bob's Big Boys and sold off in the mid-80's. Wed Jul 27 23:09:46 -0700 2005 1671912 0 jlawrence01 3 1672013 Naugles was a dependable drive-thru for emergency technicians working on Christmas Day. The food wasn't bad, so much as sort of off-center. Thu Jul 28 19:55:15 -0700 2005 1671925 0 Shep 2 1672027 Walgreens (Wags) got out of the restaurant business long ago. Fri Jul 29 10:49:33 -0700 2005 1671912 0 dj 1 1671913 I remember a post last year where someone who had been teaching in the wilds of Pakistan and was going to Lahore and craving pizza. Amin, London Foodie assured here that there was a Pizza Hut in Lahore. That is pretty far out of the way. I also remeber seeing people coming out of Harrod's a year ago springtime carrying big boxes of Krispy Kremes and thought to myself, why are they bothering? Don't they know those things have to be hot and fresh to be worth while? Wed Jul 27 18:49:36 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Candy 2 1671932 You have a good memory Candy -Infact she sent me an email (which I accidentally deleted saying she enjoyed her food binge in Lahore and that she was off that night to attend an all night classical music (not the Beethoven / bach type but the one where they use the sitar, tabla and that box type instrument which opens outward and plays some wild stuff). In 2002/03 I participated in a 3 day exhibition at a US base in Lakenheath which is about 3-4 hours drive from London, and my kids who were with me, went crazy when they found they had a popeye's there, which I think is a one of its kind in England. Thu Jul 28 01:24:25 -0700 2005 1671913 0 (London Foodie ''OrientRice@aol.com'') 1 1671934 When are we getting an Olive Garden in New England, that's what I wanna know! Framingham or New Hampshire...both more than an hour's drive. Baffling. Thu Jul 28 03:18:01 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Tony Donza 2 1671945 Olive Gardens are all over New England :-( Just type your zip code in on their website to see where the closest one is. Thu Jul 28 10:13:39 -0700 2005 1671934 0 Laughing Goddess 1 1671940 They put out a feeler store in a new area hoping it will be successful and then entice a independent franchisee to take a territory...perhaps even a whole state. Thes companies are n longer interested in selling franchises to many independent single unit owners. So, even in the supposedly independent world of franchise opportunities, there really is none anymore. Unless it's a start up franchise chain or a already lousy one, you are not going to get in by taking one store...Unless you have a high traffic great piece of property. Thu Jul 28 07:55:33 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Chuck 1 1671980 (Don't know if this counts as a "national chain", but it's the farthest-flung franchise I've ever seen) In my hometown of Woburn, MA, there's a Hot Breads bakery that opened last year. (They do good stuff - lots of Western-style pastry with Indian-style spicy things inside them) Their "locations" website is interesting - 13 locations in 7 rather random states in the US (GA, MA, TX, MI, CA, VA, IL), plus Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, and Pondichery in India, plus apparently one in the UAE and one in Paris. Link: http://www.hotbreads.com/Location.asp Thu Jul 28 15:00:09 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Bob Geary 2 1672065 They're probably in cities with a decent-sized Indian population. Fri Jul 29 22:13:10 -0700 2005 1671980 0 Chorus Girl 1 1672014 Never forget arriving in Manila for R&R in 1968, and discovering a KFC and a Dairy Queen, both within a block of the hotel! Junk food joy for a couple of hours, there. Thu Jul 28 19:58:10 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Shep 1 1672016 don't forget that sometimes theses are fakes. A while back someone opened up a restaurant in Portland with the name of a famous burger joint in the LA area (I don't think it was in 'n' out). Lots of folks got excited only to find out it was just a copycat. Fri Jul 29 02:19:11 -0700 2005 1671843 0 Becky 1 1672021 I gather Shakey's pizza is an American chain, but not one I was familiar with as a Canadian. A dozen years ago on a trip to Jamaica, it was pretty much the only place my vegetarian/picky eater friend would eat. I was pretty surprised several years later to find they also had outlets in the Phillipines... Fri Jul 29 09:16:29 -0700 2005 1671843 0 julesrules 2 1672083 I remember seeing Shakey,s in Baguio, Phillippines, when I visited in 1977.... Sat Jul 30 15:42:07 -0700 2005 1672021 0 ju 2 1672114 I practically grew up at Shakey's in Manila, RP. The quintissential birthday party place for kids. When we moved to the US, I was expecting to see them everywhere like Pizza Hut, etc, but alas it was not to be. where have all the Shakey's gone?? "Ye Olde Saying" Mon Aug 01 04:20:24 -0700 2005 1672021 0 pushslice 1 1672068 And sometimes the oddball expansion routes end up making perfect sense. There used to be a chain in Michigan and Ohio called Bill Knapp's. It was the place you took your grandparents when they wanted to go out to dinner. Seriously, the place had a good 60-70% AARP demographic. So they did some research, and followed their customer base right down I-75 so they were a Michigan, Ohio, and retirement communities in Florida chain, along with a couple other I-75 middle states restaurants in later years. Fri Jul 29 22:43:16 -0700 2005 1671843 0 BW Jill