A&W's

[happyfilmluvguy]

Even though, located in a shopping mall, A&W's All American restaurant was always the first place I'd go for a bite to eat. I had been to others before, but this was the closest. A&W has been around since 1922, when Frank Wright took a partnership with the creator of the beverage, Roy Allen. So started a small number of stands, which later expanded to larger scale restaurants. I couldn't find that many photos, so here's two.

The neat thing about this particular one in the shopping mall were the photos that surrounded the restaurant. Each photo was of an old stand of one of the original A&W's. Every time I stood in line, that's what I'd be looking at. I found the design of them unique, kind of like the original McDonald's. It wasn't only these two stands that were there. There were more simple ones, one that you could hardly call a restaurant, it was more of a roadside stand selling flowers, but with food. Sadly, this restaurant is gone from the shopping mall, and has been for some time. But the memory has always been there

I saw one once in Paso Robles, CA, and I'm sure there are plenty other's. According to wikipedia, A&W is the oldest fast food franchise company in the United States. The chains haven't deceased just yet, though.

So one day, if you ever pass by a big sign like this
take a step inside and drink up a float and a hot dog!

 

[DancingSweetie]

All the A&W's here are combined with KFC.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A&W is very big in Canada, too -- whenever I visit Montreal, I always stop at one just off the highway before getting into the city, and have a mug of root beer and a serving of poutine (a Quebecois delicacy made of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy). All the usual A&W items are on the menu, translated into French -- La Poulet Chubby, Grandpere Burger, etc.

 

[Novella]

Mmmm, A&W makes the best rootbeer.

 

[Twitch]

Hey Happyfilm, that image of the root beer barrel reminded me of a great program they had once on the History Channel that dealt with odd and unique shapes of buildings used as cafes and restaurants. The golden arch at McDonalds is about as uniue as it gets any more.lol

Root beer is an aquired taste but is one of my favorite tastes.

 

[skillbilly]

All the A&W's here are combined with KFC.

I think there is still one untouched in Marin across the freeway from the Frank Loyd-Wright civic center.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

We still have a few of the old style with carhop service here in the Seattle area. There's one in Kent about 20 minutes from us. Root beer on tap and the whole 9 yards. I haven't stopped by in ages, but I've jotted it on my "To Do" list in my Moleskine with my fountain pen.

But we've also got two other carhop-service chains. Dick's Drive-in and Burgermaster, and Issaquah has a Triple X right by I-90 that's a giant barrel you can't help but see while zipping along the highway. Actually, I think Burgermaster calls carhops something fancier, since their slogan is "Dine in your automobile!" instead of the more commonplace "Eat in your car."

 

[Harp]

A&Ws

A&Ws have unfortunately faded from the Chicago scene....
The last one I saw-about ten years ago-seemed to be on its
last legs headed for closure. Dairy-Queen and Prince Castle
Hamburgers largely fell victim to McDonalds, but another local
outfit, White Castles Hamburgers, with its renowned onion-meat
slice "slider" still hangs on.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Hey Happyfilm, that image of the root beer barrel reminded me of a great program they had once on the History Channel that dealt with odd and unique shapes of buildings used as cafes and restaurants. The golden arch at McDonalds is about as uniue as it gets any more.lol

Root beer is an aquired taste but is one of my favorite tastes.

I saw that too. They talked about The Tail O' The Pup in LA. I've always wanted to visit there.

I went to one A&W a long time ago in California. The building was very cool, and the root beer float will never be forgotten. I wish we had more nostalgic locations like that here in Boston.

 

[The Wolf]

One of my faves

When I was younger I would always get the teen burger. It has been called the bacon burger for quite a while around here.
I don't think they ever had a dollar menu and I actually appreciate that.
I still have an old root bear buck that I've carried in my wallet for years.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Tommy Fedora]

One left

The only A&W I've seen is in rural NJ, but it still has the best root beer. I can't seem to get by that place without stopping in for a sip. Nice, old original building too. Like stepping back in time.

 

[deanglen]

Anyone know what the "A" and "W" in A&W are taken from/refer to/have as their origin?

 

[RadioHead]

No carhops, but...

Here in Saint John, N.B. a new stand-alone A&W recently opened in the major mall area on the east side. I heard one young person (probably in their 20s or so) say something to the effect that "it's the first A&W in town that isn't part of another chain".

Not quite correct. The first A&W in this town opened either in the late 1960s or very early 1970s at the corner of Rothesay Avenue and Thorne Avenue. It was the kind where you pulled up and turned your headlights on for service, and the carhop came to you.

Just a few years after that one opened, another opened on "The Golden Mile" (Fairville Boulevard) on the west side. This one, however, had car-side intercoms so you could order from your car and the carhop would deliver your food. I have a cousin who was a carhop there- she's now a nurse somewhere out west.

Anyway, you could get gallon glass jugs of root beer to take home. Also, they had something on the menu at that particular location that I've never heard of anywhere else. Fries with "Coney Sauce"; a semi-spicy, semi-sweet meat sauce. It was extremely popular around here. A bunch of friends and I piled into a car to head to Halifax one day, and pulled up at an A&W drive in, and ordered our usual (I always had the whistle-dog platter. YUM! )

When my buddy asked for fries with "coney sauce" we nearly got laughed out of the place. :eusa_doh: Seems it was a VERY local thing.


"RadioHead"

 

[scotrace]

Anyone know what the "A" and "W" in A&W are taken from/refer to/have as their origin?

Explained in Post #1:

"A&W has been around since 1922, when Frank Wright took a partnership with the creator of the beverage, Roy Allen."

Allen & Wright = A&W

 

[Lincsong]

I saw a couple new one's in Florida that have pseudo car hop service. A little retro. Nice place.

 

[ledsled]

Nova Scotia

Hey Radiohead, you have a nice town there in St. John! We pass through there on the way to Nova Scotia. If any loungers are on the TransCanada, there's an A&W right off one of the New Glasgow, Nova Scotia exits. It's sitting by itself (no KFC). It used to have car hop service, but not anymore. Still, the food's the same. Most summer Thursday nights bring out the local hot rods for a cruise.

 

[RadioHead]

My kind of town.

Hey Radiohead, you have a nice town there in St. John! We pass through there on the way to Nova Scotia.

Thanks, ledsled; we like it. You ought to stop passing through and stay awhile! There are some good restaurants and bars (my favorite watering hole is Olear'ys Pub,)and the people are (mostly) friendly. The city people, I mean; dang-near everybody's friendly at the pub! :cheers1:

"RadioHead"

 

[Fred G.]

A&W's and Sonic Drive-In

When we were kids, a big treat was to all pile in Mama's old Mercury and go down to the A&W. The car-hop would bring out the tray, those frosty mugs filled with really, really cold A&W root beer. Always a tense moment when she hooked the tray on to the car window which was rolled-down about 2/3s of the way.

There were other root beers, (like Frosty) but A&W had the best, in my opinion.

There are still a few A&W's around here in Arkansas. I don't visit fast food joints often anymore, so I'm not sure about the car hops... seems like they don't do that anymore.

Sonic Drive-Ins are common in this part of the country-- every little town over 1000 people has them. It ain't fancy- burgers, chili dogs, ice cream, cold drinks-- but quick and convenient. And they do come to your car, sometimes on roller skates.

 

[raiderrescuer]

Wallery's Pizza

Went to a Pizza Parlor last night for my nephew's birthday party and they actually sold Royal Crown from the tap !

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

sigh....reading these replies makes me miss good old A&W's.