Not to go too far OT, but they cleaned a bit of that up around here a couple years ago. There was an agency that recruited, hired, pimped and housed a whole bunch of kids from Eastern Europe. Their net after expenses was nil.

It has been going on since I was a kid back in the 60's, although the kids were mostly from the US back then. Cape Cod, the Berkshires, Gatlinburg, anywhere there was a demand for cheap unskilled labor. I knew some kids who did it. They had a fun summer but nothing to show for it when school started in the fall.

Quincy's Family Steakhouse. The restaurant moved locations years ago.

J'nie's in Koh Tao, Thailand. Their massaman curry was one of the best thing I've ever eaten and cost $2.

Isn't that a little like saying, Any Restaurant in Anytown, Any State, Any Country?

If you give no indication where you're from and no indication where the place was, it's rather meaningless.

Well, a few. By far and away the one I miss most is Honmura An in New York. I've been to the one in Tokyo a few times and it is the same, but a rather longer trip from Long Island than the Soho outpost. The last time I was in Tokyo the owner told me there were "seven New York regulars there" including me. That speaks to the popularity of the place.

I also miss:

Alain Ducasse New York

Atelier Joel Robuchon

Tabla - used to be in the same building as Eleven Madison Park but I preferred Tabla, especially the take on the Indian street food they served in the ground floor room

Picholine - was one of my favorite high end places in New York

One I forget the name of that was near Lincoln Center. My wife and I would often go after the opera for cheese and champagne at the bar. I think they had Krug by the glass

Taillevent in Paris. Still open but I think not the family owned 3 star restaurant of the past

Wodka in the Chelsea area of London. Many fantastic meals there. The owner would usually comp me a couple shots of infused vodka. We had a very small FT do there one night.

Ohio:
Rax Roast Beef (my late brother's first job)...where they had the most delicious curly fries and chocolate chip shakes
Shakey's Pizza Parlor. Friday night family dinner, where we'd climb onto a 'catwalk' to watch the pizza dough being stretched, toppings applied, then thrown into a big pizza oven. Anxiously awaiting our pizza's arrival, we'd sit at a communal black picnic tables, refilling our glasses from plastic pitches of soda (a big treat), serenaded by a player piano...and if we were lucky, a silent movie. A favorite childhood memory.
Chi Chis. growing up in small town Ohio, Mexican food and fried ice cream was quite exotic, Many a first dates held there.
Max and Erma's....when calling your friends, seated at a nearby table, seemed like such a novelty. Bonus points awarded to a special memory...as my big sister kindly allowed me to tag along with her and her popular friends to their 'antiprom' at Max and Erma's, when I was just a lowly freshman.
The Elephant Club...a Columbus bar that was a rite of passage. Felt like it was one of my first 'grownup' experiences....going out for a cocktail in Cbus.
Maisonette. I so wanted to dine there, as it was a 'special event' restaurant for my parents. Sadly, it closed before I could visit.

Chicago
Charlie Trotters. In its heyday when I was a broke, post college, young adult. For several years, I worked in the restaurant business in Chicago...but never made it to Trotters. I cried when I read Charlie had died...not only for a great chef, but a good man.
RD Cluckers. Their spicy chicken fingers with pesto (my first pesto!) was my restaurant delivery addiction. I felt SO sophisticated eating pesto

...and saving the best for last

Jerry's Fried Chicken on Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach), FL. An old gas station, transformed into a drive thru restaurant..serving the best fried chicken (crispy, spicy, juicy) I have ever eaten. Sadly, no longer in business.

And although they are not restaurants...Mean Mr Mustards (Columbus) and Excalibur (Chicago) are places I killed many a brain cell by drinking and dancing the night away. Ah, youth

I remember Rax

We have Shakey's pizza in The Puget Sound area of Washington to this day.

I miss Marie Calendars because my mom used to order from them the only Pie she didn't personally bake at Thanksgiving - A Blueberry Sour cream pie. It was tasty. And she is no longer with us. Ah, Memory lane.

I also miss Stuart Andersons Black Angus in its heyday it was very good. My grandparents took me every Sunday. They had prime rib and I had a cheeseburger with Thousands island. Yum

Flyup, you mean, I spent a year of my life, commuting cross country from BOS to SEA, and I was only miles away from a



I'm heartbroken

But do they still have the same ambiance?
Or am I better off forgetting there is a piece of my childhood memory bank only 10 miles from my sister's house?

Well, nothing is as good as it used to be but Yes that's the one. The ambiance has certainly changed a bit. The pizza is good though ��

My Japanese friends Okinawan restaurant in Suzhou, China. Now closed for many years due to the financial crisis in 2008.

Once brought a fresh salmon over from Europe (FA's managed to get it in cold storage on the flight over) and his equally Japanese chef inspected it and deemed still sashimi quality.

We had the salmon as sashimi, sushi, fried and as grande finale, soup. Best experience ever. ^

If you go to the Philippines, you will find Shakey's all over the place. Many foreigners think it's a Filipino chain, but it's origins are from the US. I look forward to visiting this restaurant when in the Philippines as the Pizza is the closest to American made. Even better than Pizza Hut and Dominos there.

A couple from my youth that are not around in South Florida:

New England Oyster House. Good fresh Sea Food- Lobster, Crab, Raw Bar, great soups at very inexpensive prices. I don't remember if it was a chain, but every time we went to the location in Hollywood, FL it was packed and we would have 45 minute waits for a table.

Taco Viva-Fast food TexMex before Taco Bell became what it is. It was a South Florida institution. http://www.tacoviva.com/

One place that had many franchise locations in South Florida that are now closed, but the original "hole in the wall" location still exists in Dania Beach, FL. Tark's of Dania, which celebrated it's 50th Birthday last year.

Maybe I said this before and maybe I should keep it to my self.

But when I was a kid...

I miss Lums Ollie Burger.

Like I said, I was a kid and maybe if I had one today it would turn my stomach. But there was one in FLL I used to go to all the time.

Wow, I had no idea these still existed. Back in my 80's childhood, this was THE place to see and be seen for your birthday party! I don't know if they all did, but mine had a game room in the back with video games, I think I recall air hockey, things like that.

Then Showbiz and Chuck E. Cheese took over...basically Shakey's x 100. Showbiz was my younger brother's place to see and be seen for your birthday party. It was gone within a year, and I haven't seen one since.

The Monterey in San Antonio. During its five years The Monterey was easily the most interesting restaurant in the city. Chad (the owner and head chef) pioneered the city's dining scene and built it up from nothing.

There is also a franchise in Osaka, Japan.

It is really awful pizza. Whatever good will they purchased to open this place, it was destroyed when they started to serve the stuff they call pizza.

They have an all you can eat buffet pizza bar and there is not a redeeming slice to be found.