Posts from ‘November, 2008’

A Big Boy Restaurant

Our big donut story the other day reminded us of another restaurant we recently visited that was also parodied in the Simpson’s. Big Boy is a chain of restaurants across part of the USA who’s signature burger is a bit similar to a Big Mac. The similarities with Mc Donalds end there with big boy having table service a salad bar and even a gift shop where you can by your own small version of big boy himself. In the Simpson’s Halloween special VI Homer steals a giant donut from a character who looks just like Big Boy but is named Lard Lad, the story of the episode is titled “Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores” as giant advertising mascots wreak havoc on Springfield after Homer upsets Lard Lad. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Big Donut

Randy’s Donut is a large donut atop a donut bakery located not far from LAX at 805 West Manchester Avenue in Inglewood California. The building and its huge donut must be one of the most photographed and filmed fast food restaurants in the US and has featured in dozens of movies and music videos and was even parodied in the Simpson’s episode “Marge vs the Monorail”. The building was built in 1952 as part of the big donut drive in chain but was later sold off to the family of the current owners. Being originally part of the big donut chain there are a few other similar big donuts around LA operating under different names but Randys has become the most popular with filmmakers. By the way, we tried a few of Randys donuts when we took this photo last week, and we must say they are very, very tasty indeed. Read the rest of this entry »

Papaya King Drink and Frankfurter

The Papaya King is a landmark New York restaurant that dates back to 1932. Originally located on the corner of Third Avenue and 86th Street the restaurant has since expanded to several locations across the city. The restaurant is best known for its Hawaiian themed Papaya Drinks and hot dogs that according to the numourous signs around the walls are tastier than Fillet Mignon. They must be doing something right as the restaurant has also spawned other similar papaya drink restaurants across the city and has been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show “No Reservations” as well as being mentioned in “Seinfeld”, “How I Met Your Mother” and was also used as a location in the film “You cant mess with the Zohan”. If you are heading to New York and want to sample some Papaya King goodness make sure you head to the origional Payaya King location on 86th Street as this one has a cool 50’s charm about it compared to the other locations. Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Chicken

We are continuing this week featuring a few of the more interesting restaurants that can be found across the USA, and they dont get much more interesting than the KFC Big Chicken. Located on the corner of Cobb Parkway and Roswell Road in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. The chicken was built in 1963 over the top of a chicken shop that was later to become a KFC franchise. It was part of a wave of Novelty architecture that swept the States in the 60s that led to other famous buildings being built across the country shaped like big donuts, big hot dogs and big tee pees. These big structures were originally designed an advertising gimmick to get the car loving American to pull off the freeway into their business rather than the shop down the road. The gimmick worked and what some may consider a very tacky building has become a much loved part of the community. When the chicken was damaged due to a storm in 1993 KFC was forced to rebuild the chicken due to the local communities response. Read the rest of this entry »

Toms Restaurant

Best known for its role in the 90’s TV comedy Seinfeld. Toms Restaurant is a diner located on the corner of Broadway and 112th Street in the Morningside Heights district of Manhattan. It is popular with local students and tourists who flock to the restaurant to eat where the gang from Seinfeld ate each episode, so expect a wait for a table on busy days. In fact the interior shots where just a set and nothing like what the Tom’s is laid out like and in most episodes the image of the building is taken from its side (similar to the one we shot here) in order to hide the Tom’s name on the front of the building as in the series it was referred to as Monks Cafe. The restaurant was also the basis of the Suzzanne Vega song “Toms Diner”. Read the rest of this entry »