Former chain restaurants, Tri-Cities

[TenPoundHammer]

Former chain restaurants, Tri-Cities

Here we go again. Once more, if you know of any more, or have anything to add, please do so. I made this separate from the Flint listings to make it a little less cumbersome.

A & W

Bay City Mall - now H & W (yeah, REAL imaginative)

3001 Bay City Rd., Midland

807 S. Granger, Saginaw - now Old Towne Drive-In

Arby's

Essexville - was a combined Arby's/Tubby's Subs. Later, Big John Steak & Onion took over the Arby's half and a carpet place took over

Boston Market

4000 Wilder, Bay City - now Fazoli's

Burger Chef

Saginaw Rd., Midland - later Hardee's; there is now a Jo-Ann Fabrics at the address

Saginaw - may not have existed

Burger King

805 N. Euclid, Bay City - torn down to expand nearby strip mall

2003 S. Saginaw, Midland - now Tim Hortons

4002 Bay Rd., Saginaw - later Mama's Kitchen, then Daily Perk, now Los Cuatro Amigos. Amazingly, a pay phone in the parking lot still has a BK logo!

3356 Holland, Saginaw - split between Subway and Hooly's Pizza

5545 State, Saginaw - now Country Grains Bread Co.

8365 Gratiot, Saginaw

Bridgeport - empty

Carousel Hot Dogs

Fashion Square Mall

Chi-Chi's

6640 Eastman, Midland

4837 Bay, Saginaw - empty

Dairy Queen

5208 Bay, Saginaw - sat empty for over a decade; now some other restaurant

Dawn Donuts

925 N. Euclid, Bay City - now Quizno's

6180 Westside Saginaw, Bay City - now Dunkin' Donuts (Shell station)

Birch Run - later Dunkin' Donuts, torn down, nothing on site (Shell station)

1512 W. Center, Essexville - (Shell station) later Dunkin' Donuts; station rebuilt in 2004 with Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins

Frankenmuth - (Citgo station) later Dunkin' Donuts, now a Chinese restaurant

1917 S. Saginaw, Midland - now Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins

Denny's

N. Euclid, Bay City - later Stevens Boats, now demolished

Dog & Suds

S. Saginaw Rd., Midland - torn down when Kmart store was built

Dunkin' Donuts

Wilder Rd., Bay City - now Shamrock Dairy Bar

Birch Run - torn down (Shell station)

Bridgeport - now Detroit Donuts (Mobil station)

Frankenmuth - now a Chinese restaurant (Citgo station)

Great Steak & Potato Company

Fashion Square Mall - now Charley's Steakery

Halo Burger

Fashion Square Mall

Hardee's

4129 N. Euclid, Bay City - Wanigas Credit Union on site

Birch Run - now KFC

1910 N. Saginaw, Midland - Jo-Ann Fabrics at address

Pinconning - abandoned, closed for over a decade

5025 Bay, Saginaw - later Kenny Rogers Roasters, now Alltel

1472 N. Michigan, Saginaw - National City Bank on site

Hooters

Hooters did something interesting in Bay City and Saginaw. Both locations closed a couple years ago and were replaced with a restaurant called Dore Wings. The Dore Wings locations closed; Bay City's apparently re-opened as Hooters. A new store was built in Saginaw; the old one was on Wisner.

Hot & Now

2925 Center, Essexville - torn down to expand car wash

2111 S. Saginaw, Midland - now Tony's

3588 Bay Rd., Saginaw - now Rally's

Michigan Ave., Saginaw - now Rally's

Hot Sam Pretzel Bakery

Hampton Towne Centre - empty (and so is most of the mall)

Fashion Square Mall - empty

Howard Johnson's

Bay City - closed (*sniff*)

State St., Saginaw - Burger King on site

Italian Oven

4071 Euclid, Bay City - Italian Oven's former location in this strip mall was demolished and rebuilt as three smaller retail spaces; one space now has a restaurant in it

Kenny Rogers Roasters

5025 Bay, Saginaw - now Alltel

KFC

2110 Bay, Saginaw - now Budget Print

7770 Gratiot, Saginaw - re-located to KFC/A & W combo

3640 Hess, Saginaw - 1990 phone book lists KFC as being at 3640; another source lists KFC as being at 3734. Current location is confirmed as 3900.

Little Caesar's

Pinconning - very short-lived "Express" location in Total station (now Speedway)

McDonald's

Hampton Towne Centre - later the Dougout, now empty

Essexville - torn down, nothing on site

3860 Bay Rd., Saginaw - now Espresso Coffee by Java. Was built in a 1950's style

Pizza Hut

732 S. Saginaw, Midland - now Bamboo Garden

N. Euclid, Bay City - empty

Ponderosa

416 S. Euclid, Bay City - Torn down for Walgreen's

3560 Dixie Hwy., Saginaw - empty

Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits

3020 Bay, Saginaw - now Atlanta Chicken?

Pretzel Peddler

Fashion Square Mall - formerly Fannie Farmer; now empty

Ruby Tuesday

Fashion Square Mall - empty

Sbarro's

Bridgeport - was in the Arby's; Arby's is still open

Schlotzsky's Deli

Birch Run - now Victor & Merek's

Shoney's

Birch Run - now Big Boy

Subway

2910 Tittabawassee, Saginaw

Taco Bell

606 N. Euclid, Bay City - later Wing It, now empty

1223 Broadway, Bay City - was in Total (now Speedway) station

Pinconning - was in Shell (now Marathon) station. Later Taco Xpress, now unused

3720 Bay Rd., Saginaw - now Quizno's

Essexville - empty

TCBY

N. Euclid, Bay City - now Look No Fault Insurance

Bridgeport - now Hallmark

Bridgeport #2 - was in the Shell station; now Delicious Ice Cream

TJ Cinnamons

4338 Bay Rd., Saginaw - now Charley's Steakery

Tubby's Subs

4100 Wilder, Bay City - now DOC Optical?

Essexville - see notes under Arby's

5015 Eastman, Midland

[wolverine]

I don't recall a Big Boy being in the mall, but perhaps at the location across Fashion Sq. Blvd. in what is now Tony's restaurant.

The church's chicken on the East side is still open because I ate there recently. Their sign is broken though which makes it look vacant. They haven't fixed it in 3 years.

There used to be an Italian oven on Tittabawasse Rd. When the chain scaled back to its roots in the ATL, the building sat vacant for only a month before being converted into a Bennigans Restaurant.

I had just noticed recently the Tittabawassee subway had closed. But it turns out they moved all the way Eastward down the corridor. I'm not positive why. My best guess was traffic was so congested near that intersection, that people avoided going in for fear they'd have a hard time getting out of the parking lot. I used to avoid it for those reasons!

I think you should also add Cookers resturant to your list. They were on bay road where I think a steakhouse is now. Can't quite remember since I've been gone for a year. Before that it was a Chineese restaurant. The chinese architecture for the restaurant was unbelievable. The building almost seemed like a landmark among the big box stores around it. I recall my uncle's company doing electrical work on it when it was built, and he couldn't figure out they were able to afford that place because it was so huge. Sure enough, they went out of business in a few years despite having some of the best Chinese food in the area. A Cookers moved in, but I think the whole chain later died since their current location in Ann Arbor switched to another restaurant as well.

All this talk of food has me dying for a Rally's Spicy Chicken sandwhich. Damn!

[TenPoundHammer]

I don't recall a Big Boy being in the mall, but perhaps at the location across Fashion Sq. Blvd. in what is now Tony's restaurant.

I have a 1990 phone book which lists a Big Boy as being in Fashion Square Mall.

[wolverine]

Does it mention a unit number? Man, I can go way back memory-wise and just don't recall a Big Boy. I feel like the Ruby Tuesday has been there forever, and it's really the only logical location for a sit down restaurant. The food court later replaced an old department store but there was never a Big Boy as far as I remember. I'm wondering if the phone book considered the satellite buildings as part of the mall. For example, Friday's restaurant is not part of the mall, but on the grounds so the address is Fashion Square Mall.

[TenPoundHammer]

Does it mention a unit number? Man, I can go way back memory-wise and just don't recall a Big Boy. I feel like the Ruby Tuesday has been there forever, and it's really the only logical location for a sit down restaurant. The food court later replaced an old department store but there was never a Big Boy as far as I remember. I'm wondering if the phone book considered the satellite buildings as part of the mall. For example, Friday's restaurant is not part of the mall, but on the grounds so the address is Fashion Square Mall.

Nope, but it just says "Fashion Square Mall" and not "4xxx Fashion Square Mall". Maybe it was short lived?

[TheNawMan]

I odn't ever remember a Big Boy in the mall either. There used to be one on Bay near Shattuck but Rite Aid bought them out for the land and that's what is there now.

[dunveth]

A few old chains I remember from Midland:

H. Salt Esq. Fish and chips on N. Saginaw next to KFC

Bill Knapps on Eastman

Mr. Swiss (frosty stand)

Sullivan's (local chain) near Washington Woods

Mr. Hot Dog on S. Saginaw Rd.

I lived in Midland from 1960 - 1975, and my mother still lives there to this day ...

[dunveth]

Oh yeah, I remember another chain called "Lum's" which specialized in hot dogs boiled in beer (later another chain called "Sherry's") on the corner of Saginaw and Patrick. The building has been demolished.

Also, Burger Chef became a 24 hour restaurant called Lil Chef, and is still a restaurant today (dk the name) it has never been a fabric store.