14 replies to this topic

[TenPoundHammer]

OK, the last time I tried to type this, Firefox crashed on me. Here are the former chain restaurants I know of in Flint and vicinity, for general interest purposes. I will get to a separate listing later for the Tri Cities. If you know of any more for this list, or have anything to add to an existing one, let me know.

A & W
Courtland Center - Hot Dogs & More location, formerly Carousel Hot Dogs; may now be part of Merle Norman Cosmetics
Court St. - demolished for parking lot of church (Methodist church?)
Clio @ Pierson
3328 S. Linden - may have been in Genesee Valley Mall
Saginaw St., Flint - was across from a jail
Saginaw St., Grand Blanc - now Hot Dog Stand

Arby's
Courtland Center - now Angelo's Coney Island, perhaps?
Genesee Valley Mall - Didn't they have a different location before the food court opened?
6086 N. Saginaw - empty
820 N. Saginaw, Holly - address is BP station; may not have existed

Baskin-Robbins
Courtland Center
South Flint Plaza
802 Welch Blvd.

Big Boy
Courtland Center - empty
Genesee Valley Mall - now Ruby Tuesday
1901 S. Dort - later Z's Buffet
G3558 Miller - now Famous Dave's

Bill Knapp's
G3140 Miller Rd.
1871 S. Dort
G4418 Pierson Rd.
Hill Rd. @ I-475, Grand Blanc - now a bank

Blimpie
South Flint Plaza
Gensee Rd., Genesee - I vaguely remember a run-down party store on Genesee Road in the Genesee area that had an obvious blacked-out Blimpie logo on it

Bonanza
Fenton - may not have existed
4410 S. Dort
3243 Miller - now Mancino's

Bresler's Ice Cream
Genesee Valley Mall

Burger King
Fenton @ Bristol - now Rightway Auto
820 N. Saginaw, Holly - address is BP station; may not have existed

Chi-Chi's
G3140 Miller Rd. - I have a 1987 phone book that lists a Chi-Chi's at this address; I do know that the address was a Bill Knapp's for a while.
2408 Austins Pkwy. - closed

Coffee Beanery
Water St. Pavilion

Dairy Queen
1338 W. Bristol - later Jr. Varsity Root Beer, now another restaurant whose name escapes me

Denny's
Pierson Rd. @ I-75 - now a Chinese restaurant

Dunkin' Donuts
* Marathon station, Fenton @ Maple - now Mary's Donuts
* Total (now Speedway) station, Hill @ 475, Grand Blanc - closed, station still in operation
I also remember that there used to be a Dunkin' Donuts in a bus station downtown; the awning still existed last I checked

Golden Corral
3022 Linden Rd.

Gold Star Chili
Gold Star Chili is listed in a 1987 phone book of mine, under Grocery Stores in the yellow pages. This listing may have been in error, as there is no mention of a Gold Star Chili anywhere in Flint in the white pages. Can anyone confirm this location?

Halo Burger
Genesee Valley Mall

Hardee's
1156 N. Belsay, Burton - later Country Kitchen, now something else?
G4083 Pierson - now Rightway Auto
Genesee Valley Mall - Mall staff told me that the former All The King's Men store near Sears was the former Hardee's; however, I have found out that All The King's Men was previously Herman's World Of Sporting Goods. Hardee's may have been in the old Aladdin's Castle space next door, as this space had an exterior entrance.

Hot & Now
Clio - now a coney island
1096 Bristol - now Cody's Burgers
1940 S. Dort - later Angelo's Coney Island, now empty

Hot Sam Pretzel Bakery
Courtland Center - may not have existed
Genesee Valley Mall - all I know is that it was in the Sears wing somewhere

Howard Johnson's
Dort Hwy. - now a car lot
Miller Rd. @ I-75 - demolished
Center Rd. @ I-69 - now After Shock?

Kenny Rogers Roasters
2091 Linden - now Arthur Treacher's

KFC
Fenton @ Bristol - later a party store, now Wireless Giant
4100 Pierson - re-located around 2002 to a new KFC/A & W combo
Saginaw @ Leith - empty; last I checked, was painted purple

Little Caesar's
South Flint Plaza
3098 N. Center Rd.
4498 Beecher
4839 Fenton Rd.
6016 Lapeer Rd.
137 S. LeRoy, Fenton

McDonald's
Genesee Valley Mall - empty
Meijer, Pierson Rd. - empty
Meijer, Hill Rd. - seems to have disappeared with remodeling of store
Meijer, Center Rd. - may not have existed
Mt. Morris Rd. @ I-75 - was a McDonald's Express in Amoco (now BP) station; is now walled over. The kitchen is used for storage, and the counter has coffee machines and stuff set on it. I was told that there were plans to turn the old McDonald's into a Taco Bell but that never happened.

Pizza Hut
3756 S. Dort - later Red Roof Ribs, now another restaurant
Pierson Rd. - may still be open; formerly Sambo's
Fenton @ Bristol - now Big John Steak & Onion. May not have been a Pizza Hut, but sure as heck looks like it

Ponderosa
3487 Linden - may have burned down
2324 Ballenger - now Salt Marsh Annie's
G4028 Pierson - now Asia Buffet
G1030 Hill, Grand Blanc - now Taboon

Rally's
560 Dort - later Anna's Kitchen, may now be empty

Sambo's
See notes under Pizza Hut

Schlotzsky's Deli
4462 Corunna Rd. - empty
1426 Genesys Pkwy., Grand Blanc - closed?
5490 Ali Dr., Grand Blanc - now Cross Veterinary Clinic

Stuckey's
Mount Morris Rd. @ I-75 - now an adult bookstore or Bell Trucking?
Fenton - now Andrico's
Holly - demolished

Subway
Miller Rd. - I forget where, but it was listed in an old phone book at an address that is no longer Subway
Mount Morris Rd. @ I-75 - I could have sworn that the BP/Burger King at this exit used to have a Subway in it as well; someone else told me that at one point it also had a Pizza Hut Express

Taco Bell
2169 Bristol Rd. - was inside Speedway station; closed, gas station still in operation
G3441 Fenton - now Tom's Coney Island; Taco Bell relocated to parking lot of South Flint Plaza
Dort Hwy. - later Guadalajara's, now something else?
820 N. Saginaw, Holly - now Poco Loco; was in BP station

TCBY
G4215 Miller Rd.
2213 Hill, Grand Blanc - now Smokes For Less
Davison - now Subway?

TGI Friday's
1 Riverfront Center

Tubby's Subs
3718 E. Court - now a pizza place
4117 Pierson - now Subway

Wendy's
Dort Hwy. - now a coney island?
4902 Clio - address is Clio Road Pharmacy
4448 Pierson
1114 Church - now Snyder Real Estate
6030 N. Saginaw - empty?
Miller Rd. @ I-75 - empty
Linden Rd. - now a jewelry store; may not have been a Wendy's but sure looks like it
W. Vienna Rd., Clio - empty; re-located
1010 S. State, Davison - now Arby's

Edited by TenPoundHammer, 13 May 2006 - 09:56 PM.

[MJLO]

hammer man, why are you doing these, you depress me!

[TenPoundHammer]

MJLO, on May 13 2006, 06:20 PM, said:

hammer man, why are you doing these, you depress me!

For my own personal interest, as I manage a website listing every former chain restaurant location in Michigan.

[wolverine]

I look forward to seeing the one you do for Ann Arbor.  The chain restaurants seem to play musical chairs there  as they fight and grab for the best locations near student housing

It's interesting though how dynamic the fast food chains/popular restaurants our of culture are.  It's a fight to stay alive out there as new restaurant names become household words.  Someday the next generation will have no clue what we are talking about when we (or your kids) went to Chuckie Cheese's.  Damen's and Famous Dave's always seem like the new "best places to eat" now where Applebees and Fridays  were the premier chain restaurants of our last decade.  They still are somewhat, but they've become so ubiquious they no longer have the "fresh" feeling you get when you eat at a new chain restaurant the first few times.

[MJLO]

well the restaurant industry is a very tight market, hard to break even amidst so much competition.   Damons, closed all of it's Grand Rapids Locations, but they had been pretty mismanaged for years.

[dnast]

I was kind of overwhelmed by that list, but I do know that you missed the Rally's that used to be located on Clio Rd. I couldn't think of anything else. Oh wait, there was a Burger King near Clio and Pierson, too. There's a newer Burger King further up Clio, but it was built years after the other closed (and it's drive-thru only   ).


The list made me think - I still find it odd that there are so very few Coffee Beaneries around here when the company is based in the Flint area.

[MJLO]

I never knew Coffee Beanery was based in the Flint area.  Interesting little fact.

[bobjgumby]

THe coffee Beanery you mention in the Water Street Pavillion is not there anymore and as far as I can tell is still vacant.  I am not sure where it was located but there is an area in there that looks like it could have been a coffee shop and is vacant.

The bonanza you mentioned on Miller road has been knocked down (Mancino's moved to Linden) and is now a Starbucks, WIreless Toyz, and a Quiznos.

Golden Corral is now a Mr. Browns.

The Linden road A & W was across the street from the mall near Halo Burger.  I think it is the Jewelry store.

The former Kenny ROgers Roasters is now Los Quatros Amigos I do not recall the Arthur Treachers.

The Ponderosa on Linden Road did have a fire but was fixed and then closed shortly afterwards.  Now a Taboon (middle Eastern Restaraunt).

I will update some more for you later.

[dtown]

Taboon rocks man.

[TenPoundHammer]

bobjgumby, on May 14 2006, 09:58 AM, said:

The former Kenny ROgers Roasters is now Los Quatros Amigos I do not recall the Arthur Treachers.

Arthur Treachers website lists an AT at 2091 Linden, which was the address of  the Kenny Rogers.

[TenPoundHammer]

http://www.angelfire...nmi/former.html is where I'm compiling my data.

[chsilverstar]

By the way, there's been a Coffee Beanery in the Genesee Valley Mall for many years now.  
Plus, thanks for the trivia that it's a Flint-based company (I also was not aware of that); which I agree with dnast that is seems odd there aren't more locations in the Flint area, since it's Flint based... Hhhmmmm.  Strange.  Actually, it's my favorite place to purchase coffee drinks, above and beyond Starbucks and all the others...

[wolverine]

I think they've found their nitch and got into area malls before Starbucks or before the growth of Biggby (Lansing based)

There's a Coffee Beanery at Fashion Square in Saginaw as well.

[Ka3kab]

I've never seen this post before.  As I no longer live in the Flint area and moved away in 1991, I'm probebly not much help.  But I can tell you that there was a McDonald's on Saginaw St. at Harvard Ave. in Beecher.  It closed not long after we left Mt. Morris because of a new restaurant (if you can call MickyD's a restaurant) only a mile away in Mt. Morris.  My Grandma stills lives on Harvard and the last time I was there, the building is still standing, but empty.

Edit:  Oh, nevermind.  I didn't realize this post was over two years old.

Edited by Ka3kab, 12 September 2008 - 10:29 PM.

[BillyChilly]

Ka3kab, on Sep 12 2008, 11:27 PM, said:

I've never seen this post before.  As I no longer live in the Flint area and moved away in 1991, I'm probebly not much help.  But I can tell you that there was a McDonald's on Saginaw St. at Harvard Ave. in Beecher.  It closed not long after we left Mt. Morris because of a new restaurant (if you can call MickyD's a restaurant) only a mile away in Mt. Morris.  My Grandma stills lives on Harvard and the last time I was there, the building is still standing, but empty.

Edit:  Oh, nevermind.  I didn't realize this post was over two years old.

It's all good; this is quite an interesting post, and it's not like there's much going on in these parts anyway.  That McDonald's has recently been turned into 'The Village Party Zone,' part of the revitalization effort going on in the Beecher business district.

http://blog.mlive.co...d_families.html

J.L.