I remember the old Burger Chef. Growing up in the 70's I remember going and getting the FunMeals they had. They came in a cardboard tray and then the tray had a coupon that you pulled out and redeemed at the counter for a treat. I miss Burger Chef.

I remember Burger Chef from the 1960s, before the fun meal. Burgers were 15 cents, and the same for fries, or a drink. For 45 cents and 1 cent tax you had a meal. For 5 cents more, you could have a shake instead of a soda. I remember the Burger Chef I went to would forego the 1 cent tax for the kids. The top-it-yourself bar was great and it allowed service to be fast, fast, fast! When Burger King came to town in the mid 1960s with their 59 cent whoppers, no one could eat the whole thing, and everyone thought they were trying to rip us off. Burger King had to have the top-it-yourself bar or none of us would eat there.

Burger Chef's slogan was "Buy them by the bag full!" I loved Burger Chef, they were family!!

I grew up in Edinboro PA, where BC was the only fast food restaurant in town, until around '78 when MCDs came into town. BC slowly lost business, and then, one day, was just gone.

Paper hats , hairnets,cleaning up the works bar,mopping,and all that for a 1.10 a hour. Burger Chef my first Job 1978... miss ya....

Anyone nostalgic for Burger Chef should visit The Burger Chef Reliquary website [http://www.thebawdycloister.com/reliquary/ ]. It features pictures of old Burger Chef paraphernalia and locations. It also has links to other websites dedicated to the memory the long-lost franchise.

This will happen too Wendy's now that they have New owners. Last week all the Wendy's were told to throw out any Dave Thomas Pictures. I have wonder did Dave's daughters have the throw out his pictures out their Franchised stores too. Dave Thomas was a true icon in the business. He will be missed. A Gentlemen.

So the lesson is don't be acquired by a conglomerate?

This is a neat little series, but we should all keep in mind that these companies FAILED. If you ever bought a stock that had the same demise you know that the paper becomes virtually worthless. With that said - how about a new series - one that is constructive.
I would like to suggest a title - COMPANIES THAT HAVE SURVIVED.
Ames has been around since this Revolution!
John Deere, Ball, GE are all 19th century - and there are plenty more. This is an investment page and you do not knowingly invest in losers. I think that we should tout those that have made it through thick and thin.
It's nice to reminisce but if you were a stockholder you might have a different comment.

The1950'Was aGreat Time For Growth Especially Fast Food -Burger Chef Died Because of 2 Major Errors#1=They Failed To Advertise Agressively & McDonalds Gambled&Went Deep Into Debt With Advertising=BUT It Worked#2Most Critical=Burger Chef Did=NOT=MaintainTight QualityControl over Their Franchisee's=Some WereClean& Nice But Over1/2 Were Filthy&Hired Unclean &Untrained Workers=The Filthy BurgerChef's Brought Down The Chain=McDonalds Has VeryStrict Rules&Trains Everyone Properly& Will PullAny Bad Franchise Rarely Will You See a Bad McDonalds=LLGodden

Igrew up in a small mideastern town. I remember cruising "The Chef" in the 60's. For $1. a couple could get 2 burgers.2 fries, and 2 drinks. I miss the the "Chef" and those simple Friday and Sat. nites.

I remember about 1969 when the only fast food places in town were Burger Chef and Jack in the Box. Mc Donalds came along about 1973.

i had a burger chef right around the corner from my house growing up in the 70,s
the superchef the best burger i have ever had to this day, the thing was as big as a frisbe, and flame
broiled man them where the days, burger chef & jeff

I was just talking about burger chef just the other day. I loved those burgers. Does anyone know how they made the topping? It had something on it. I can't remember. Was it a sauce or what? It was good though. Heck Mcdonalds doesn't taste the same either. Like the big boy sandwich changed it's sandwiches. Don't fix it if it ain't broke every time they new and improve they mess it up. Another old fast food place I miss the taste of their food it Posqualies?not sure of the spelling. hot roast beef.

Back in the 60s burger chef was the only place to get a great hamburger and shake!!! and now Hardees has tried to knock off the Big Chef with its lousy imitation PRETTY SAD ATTEMPT

Worked at "the gag" for two years 78-80 Loved my paper hat and how they deducted part of my hourly wage in exchange for food. if you didn't pay you better not eat one fry. When mcd's came to town we traded the broiler for a grll, maybe that was the begining of the end. Still i loved the Mariner fish dinner and the super chef was delicious. Had a lot of good times there.

I knew the owner of the now defunct Riverside amusement park. He told me he was approached back in the heyday of the park by a young man who had an idea for a "hamburger cooking machine" that he was promoting. He wanted the owner of the park to provide him with resturant space and invest $15,000 in his idea. For that investment, he would have half of the buisness. The owner thought about it, consulted his financial advisor and decided against it. "It was the beginning of the Burger Chef company and I could have had half of it for fifteen grand" lamented the owner of the closed amusment park. At one time Burger Chef and the accompanying Sani-Serve company that manufactured the stainless steel equipment used in the resturants was a huge business in Indianapolis.