Posted on 02/15/2023 8:40:43 AM PST by NohSpinZone
It’s Valentine’s Day morning, and the height of the breakfast rush at the Pismo Beach Coco’s is overwhelming the small but nimble staff.
At the center of the flurry is the ringmaster, the restaurant’s longtime owner and general manager, Larry Puder. Puder, 66, is simultaneously ringing up tabs, handing menus to a large party walking in, gesturing for a server to put a new pot of decaf on and attempting to explain to an anxious customer why there are no more banana cream pies.
“Jesus Christ, I’m so glad I’m getting out of this business,” Puder says under his breath before cracking a smile.
A regular appears from around the counter, puts down his walking cane and engulfs the restaurateur in a bear hug. Puder’s attempts to pull away, at least for the first 30 seconds, are futile.
Eventually, he drops his shoulders, lets his arms hang by his side and rides it out.
“I know,” Puder says, as he wipes a tear. “I know.”
The regular’s gesture wasn’t just one of affection on the one day we welcome such displays but one of true sadness. This Coco’s, the northernmost in the Southern California-based chain — and one of a dwindling number — would be closed down for good within the next 24 hours.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Yes there were several Coco’s in Silicon Valley that I knew of - couple in Sunnyvale and one in Campbell. All three are long gone.
So true. There’s a local dinery near me that has been super popular for two decades now. No sign of slowing down but as ownership changes (even within the same family), it gets harder and harder to survive.
I loved Tippens (remember when it was Pippens???). I use to eat there in Corinth a lot. At least we have the pies still at Hen House.
I don’t remember Cocos, but I remember eating at Tippin’s, which was close to Bannister Mall.
The owners say the "Sambo's" name was a combination of owners names, Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell "Bo" Bohnett.
Also:
The story of "Sambo" featured an Indian boy, in the book Little Black Sambo. The work has been interpreted by many as offensive to Blacks. Even though the restaurant's name was not derived from the book, characters from it were used in promotional materials across the chain in prior decades.
It’s official – Chad’s replaces Sambo’s after 63 years in Santa Barbara
When I was a child in San Diego in the 1960's, they had a Sambos near Old Town. I loved going there for the hotcakes and to see the story of Sambo and the tiger painted around the upper wall of the dining room and on the children's menu. The boy depicted in the drawings was definitely an Indian character, turban and all (and, of course, there are no tigers in Africa).
That can really kill a restaurant - the generational change. One of the ones that I liked died because it was owned by two brothers who had a dispute. The one went off and founded his own restarant that went nowhere. The brother who stayed with the original restaurant brought his kids in to help and gradually pulled back. The kids “modernized” the menu (including upping prices). It went downhill and people stopped going.
“Are you sure you weren’t in a Denny’s by mistake?”
every Denny’s i’ve ever been in has been heads and shoulders above the Coco’s in Phoenix ...
“Besides that, how was it?”
well, the food totally sucked, but there was lots of it ...
Never been to a Coco’s, but Denny’s is a restaurant of last resort.....................
‘The food is inedible but there is lots of it to not eat”...someone describing one of the cafeterias in college.
That was a famous Tampa area restaurant and Floridians loved it. Long gone, the site has been redeveloped into a business park.
Used to meet friends there, on SR 84, by the National Guard Armory.
Dirty Ernie’s on Federal Hwy in Hallandale Bch and Wolfie’s in Miami Bch at Collins Ave and Lincoln Rd were other great places, now gone.
The Rustic Inn Crabhouse and the Tropical Acres Steakhouse, both on Griffin Rd were still there though, at least as of five years ago, last time I was there.
“The Beacon”
Never went there myself. But any restaurant on Bayshore Drive that could last had to be good. The odor from the red tides was enough to make people not want to go anywhere near the water. About the only one we went to on that side was the Grog. Their food was good but their drinks, especially that grog, was worth the trip. Lucky it was inland a few blocks and not right on the harbor.
wy69
“...probably in 1971...”
MacDill was my first actual solid assignment. I came in 1969 and went right to bases outside conus and finally got nailed in ‘Nam and discharged. I came back in and went to MacDill in 1975 after the pronounced me workable.
They put me at the gym across from the theater at that time as they didn’t quite know what to do with me. I’m sure you remember the gym was part of a blown down hanger from Manilla. The floor of the weight room was part of the bowling alley lanes also from Manilla.
Being a very inexperienced troop who learned to play war rather than politics, I had been told to take care of the guys that played handball and sat in the sauna...free towels, drinks, etc.
I must have done something right as they came in and sat in the office with me and were talking about helping us out with the old building and equipment since we ha been so good to them. I had no idea what a St. Pete retired officer was or how huge. I mentioned that we had all the equipment we could hold, how about a new building? That was a joke. I didn’t believe what happened next.
They chartered an aircraft, flew to D.C., pulled some strings, and after a little over a year the huge facility by the softball fields and next to the JCSE yard was opened. As the story goes, “Out of the mouths of babes...” And they bargained for the new equipment to put in it. The old one was torn down up the street from the REDCOM and last I saw there years later there was a telephone pole left.
wy69
“...probably in 1971...”
MacDill was my first actual solid assignment. I came in 1969 and went right to bases outside conus and finally got nailed in ‘Nam and discharged. I came back in and went to MacDill in 1975 after the pronounced me workable.
They put me at the gym across from the theater at that time as they didn’t quite know what to do with me. I’m sure you remember the gym was part of a blown down hanger from Manilla. The floor of the weight room was part of the bowling alley lanes also from Manilla.
Being a very inexperienced troop who learned to play war rather than politics, I had been told to take care of the guys that played handball and sat in the sauna...free towels, drinks, etc.
I must have done something right as they came in and sat in the office with me and were talking about helping us out with the old building and equipment since we ha been so good to them. I had no idea what a St. Pete retired officer was or how huge. I mentioned that we had all the equipment we could hold, how about a new building? That was a joke. I didn’t believe what happened next.
They chartered an aircraft, flew to D.C., pulled some strings, and after a little over a year the huge facility by the softball fields and next to the JCSE yard was opened. As the story goes, “Out of the mouths of babes...” And they bargained for the new equipment to put in it. The old one was torn down up the street from the REDCOM and last I saw there years later there was a telephone pole left.
wy69
I still have some of the glasses from the Planters Punch.
“Breakfast always tastes good at 3am after a long night out.”
There’s a lot of truth in that.
Denny’s used to be a good place to go. But, I’m in my 70s, so I’m going back a bit. I haven’t been to a Denny’s in almost 30 years. The reason is simple: There are none anywhere near me anymore.
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