Posted on 11/19/2025 10:56:14 AM PST by Red Badger
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
I loved eating at Sizzler, unfortunately there are none closer than 300 miles.
My sister worked at a Sizzler around 1969
There are some Black Anguses left in California (though perhaps only 1/3 or fewer of their peak-number of location). I loved the place back in the day, especially their Texas-toast-style garlic-parmesan bread that they called “Ranch Bread.” They replaced that at some point with a brown 9-grain loaf that was pretty tasty too.
Out of nostalgia, I ate at one of the remaining Black Anguses a couple years ago... and frankly I was disappointed. The brown bread was the same, and the sides were okay, but the prime rib was sub-par. I don’t whether my disappointment was due to lower beef quality or higher expectations than I had as a kid, but I suspect it was probably both those things.
We had a Bonanza that morphed into a Ponderosa in Nashville.
From what I read before they declined, they lowered the quality of the food and hoped people would not notice...they did, including you.
There were a lot of them around where I was as a kid and had those iconic TV and radio commercials with the sound of the sizzle and the woman saying “sizz-ler” in a whispered voice...but I don’t recall ever eating there.
I remember Sizzler. Also Mr. Steak, and Ponderosa. I never did figure out where people got/get the money. When us kids were growing up, my parents were by no means poor, but going out to eat to a restaurant was kind of a rarity. It was sort of a special occasion. It was nice, but it was tempered by the fact we had to take bath (probably) and put on our “good clothes” and were expected to behave and the rest of it.
We sort of liked McDonald’s better, because Relaxed Grooming Standards, we could just hop in the car with dear old Dad. But even Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald’s was not a weekly or even monthly event. It just wasn’t.
By the 1990s maybe there was just an explosion (I think) of fast food restaurants without a commensurate increase in population to say nothing of income level. Never made any sense to me.
One thing I read somewhere, during the “great” Depression, only the really high end restaurants survived. The theory is, since money was unbelievably tight, if someone was going to take their wife out to eat, they weren’t going to mess around.
Older than that, it didn’t dawn on me until recently, the “red meat is bad” coincided almost perfectly with the high monetary inflation that hit Americans in the early 70s. Margarine replaced dairy butter, powdered non-fat Milk, “Eggs are bad” (cholesterol), meat, dairy & cheese, everything did a moon shot and price.
That was a huge political issue, Americans can’t afford to buy food. So it was very convenient shall we say, that “official” guidance was that ersatz substitutes are healthier, and besides, you can’t afford it anyway.
Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Rib Bones !
I was a cook there when I was 17 and mysteriously a Ribeye and two Malibu Chickens were always cooked by mistake just before my break came around !
Last time I went to a Sizzler they didn’t even have the classic Malibu chicken meal anymore. Last time I ever went and no plans on ever going again.
Capitol Grill is big time. Lobbyists treating politicians, Sales guys trying to land (or keep) big customers, lawyers schmoozing corporate clients. Private rooms. Appetizers $19 to $125. Steaks $59-$77. Other entrees along the same line. Shared sides $11 - $24. Desserts aren’t bad $11 or $12 or so.
Seasons 52 runs a little lower. I’ve paid for my own meal there.
Longhorn is actually pretty good. Steaks are generally good (sometimes over-seasoned) and good, fresh salads. Love their brussell sprouts. I have only eaten at a Ruth Chris once, was a company-paid meal - and it was no better than Longhorn and twice the price.
In the early 1990s I would frequent one in the mission hills area of San Diego. In the mid 1990s I would visit one in Albuquerque. I left the southwest in 1995 so haven’t been in a while.
I used to work at a seafood restaurant on the chesapeake bay. Apparently sometimes too many scallops were deep fried.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.