[Ronin]

Back around 1986 or 1987, high school kids from the Yokosuka Base were banned from the local Shakey's because they liked to take advantage of the tabehodai (all you could eat) lunch pizza.

One kid would buy, eat for a while, his friend would come in, take the plate up for more, the first kid leaves, second kid pigs out, third kid shows up...They weren't even very sneaky about it because they knew the Japanese staff would be reluctant to confront noisy aggressive American kids.

There was a lot of whining about it, but they changed the rule to no teenagers unless accompanied by an adult, and that solved most of the problem.

[MarkL]

Ooooo, Shakey's Pizza! I remember them! My family used to go there every other week or so, and they'd have a banjo and piano player, and when they weren't there, they'd have a "player piano." They had this big window into the kitchen where you could see them make the pizzas, and that was so cool for us little kids! They had these cool, really long tables, and served soda in pitchers!

Then, years later I remember as a teenager, seeing they had a lunch buffet, and any time we had a day off of school, I'd be there. I really loved their pizza, but on their lunch buffet, they had the most incredible fried chicken and potato wedges - I remember them to this day!

I think we lost the last Shakeys Pizza in KC back in the late 1970s, or it may have been even earlier... I miss the one that used to be on Troost.

Mark