Thanks for the information. I remember Carl’s Jr. from when we lived in California, until 1975. My mother considered them the best hamburger place ... until sometime after I finished college - late 80s, early 90s, when she said they weren’t any good anymore.
That fits. There were only about 100 Carl’s Jrs in 1975 and the company was still family run. The food was excellent.
In the 1980s the company went public and the company soon began having financial problems. By 1990 the MBAs were in control and Carl’s Jr wasn’t the same.