Any cheap conversions of abandoned chain restaurants near you?

[pstokely]

www.notfoolinganybody.com

http://www.notfoolinganybody.com/27gilstrap/



Any near you? This seems to happen when Taco Bell, McDonald's, or other another chain builds a new place nearby, a mom and pop operation moves in. Very often, very little work is done on these buildings. Sometimes another chain moves or a non food operation moves in. Seems like Chinese restaurants, used car dealers, and title loan shops love these buildings. A law firm is in an abandoned McDonald's near me.

[LeftyMom]

1. There's a dentist on Florin Road that used to be a Taco Bell. It still looks like an old Taco Bell

with the big arched windows and all.

Not real inspiring of confidence, but on that section of Florin Road I don't think there are a lot of people that can afford to be choosy. Then again, my dentist is a few blocks away and awesome, so maybe it's just that Fillings Bell Grande is affiliated with some shitty chain of dental offices and mostly serves medi-cal patients who don't have many better options.

[Kutjara]

3. There's a dentist near here in what looks like an old...

...Burger King. I don't know what attracts dentists to former lard palaces. You'd think they'd be better locations for cardiologists.

[zonkers]

2. classic. thanks for sharing. what state is this?

[pstokely]

4. I'm in Kansas City, that site has places from many places (none from KC)

[ashling]

5. There is a night club going into a strip mall near me

"Mabel Peabody's Beauty Salon and Chainsaw Repair"

[sasquatch]

6. At least someone is moving into those places

[pstokely]

7. Same thing Wal-Mart does

Don't know if a title loan shop or a used car lot is much of an improvement

[sasquatch]

13. Well I'm not using Wal-Mart as an example

I'm using the example of mom and pops that move in.

[nemo137]

8. there's a payday loan place in an old mexican restaurant a little ways from my home in Rockford

There's another payday loan in an old family restaurant on the East Side, too. There's also the famous drive-through funeral parlor, which I think may have closed.

[terrya]

14. There's a payday loan place down the street from me...

that used to be a Church's Chicken place.

[Richard Steele]

9. The best local asian market used to be a Pizza Hut™...

They just painted over the Pizza Hut™ logo on the red fabric awning.

Of course, when the sun goes down and they turn on the outside lights,
the words "Pizza Hut" are silhouetted clear as a bell from the light
shining through the fabric.

Talk about "not fooling anybody"! :eyes:

[pstokely]

10. Here's a guide

http://www.notfoolinganybody.com/fieldguide/

[BrotherBuzz]

29. Sometimes conversions can be good

If this donut house goes under, it's a sure bet it will be converted to a tire shop. Maybe it already had its conversion and WAS a tire shop at one time. In either event, the city planners are pissed because you know that big thing up on the roof must be grandfathered in for an eternity.

[pstokely]

11. Near me, a closed sonic next to a former Taco Bell (now a catfish place) was once a Pizza Hut

[TheMightyFavog]

12. I can think of a few off the top of my head...

There's an old Hardee's on Hwy 22 in Oconto Falls, WI that's now a microbrewery. In Stevens Point, there's an old Burger King on Division Street that's now a tanning salon. In my hometown there's a former independently owned burger and frozen custard joint that's now the local pharmacy. In Green Bay, there's an old burger and frozen custard place (I can't remember if it was a Culver's or a Storheim's) that now sells hot tubs.

EDIT: I just remembered, When I was going to UW-Stevens Point, the Portage County Repugs would use an old Hot N' Now as their headquarters!

[Ellen Forradalom]

15. Loyola University in Chicago

housed its art department in a former Denny's style family restaurant. It was quite the work of fifties baroque, too. Don't know if it's still there or in more dignified quarters.

[Wapsie B]

16. I remember seeing several old Stuckeys that were converted

to something else. One was a XXX bookstore. ;-)

[pstokely]

21. Was this in Missouri?

[Wapsie B]

24. The bookstore was in Illinois.

[CreekDog]

22. Well, at least it was an improvement over Stuckeys

at least that one you named. :evilgrin:

[Deep13]

17. Tons of them. Too many to mention. nt

[Deja Q]

18. Wow. KFC did chicken right. Gilstrap will snap your neck off, like a chicken.

:shrug:

[Javaman]

19. man. :( the white castle in flatbush is gone. :( nt

[spinbaby]

20. We have a Chinese restaurant in a Hardee's

The Hardee's had a clown theme going. The Chinese restaurant kept the clown theme and added fountains and Chinese decorations. The overall effect was creepy.

[Generic Brad]

36. We have a Hardee's that is a used car lot

I liked it better when it was Hardee's.

[marzipanni]

23. No, but I was sad when the little second-run movie theater near here

was converted into a church. You couldn't beat two-for-$4.00 Tuesdays!
I can imagine one of the four"plexes" as a church, but offices and Sunday school on tiered floors...?

[Hardrada]

25. Our Hardees's in town halted for a few years

and was empty and then re-opened as a Hardee's again but closed when a McDonald's opened. Now the Hardee's place is a center for family counseling.

[shanti]

26. lots

one that comes to mind is a former sizzler's turned japanese buffet. now it's empty.

[Hobarticus]

27. WTF, do I really have to fill that thing?

How much urine do you need, doc???

[Bennyboy]

28. Here they turn them into Buritto shops!

Carolina's, Humberto's, Adalberto's.Rodrigo's etc. Best biggest burittos in town. Cheap too. Got one down the street and I eat there all the time...

[Tabasco_Dave]

30. Two Fotomats turned into latte stands

in my town. I'm actually happy that small business, gets to push the the big corporations out,once in a while.

[AllegroRondo]

39. We had a photomat turned into a DVD rental

they only dealt with new releases, so no huge stocks of old movies.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

31. Two within 15 minutes of me.

A DQ repainted and converted into a Taco Pronto, and a Long John Silver's turned into a payday loan place - you can still make out the old drive-thru lane. There was also an old Taco Bell several blocks from me that sat empty for months, and was supposed to be turned into a burger place, but they tore it down a few weeks ago.

[IronLionZion]

32. We have a Chinese dim sum place in an old Chi Chi's restaurant.

There's something in an old Little Caesar's, I think it's an Italian takeout-only place.

[KamaAina]

33. Down the street from the office: a *used car lot* in an old Burger King!

:wtf:

[noonwitch]

34. My first job was in one of those A-frame IHOPS

I can tell you this-they were designed after ships, because the chain's founder was a navy man. The kitchen is the galley, the back seating area is called "torp", and in the 70s, all the restaurants had pictures of ships hanging in them.

I don't miss IHOP that much-after all, there are still plenty of them out there, but I do miss Howard Johnsons and Friendly. Both chains' ice cream was so good.

[pstokely]

35. Seen orangeroof.org

So many former HoJos belong on notfoolinganybody.com

[Redstone]

37. That's pretty bad. What would it have cost them to remove the cup, $500?

Redstone

[pstokely]

38. Here's a bunch of abandoned Taco Bells, KFCs, Burger Kings, etc.

Waiting for a title loan shop or Chinese joint

http://www.johndixon.com/auctiondetails.asp?id=55