Sambo's

Last updated

Sambo's
FormerlyThe Jolly Tiger (12 locations)
No Place Like Sam's (some locations)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy (1981)

Remaining chain sold to Vicorp (1984)

Last restaurant renamed (2020)
Headquarters
Santa Barbara, California
Number of locations
1,117 (1979)

Sambo's was an American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett in Santa Barbara, California. [1] Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its two founders, the chain also associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo . Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on this connection by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy, tigers, and a pale, magical unicycle-riding man called "The Treefriend". By the early 1960s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers. A kids club, Sambo's Tiger Tamers (later called the Tiger Club), promoted the chain's family image. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1981. [2] All locations except for the first in Santa Barbara either closed outright, or were renamed after being purchased, effectively ending the chain's existence.

Contents

The Santa Barbara restaurant continued business under the Sambo's name until 2020, when it was renamed to Chad's after its owner at the time, Chad Stevens. The George Floyd protests against racism in the United States resulted in the owner of the restaurant changing the name of the establishment.

History

A former Sambo's in Alpena, Michigan, now occupied by Big Boy Big Boy former Sambos cropped.jpg
A former Sambo's in Alpena, Michigan, now occupied by Big Boy

After the first Sambo's was opened in 1957, the restaurant was expanded to more locations. In late 1963, it had restaurants in 16 cities – in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. [3] By 1969, the company had grown to 98 locations, [4] and over the next two years diversified to create additional restaurant franchises, including Red Top Hamburgers, Heidi's Pie Shop, and the Blue Ox Steak House. [4] [5]

In the latter half of the 1970s, pressure began to mount on the chain to change its name, drawing protests and lawsuits in communities that viewed the term Sambo as pejorative towards Black Americans. Twelve of its restaurants were opened as or renamed "The Jolly Tiger" in locations where the local community passed resolutions forbidding the use of the original name or refused to grant the chain permits. The last of these restaurants was created in December 1977. In March 1979, the company reversed course on its "Jolly Tiger" restaurants and stated their intent to rename all of them back to Sambo's. [6] The company cited poor financial performance of these restaurants; the company's "constitutional, legal, and moral right to operate (those restaurants) under its corporate name"; and the assertion that Black people did not object to the name, citing studies that showed that "three times as many blacks [sic] ate at Sambo's as at any other full service restaurant". [6]

In 1979, Sambo's had 1,117 outlets in 47 American states. Additional corporate level decisions made at the time also led to Sambo's corporate demise. Pressure to take Sambo's into a more normal, salaried manager compensation package was one issue. Their unique "Fraction of the Action" promotion – whereby managers were entitled to 20% of the profits from their stores, with employees allowed to bid for a percentage of the remaining profits – was an early company expansion plan, and the growth of the company outpaced its control. [7] [8] [9] [10] In March 1981, in a further attempt to give the chain a new image the company again renamed some locations, this time to "No Place Like Sam's". [11] By November 1981, the company filed for bankruptcy. [2] Neither the name change nor bankruptcy protection reversed this downward trend, and by 1982 all except the original Sambo's at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara, California closed their doors. [12] By February 1983, 618 of the locations were renamed Season's Friendly Eating. [13] Several locations were sold to Denny's, including the Fort Lauderdale store. [14] [15] Bakers Square's parent company acquired Sambo's in California in October 1984. Many Sambo's locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants and the ones that weren't were sold to other chains, including Denny's.

Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining restaurant in Santa Barbara which continued business under the Sambo's name until 2020. [16] In late May 2020, George Floyd protests against racism in the United States began in cities across the United States, including Santa Barbara. A petition drive asked the owner to change the name of Sambo's. In June 2020, the name on the original Sambo's sign was temporarily changed to the motto "☮ & LOVE" ("Peace and love"). [17] [18] [19] In July 2020, the restaurant was officially renamed to "Chad's". [20]

Sam Battistone, Jr. was the original owner of the New Orleans Jazz in the NBA. [21] He later moved the team to Utah and sold it.

An abandoned Sambo's was cleaned up and used for a scene in the movie Edward Scissorhands . [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck E. Cheese</span> US arcade / themed pizza entertainment chain

Chuck E. Cheese is an American entertainment restaurant chain founded on May 17, 1977 by Atari, Inc.'s co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, each location features arcade games, amusement rides and musical shows in addition to serving pizza and other food items; former mainstays included ball pits, crawl tubes, and animatronic shows. The chain's name is taken from its main character and mascot, Chuck E. Cheese. The first location opened as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment, thus being one of the pioneers for the "family entertainment center" concept.

<i>The Story of Little Black Sambo</i> 1899 childrens book by Helen Bannerman

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, the story was popular for more than half a century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny's</span> Restaurant chain established in the United States

Denny's Corporation is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sambo (racial term)</span> Ethnic slur for someone of African ancestry

Sambo is a derogatory label for a person of African descent in the Spanish language. Historically, it is a name in American English derived from a Spanish term for a person of African and Native American ancestry. After the Civil War, during and after the Jim Crow era the term was used in conversation, print advertising and household items as a pejorative descriptor for black people. The term is now considered offensive in American and British English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel's Drive-In</span> American restaurant chain

Mel's Drive-In is a term referring to two American restaurant chains, the successors of a chain founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California. It is closely associated with the film American Graffiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakers Square</span> American restaurant chain

Bakers Square Restaurant & Bakery is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States. Known for its pies, Bakers Square also offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The chain is owned by BBQ Holdings. As of April 2024, the company operates 9 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Santa Barbara Restaurant Group was a restaurant holding company and was the parent company for the Green Burrito, La Salsa, JB's Restaurants, and the Timber Lodge Steakhouse restaurant chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Farms</span> California-based upscale grocery chain

Bristol Farms is an upscale grocery store chain in California, United States. Founded in Los Angeles County, Bristol Farms operates 19 stores: 13 as Bristol Farms locations and 6 branded as Lazy Acres Markets throughout Southern California. The company is currently owned by Good Food Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Druther's</span> American fast food restaurant

Druther's is a restaurant, formerly a chain of fast food restaurants that began as Burger Queen restaurants started in Winter Haven, Florida in 1956, and then based in Louisville, Kentucky from 1963 until 1981. The name was a play on the word "druthers", and the mascot was a giant female bee named Queenie Bee. In 1981, Burger Queen changed to Druther's restaurants, although the changes were mostly cosmetic. One reason given for the name change was to eliminate the perception that they specialized in only hamburgers when they also had fried chicken and a serve-yourself salad bar. Druther's featured a character named "Andy Dandytale" on its kids meal items. The chain's slogan was "I'd Ruther Go to Druther's Restaurant." As of April 2024, the company operates 1 location in Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goleta station</span> Railway station in Goleta, California, US

Goleta station is a passenger rail station in the city of Goleta, California. It is served by the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner; it is the northern terminal for three of those round trips. Trains terminating in Goleta are stored on a storage track adjacent to the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob's Big Boy</span> American restaurant chain

Bob's Big Boy is a casual dining restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. The chain's signature product is the Big Boy hamburger, which Wian created six months after opening his original location. Slicing a bun into three slices and adding two hamburger patties, Wian is credited with creating the original double-decker hamburger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IHOP</span> American restaurant chain

IHOP Restaurants LLC is an American multinational pancake house restaurant chain that specializes in American breakfast foods. It is owned by Dine Brands—a company formed after IHOP's purchase of Applebee's, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees.

JB's Family Restaurants was a chain of restaurants located in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. The Tempe, Arizona-based company was originally established in 1961 as a Big Boy restaurants affiliate named JB's Big Boy. The company eventually dropped its Big Boy affiliation in 1988. At its height, there were 104 JB's branded restaurants in 1995. A series of bankruptcies then forced the chain to close in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habit Burger & Grill</span> American fast casual restaurant chain

Habit Burger & Grill is a California-based fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in chargrilled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. It was founded in 1969 at Santa Barbara, California, and its headquarters are in Irvine, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Salsa</span> Chain of American fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurants

La Salsa is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Los Angeles, California in 1979, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza Factory</span> Chain of pizza restaurants

Pizza Factory Inc. is a chain of pizza restaurants in the western United States, based in Oakhurst, California. The company began in 1979, when Danny Wheeler and his wife Carol opened Danny's Red Devil Pizza in Oakhurst. Ron Willey and his wife Joyce subsequently opened a second location in 1981, known as Pizza Factory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Pollo Loco (United States)</span> Restaurant chain

El Pollo Loco, Inc., is a restaurant chain based in the United States, specializing in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Restaurant service consists of: dine-in and take-out, with some locations offering drive-through options. The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and operates about 500 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the Southwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phở Hòa</span> Phở restaurant chain

Phở Hòa is a phở restaurant chain based in Sacramento, California, United States. It was founded in San Jose, California, in 1983. As of 2017, it has more than 70 locations across the United States, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan.

References

  1. ↑ LaMotte, Greg (January 26, 1998). "Sambo's revival running into hot water". CNN. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Chapter 11 Petition Is Filed by Sambo's". The New York Times. November 28, 1981. sec. 2 p. 30.
  3. ↑ "Sambo's Start New Restaurants". Needles Desert Star. May 2, 1963. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Local Broker Fills Post With Sambo's". The Sacramento Bee. September 7, 1969. p. 30. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Sambo Restaurant". Tampa Bay Times. May 13, 1971. p. 92. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Sambo's Restaurants Drop 'Jolly Tiger' Alternate Name". Chillicothe Gazette. March 12, 1979. p. 2. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Market Place; Mistakes At Sambo's". The New York Times . November 27, 1981.
  8. ↑ "A New Name". Time. Vol. 118, no. 7. August 17, 1981. p. 67. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009.
  9. ↑ Bernstein, Charles (1984). Sambo's: Only a Fraction of the Action : the Inside Story of a Restaurant Empire's Rise and Fall. Burbank, California: National Literary Guild. ISBN   9780866662024.
  10. ↑ Jones, Thomas David (1998). Human Rights: Group Defamation, Freedom of Expression and the Law of Nations. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 107–117. ISBN   90-411-0265-5.
  11. ↑ "Company News: Sambo's to Alter Northeast Names". The New York Times. March 11, 1981. p. D4. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Across America". Sambo's Restaurant. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2006.
  13. ↑ "Six Area Restaurants to Get New Name". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. December 10, 1982. p. 6B. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Denny's Expands in S. Florida". The Palm Beach Post. June 24, 1983. p. D1. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  15. ↑ Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel July 21, 1981
  16. ↑ Palminteri, John (June 5, 2020). "American restaurant history changes in Santa Barbara with the end of Sambo's". KEYT | KCOY. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  17. ↑ Smith, Delaney (June 5, 2020). "Amid Protests, 'Peace & Love' is New Motto for Last Standing Sambo's Restaurant". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  18. ↑ Croft, Jay (June 6, 2020). "What's in a name? California restaurant agrees to a change amid national unrest". CNN. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  19. ↑ McCausland, Phil (June 6, 2020). "Sambo's, which once had 1,100 restaurants, changes name amid national George Floyd protests". NBC . Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  20. ↑ Palminteri, John (July 15, 2020). "It's official – Chad's replaces Sambo's after 63 years in Santa Barbara". KEYT-TV . Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  21. ↑ "The Move to Utah". Hornets Report. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  22. ↑ "25 Things You Never Knew About 'Edward Scissorhands'". Zimbio. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

34°24′35″N119°41′32″W / 34.40972°N 119.69222°W / 34.40972; -119.69222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.