fwiw: Cheap bus service from Hartford to Boston and NYC

On Jan 7, 11:36*am, wrote:

Well,http://www.royrogersrestaurants.comhas a store locator which
still lists the Manchester one, and also says a Roy's is *opening*
this month at a truck stop along I-95 in North Stonington (near the RI
border).

The chain is barely hanging on. *Most of its locations are in toll
road service plazas -- maybe they have contracts that don't allow them
to close or rebrand them.

I can't believe one is opening.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. I'm not sure why the chain died
off. But then Howard Johnson's and Mariott's Hot Shoppes once had
high standards but then slid down hill and closed up. Some HJs became
independent diners, others torn down for office parks. Some are
abandoned.

There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). Still there?

wrote:
On Jan 7, 11:36 am, wrote:
Well,http://www.royrogersrestaurants.comhas a store locator which
still lists the Manchester one, and also says a Roy's is *opening*
this month at a truck stop along I-95 in North Stonington (near the RI
border).

The chain is barely hanging on. Most of its locations are in toll
road service plazas -- maybe they have contracts that don't allow them
to close or rebrand them.

I can't believe one is opening.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. I'm not sure why the chain died
off. But then Howard Johnson's and Mariott's Hot Shoppes once had
high standards but then slid down hill and closed up. Some HJs became
independent diners, others torn down for office parks. Some are
abandoned.

At least Stuckey's is still around. And one Sambo's.

On Jan 7, 11:58*pm, wrote:
On Jan 7, 11:36*am, wrote:



Well,http://www.royrogersrestaurants.comhasa store locator which
still lists the Manchester one, and also says a Roy's is *opening*
this month at a truck stop along I-95 in North Stonington (near the RI
border).

The chain is barely hanging on. *Most of its locations are in toll
road service plazas -- maybe they have contracts that don't allow them
to close or rebrand them.

I can't believe one is opening.

When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. *I'm not sure why the chain died

Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

The few times I went to a drive-in such things were a novelty, but
that was in the 1960s. (The closest I've found to drive-in food is on
the Staten Island Ferry.)

off. *But then Howard Johnson's and Mariott's Hot Shoppes once had
high standards but then slid down hill and closed up. *Some HJs became
independent diners, others torn down for office parks. *Some are
abandoned.

There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). *Still there?

The last HJ in the city was in Times Square. There are still HJ Motor
Lodges around, but they don't have the restaurants with the 28 flavors
and the tendersweet fried clams.

On Jan 8, 4:34*pm, "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:


When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. *I'm not sure why the chain died

Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

I go there for the roast beef, not the burgers.

Arby's roast beef is terribly salty.


There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). *Still there?

The last HJ in the city was in Times Square. There are still HJ Motor
Lodges around, but they don't have the restaurants with the 28 flavors
and the tendersweet fried clams.

I was speaking of a Roy Rogers, which I believe was on 42nd near the
entrance of Grand Central Terminal. Don't know if still there.

In Manhattan, I'd rather eat at independent coffee shops and diners,
usually found on side streets. I knew of a good coffee shop a few
blocks above Grand Central north side, but I can't recall its exact
location (in the middle of a block on a side street). It was nicer
and cheaper than the foodcourt on the lower level of GCT.

On Jan 8, 4:42*pm, wrote:
On Jan 8, 4:34*pm, "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:



When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. *I'm not sure why the chain died

Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

I go there for the roast beef, not the burgers.

Arby's roast beef is terribly salty.

There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). *Still there?

The last HJ in the city was in Times Square. There are still HJ Motor
Lodges around, but they don't have the restaurants with the 28 flavors
and the tendersweet fried clams.

I was speaking of a Roy Rogers, which I believe was on 42nd near the
entrance of Grand Central Terminal. *Don't know if still there.

I don't think I've ever noticed one in NYC.

In Manhattan, I'd rather eat at independent coffee shops and diners,
usually found on side streets. *I knew of a good coffee shop a few
blocks above Grand Central north side, but I can't recall its exact
location (in the middle of a block on a side street). *It was nicer
and cheaper than the foodcourt on the lower level of GCT.

Nowhere better than the Tibbett Diner, on Tibbett Ave. in Kingsbridge
between 230th & 231st.

wrote:
On Jan 8, 4:34 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. I'm not sure why the chain died
Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

I go there for the roast beef, not the burgers.

Arby's roast beef is terribly salty.

Arbies hasn't had real roast beef in a long long time. They use a "space
meat" type product that comes in a plastic sleeve casing.



There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). Still there?
The last HJ in the city was in Times Square. There are still HJ Motor
Lodges around, but they don't have the restaurants with the 28 flavors
and the tendersweet fried clams.

I was speaking of a Roy Rogers, which I believe was on 42nd near the
entrance of Grand Central Terminal. Don't know if still there.

In Manhattan, I'd rather eat at independent coffee shops and diners,
usually found on side streets. I knew of a good coffee shop a few
blocks above Grand Central north side, but I can't recall its exact
location (in the middle of a block on a side street). It was nicer
and cheaper than the foodcourt on the lower level of GCT.

On Jan 9, 8:31*am, George wrote:
wrote:
On Jan 8, 4:34 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. *I'm not sure why the chain died
Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

I go there for the roast beef, not the burgers.

Arby's roast beef is terribly salty.

Arbies hasn't had real roast beef in a long long time. They use a "space
meat" type product that comes in a plastic sleeve casing.

So it wasn't fake nostalgia that when I was in Chicago a year ago and
went back to Arby's it wasn't the same! (I knew of only one Arby's in
Manhattan -- on Sixth Ave. opposite the W 4 St station (which has no
entrance on 4th St.) -- and it isn't there any more.) But they now
have very nice apple and cherry turnovers.

"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
wrote:
I was speaking of a Roy Rogers, which I believe was on 42nd near the
entrance of Grand Central Terminal. Don't know if still there.

I don't think I've ever noticed one in NYC.

Their store locator shows only 2 left in NYC: one in Penn Station, and
one on 7th Avenue across the street from Penn Station.

As for the rest of NYS, there's one in Shirley (eastern Suffolk), and
a bunch in Thruway rest areas.

Franchised chains are supposed to have consistent food, but it doesn't
always work out that way. The Roy Rogerses I've been to have been
pretty good.

Jimmy

On Jan 8, 4:34*pm, "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
On Jan 7, 11:58*pm, wrote:

On Jan 7, 11:36*am, wrote:

Well,http://www.royrogersrestaurants.comhasastore locator which
still lists the Manchester one, and also says a Roy's is *opening*
this month at a truck stop along I-95 in North Stonington (near the RI
border).

The chain is barely hanging on. *Most of its locations are in toll
road service plazas -- maybe they have contracts that don't allow them
to close or rebrand them.

I can't believe one is opening.

When Pete from Boston mentioned "Roy's," I had no idea he was talking
about Roy Rogers. I have to time my stops on the Jersey Turnpike
carefully (when driving to Washington) in order not to miss the last
one with a Burger King -- Roy Rogers is just awful.

Actually, I like the chain, and eating at them on the turnpike is one
decent thing about highway travel. *I'm not sure why the chain died

Because they put dry burgers in foil bags under heat lamps?

The few times I went to a drive-in such things were a novelty, but
that was in the 1960s. (The closest I've found to drive-in food is on
the Staten Island Ferry.)

off. *But then Howard Johnson's and Mariott's Hot Shoppes once had
high standards but then slid down hill and closed up. *Some HJs became
independent diners, others torn down for office parks. *Some are
abandoned.

There used to be one I think on 42nd St very close to GCT (going
west). *Still there?

The last HJ in the city was in Times Square. There are still HJ Motor
Lodges around, but they don't have the restaurants with the 28 flavors
and the tendersweet fried clams.

Well, not in the city, or almost anywhere else, but there are three in
existence -- Bangor, ME, Lake Placid, NY, and Lake George, NY. At
least one of those is only open seasonally. Maybe five years before
the Times Square store closed there were a dozen or more, mostly in
the northeast. A company almost comically called La Mancha, LLC,
bought the trademark (for food, not hotel use) several years back,
with stated hopes of revising it, but don't count on it in these bleak
times.

Roy's was bought by Hardee's, which planned to convert most or all to
that brand. This didn't pan out, and the resulting divestiture really
decimated what was a siginificant presence in the northeast. The
current company is actually just the largest remaining franchisee, who
probably bought the rights to protect their investment.

I like the Fixin's Bar, frankly. And the unique-in-my-fast-food-
experience Double-R-Bar Burger, ham and cheese on a hamburger. The
restaurants are generally lousy in execution*, but I was always fond
of the concept.


* Presumably this killed the Manchester location, which was usually a
mess after the hordes of bus passengers passed through, and rarely
cleaned promptly. Last week the sign was for an Indian place. And to
bring things full circle, this building bears the unmistakable
architecture of a former HoJo's: http://tinyurl.com/bgzyph

In
by Peter T. Daniels on Thu, 8 Jan 2009
13:34:50 -0800 (PST) we perused:

*+-and the tendersweet fried clams.

Before I got gout, I used to eat clams from White Castle during lent.
(Orthodox aren't supposed to eat fish with spines during lent.)

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