[TheStranger]

Arden Way just west of Fulton (which would actually be in unincorporated Arden-Arcade). I'm not sure what this one is...it's in what's now a used-car lot.


larger: http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/sac/dcfc0021.jpg

[BillyGr]

I believe one of the Roast Beef chains - Arbys I think?

It was supposed to look like a covered wagon.

[quote="TheStranger"]Arden Way just west of Fulton (which would actually be in unincorporated Arden-Arcade). I'm not sure what this one is...it's in what's now a used-car lot.

[Jeff]

Definitely an Arby's.

[Groceteria]

Arby's, no question at all.

One of the very few unmodified stores of this prototype (with its original cowboy hat sign as well) os located on El Camino Real in either South San Francisco or San Bruno CA. I may have a photo somewhere, but it's too late for me to look for it tonight.

[TheStranger]

Arby's, no question at all.

One of the very few unmodified stores of this prototype (with its original cowboy hat sign as well) os located on El Camino Real in either South San Francisco or San Bruno CA. I may have a photo somewhere, but it's too late for me to look for it tonight.

I actually grew up near that exact restaurant (which is in South San Francisco, at El Camino and Chestnut near the ex-QFI) and have gone there many a time when I was younger. Most recent time I was there was March of this year I think.

When I'm back down in the area, I'll have to get myself a photo too...I got so used to seeing that cowboy hat sign that it's only more recently I've realized how rare those things are.

[Groceteria]

Of interest in the vintage SSF location: they still have the video monitors installed in the front counter from a failed (?) early 1990s experiment with touch screen ordering at certain Arby's stores in the Bay Area. The now closed location at Westlake in Daly City had these as well.

Just like today's self-checkouts at supermarkets, these made it possible to patronize an Arby's with no verbal communication whatsoever involving another human being. It was great for antisocial types like me, but I think a lot of customers resented it just a little.

[TheStranger]

Of interest in the vintage SSF location: they still have the video monitors installed in the front counter from a failed (?) early 1990s experiment with touch screen ordering at certain Arby's stores in the Bay Area. The now closed location at Westlake in Daly City had these as well.

I definitely remember using those at both locations. Still required human interaction (because the systems weren't exactly 100% reliable) though. I think the monitors are now just nothing more than places for the employees to tape on paper notices these days.

As for the Westlake location, what I miss about it are the Westlake/Daly City history photos that used to be placed in several spots around that outlet. It's now Unamas, a Mexican food place, and has been for about a decade.

[Jeff]

Montebello Town Center's Arbys had the touch screen monitors. They were good for about a year then were full of spills, covered in grease and not used anymore. They opened that store around 90 I want to say. They had the monitors there till about a year ago, when they remodeled the "exterior" of the location (its in the food court of a mall)

[tesg]

Of interest in the vintage SSF location: they still have the video monitors installed in the front counter from a failed (?) early 1990s experiment with touch screen ordering at certain Arby's stores in the Bay Area. The now closed location at Westlake in Daly City had these as well.

I got to experience this at an Arby's in Denver once. I was the only customer in the building, and the kid working just stood there and watched me do the order thing. I thought it was kind of clunky and dumb.

First and last time I saw such a thing.

[Groceteria]

Finallly remembered the picture:



This was taken in May 2005, I thought I remembered the roof still being its original yellow, but it doesn't seem so from this picture. I'm pretty sure it was yellow as recently as a couple of years ago.

[TheStranger]

This was taken in May 2005, I thought I remembered the roof still being its original yellow, but it doesn't seem so from this picture. I'm pretty sure it was yellow as recently as a couple of years ago.

Is it a complete refinish or is it just that the roof paint has faded from years of exposure?

[Groceteria]

Is it a complete refinish or is it just that the roof paint has faded from years of exposure?

I honestly don't know. I just noticed that the color in the photo (which I took myself) is most definitely not yellow. Could be a trick of the light, I guess, but it looks like too extreme a color shift.

[Dave]

Is it a complete refinish or is it just that the roof paint has faded from years of exposure?

I honestly don't know. I just noticed that the color in the photo (which I took myself) is most definitely not yellow. Could be a trick of the light, I guess, but it looks like too extreme a color shift.

Arby's repainted their roofs that brown-copper color. It's so common I forgot that they used to be yellow. There are a few old Arby's around Richmond and also a few "Is Delicious" signs. There are enough of them that I've never thought of them as particularly rare.

There are a couple of newer Arby's that have tons of glass and even a couple with domes. Pretty fancy looking.

I don't know how it is in other areas, but at lunchtime, you have to wait for a parking space at any of the Arby's around here that I'm familiar with. I don't recall the last one I saw that wasn't running at full capacity at lunchtime.

[Dave]

As long as we're talking about the Arby's sign, does anyone know if the "IS DELICIOUS" sign was the original? The reason I ask is that all of the remaining "hats" in Richmond say "IS DELICIOUS" - some are early stores, some not so early. At one time, some of the Arby's "hats" said either "SANDWICHES" or "RESTUARANT" (I forget exactly which), instead of "IS DELICIOUS". I remember this from the early 1970's.

[Daniel]

I've seen a photo of an Arby's hat sign that says "Arby's Roast Beef" and "Sandwich" where that sign pictured says "Is Delicious". I assumed the version that just said "Sandwich" was older than the "Is Delicious" version.