[TheStranger]

Took this photo while headed back east from Thanksgiving, on Texas Street well north of downtown Fairfield.

The Armet/Davis architecture is immediately recognizable. Some examples to compare this coffee shop with can be found here:
http://roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwe ... /index.htm


larger: http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/1127/dcfc0080b.jpg

[javelin]

While I've never been to Fairfield, it looks exactly like a Sambo's I remember in Anaheim, CA.

[TheStranger]

While I've never been to Fairfield, it looks exactly like a Sambo's I remember in Anaheim, CA.

It also looks like what I think is an ex-Sambo's on 2nd Street in downtown San Jose.

Having said that, that prototype was also used by Denny's as well; with the San Jose building, the diamond lighted sign makes me almost certain that one was clearly Sambo's...with this one, there's the newer, rectangular sign at front from the current operators (Chinese restaurant) and no specfic sign shape from either Denny's or Sambo's to key in on.

Sorry for the low picture quality, I took this photo from the passenger seat of a truck while it was raining outside. But the roofline is pretty obvious here.

[dth1971]

Some Sambo's became Family Sam's or Denny's by the early 1980's.