Memories of Sambo's Pancakes

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Actually, the name Sambo's was a combination of the chain's founders names. They added the "Sambo" artwork to emphasize the
name of the chain. So the name wasn't created with racist ideals, but the name fell into poor context when racial ideals changed.

 
My memories of Sambo's isn't so great

I spent a summer in high school as a waiter, dishwasher, pre-cook. An all night resturant in a college town is not a maker of fond memories. Little OCD me about killed himself, I lost down to 102lbs and couldn't stand to even look at food. But their strawberry waffles were the best.
 
We had a Sambo's at the end of our block at the corner of the main drag. Interior was much like the one pictured, but the upholstery color scheme was orange & pink. When Sambo's folded my friend and I saw all the Sambo scenes (like those shown above the counter in the pic) sitting at one end of the parking lot. We asked if they were up for grabs and were told the manager was taking them. A year or so ago, the subject of Sambo's came up and a friend who grew up in Ventura County close to Sambo's HQ advised that all of those Sambo scenes were gathered up by corporate and destroyed. What a shame.

I liked going to Sambo's for patty melts late at night. It was so convenient being a short walk and 24/7. It changed to "Seasons" and then when Seasons went out it started in with a few different independent coffee shop incarnations. Most recently, it was tried as an Ethiopian restaurant, which deservedly failed. It was awful. Currently it's Mexican, and it will fail too, because the food is barely mediocre, overpriced, and there is far too much better competition in this town.

One of the more unique things about this Sambo's is that it was tacked onto a motel and had a bar (separate operation) upstairs. If you wanted, you could order a screwdriver or bloody mary with your pancakes.

Ralph
 

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