The official unofficial start of summer is coming, which means more than a few families are planning some road trips. And on those trips, you may be tempted to stop at a restaurant that isn’t as familiar, perhaps a regional chain. But did you realize some of these regional chains might have once had visions of national grandeur?
Ernie Smith, in an article on Atlas Obscura, dives into the occasionally deep-friend origins of some of these restaurants in often unexpected ways. Plus old ads. Really, the videos alone make this a worthwhile look. And although it’s from 2017, I’ve confirmed some places like Rax are still around. And although they don’t have the delightfully option-rich buffet highlighted in the demented image above, they do have a sandwich called the “King Rax,” which one of you Ohioans needs to enlighten us about.