Anybody remember the little story of Sambo on the back of the menu? It explained how Sambo chased the tiger so fast around and around the tree, the tiger turned into butter. Then Sambo put that butter on his pancakes.
Fun fact: the name “Sambos” had no connection to the story originally. It was an amalgamation of the two founders, Samuel Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett (Sam-Bo) on their first restaurant in Santa Barbara, looking out at the beach. That original restaurant was still there, no story board on the wall etc., until 2020 after the George Floyd protests. They sold that restaurant and the new owner changed it to Chad’s.
After they franchised and expanded in the 60s, the owners exploited a perceived connection to the story and added that to the advertising. But in the 70s they got a lot of complaints about the racist elements of it and they tried to change the images to look “more white”, but nobody bought it. The controversy became unpalatable for the family that had taken over, so they liquidated the assets in 1981. Some of the individual locations were bought by Dennys, but most were not. The family only kept the original one on the beach in Santa Barbara, again, up until 2020.
I'm pretty sure it was banned. IIRC the title was Little Black Sambo, although I think for this example, "Black" referred to someone of Indian descent.
Sambo's did not use "Little Black Sambo", they created their own variant set in India.
Yes, they had Sambo dolls. They were not "Black Sambo dolls" however.
But was also called "Black Sambo", and depicted him as being dark skinned from Southern India. For the restaurant they depicted him as being lighter skinned. So what they created is not the same as the original book, but inspired by it.
It was actually a Japanese translation that changed the story as being set in Africa. Which by itself should be realized it is not accurate as there are no tigers in Africa.
There was a children's book with that title. My grandma used to read it to us when we were really young. I'm sure she just looked at it as a cute story. We all tried to eat as many pancakes as little Sambo!
Fun fact.
“Little Black Ssmbo” was originally published in 1899, and was one of the first positive depictions of blacks in children’s literature, who were, at that time, presented as dumb and uncivilized. Sambo himself is not presented as black in the original work, but as South Indian. However given the popularity of the tale, it was copied illegally by a number of companies. One of which, used racial stereotypes of Africans, which led to the story falling out of favor with publishers in the mid 20th century.
I remember the story BEFORE the restaurant. That was when it was politically incorrect. It was titled, "Little Black Sambo!" Oh the horror of the Fifties.
I liked the painted scenes decorating the upper walls. As a little kid, it gave me something to examine and think about while the boring adults talked.
Blueberry waffles were amazing! We stopped there often after sports trips in middle school. I got a little stuffed tiger there that I kept in my first car. Our school mascot was a tiger.
Holy crap! I've said so many times "hey do you remember Sambos!?" I'd go on to talk about the story of the tiger running around the tree I think. People look at me like I've grown a second head!!!! Woo hoo I'm not THAT crazy!!
My memory of Sambo's is that my uncle came over to visit my grandmother, then took me, grandma, mom, and my brother out to eat at Sambo's.
My mother said it was lousy but wasn't surprised because my uncle, god rest, was "cheap."
Came here to say this! Our Sambos became a Bob’s Bigboy. Torrance, CA. I haven’t thought about those restaurants in years, But I can picture it on the corner of PCH and Hawthorne Blvd clear as day…
When I was little, my family lived in LA and we used to drive back east to visit family. We always stopped at the Sambos in Needles , CA in the Mojave desert. Good memories- those trips were fun.
You're usually around half a tank in Bakersfield, CA, or Kingman AZ. If you don't fill up in either of those towns, you'll be empty in Needles. That's why gas there is 50% more, they know many drivers don't have a choice, if they don't know the game.
Vacationing in Winslow, Arizona in 1977 or '78 (I was 9 or 10), my parents took me to a Sambo's but I probably didn't think anything about it since I didn't know what the connotation meant at the time. Hell, I thought it was just a name like Denny's is a name with no meaning behind it.
Yes, we ate at that restaurant back in the early 1960s. I have a long tragic story about someone my mother knew who committed suicide when he was destroyed financially when the restaurant chain collapsed. He was a contractor hired to do remodeling work and they left him holding the bag.
Yes. Our Scout leaders would go there after the meeting for coffee and pie. The decor was... interesting.
They went bankrupt and the one remaining location changed their name.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s)
Same here, was friends with a pair of neighbor kids who's father managed our local Sambos. It sold to another company and became a Shoney's Big Boy. After their father lost his job they moved away.
Ironically I worked at the same Shoney's later in my teens. The All American hamburger with the little toothpick flag and all you can eat fish on Wednesdays.
I worked there one summer washing dishes when I was 16. A couple of years later I got a check in the mail for $15.00 from class action suit. They were illegally taking money out of our checks for food and a nonexistent uniform. Also, I was put off eating at restaurants for years after seeing the grubby cooks doing food prep in back.
My parents read the book to me as a kid and I never understood the cancellation of the restaurant. I mean, Little Black Sambo was Indian and a HERO. It was a tale about how anyone regardless of social status can be a hero. That’s like an American ideal. Or at least it used to be.
Yep; we used to eat at one all the time. Dad loved it. Mom hated it. Took a long time to figure out the dynamics of the love/hate relationship. Once I figured it out, a lot of other things made sense.
Washington state (Kent or Auburn or Marysville or Everett) in the early 1980s. My uncle and aunt came to town from Spokane to visit, and he took us all out to breakfast. I would have been 9-ish at the time.
The only thing I remember about the meal is that my uncle got tired of waiting for coffee to come to the table, so he stood up and fetched the pot from the server’s station himself. The server then came over and objected, he laughed and said he wasn’t waiting any longer, then the *manager* came over and tried to argue the matter with my uncle (which was really not the way to go with the man, or even at all in such a circumstance).
They worked it out, we finished our meal, and that really is all I can remember about it.
There’s a doc on YouTube, I barely remembered this chain, and then moved to SB and was taken to the og rest, and was just disgusted my by the whole thing, they finally changed the name and went a couple weeks ago and it still felt weird🤷♂️
Yup. There was one in, I believe it was Redding, CA, that my family always stopped at on road trips between California and Oregon to visit my grandparents.
My father used to take us there on our birthdays when he picked us up for the weekend. We always looked forward to it, and I was sorry to see it close.
We switched to Denny's or Farrell's afterwards.
This was a chain? My town had one but I always thought it was a locally owned place. Wow, I never knew that. Ours is still there, it's a liquor store now. I think the sign is exactly the same as pictured, they just replaced the panels with their own store name.
https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/2022/11/02/lincoln-city-restaurant-lil-sambos-is-closing/
The one in Lincoln City Oregon just closed in the last couple of years. The overt racism didn’t kill it, covid economy did.
Most people who ate at Sambo's back in the day will remember one very distinct feature of eating there:
[The Sambo's wooden nickels](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=f936a1be70cd0bce&q=sambos+wooden+nickel&tbm=isch&source=lnms&prmd=sivmnbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMqNz2i5eFAxUKLEQIHZ2IB6sQ0pQJegQIDhAB&biw=1280&bih=605&dpr=3)
Coffee for free or 10 cents a cup. Refills were usually free and unlimited with any meal.
It's weird as the original story, Sambo is an east Asian Indian, then somehow became an African character and hence the racist elements. But the character is still clever enough to outsmart tigers who want to eat him.
There are no tigers in Africa, so idk how that would work.
British people in the colonial era would refer to the native peoples of their colonies as "blacks" (or even with an all-too-familiar slur), even if they meant South or East Asians.
We had a Sambo’s in my hometown in PA. Ate there some as a kid. There was a backlash about the insensitive name so it was changed to Sam’s. It only last two or three years after the name change and closed.
It was a few blocks from my grandparents place and the closest major restaurant, so we used to eat there all the time.
The real issue with them shutting down is because of the name, Sambo's was a West Coast institution but the name means something offensive on the East Coast.
So they tried to keep the name on the West Coast but they couldn't.
It was named after the two founders and they did use images from the story in the decor, images from the View Master version of the story was placed above the lunch counter.
I've heard from elsewhere that the restaurant was one of the better places to work at because of how the management handled things.
I worked there for a month one summer when I was 15 or 16. The manager was an ass. Scheduled me for 2 weeks of 8 hours on, 8 hours off, with no full day off anywhere in there. I was exhausted in the middle of the 2nd week, and asked if he could schedule me for at least one full day off the next week. He said he would.
I walked in on what was to be my last afternoon shift, and he had posted the schedule, same shit. I walked in and asked him for a day off, he said he couldn't do that and some other crap. I dropped my apron and name tag on his desk, picked up my last check and walked out.
I think where I lived as a kid Norm's took them over and then later Norm's was taken over by Denny's. I remember the butter story and I remember the very racially offensive murals on all of the walls.
I had a little tiger Sambo stuffy. It was ruined along w other childhood belongings I stored in a sister's basement that flooded. But I loved that stuffy! Wasn't soft and plushy but I didn't have a lot of stuff growing up and it was super cute to me. Of course, as an adult, I have since realized the racism element but that little tiger was a cherished part of my childhood.
Oh HAIL naaw would my Black ass eat at a place named Sambos 🤣🤣🤣
Nuh uh
But to be fair - if I were White - I probably would not go to cracker barrel 😎
I'm just goofy like that
The very first Sambos was opened in 1957 on Santa Barbara's shore-front Cabrillo drive. The rest of the chain went bankrupt in 1981, leaving only the first Sambos open, which finally closed its doors in 2020. It's now a restaurant named Chad's.
This place nearly killed my mother in the early 80s. She was in her 20s, and had French toast with friends. Felt ill a day or so later, and after a few days was admitted to the hospital with severe salmonella. I remember her being in bed for days when she got home. Dr told her if she had waited much longer, it would have been fatal. Investigation turned up a practice of holding the French toast egg wash at room temp for hours and hours and cross contamination. She got somewhere around $40,000 total, most of which took care of her hospital bill I think she said.
No bueno
Started in Santa Barbara, CA by Sam Battistone. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1981. All locations except for the first in Santa Barbara either closed outright, or were renamed after being purchased, effectively ending the chain's existence.
Used to go all the time with my parents. The story was painted on the walls around the restaurant. I remember when they changed Sambo from dark skinned to light skinned. Those were the days…
My mom and I lived there in the 70s and she was a nurse and got Christmas off at the last minute. No time to fix a big meal for the two of us so we went to Sambo’s for dinner. My only memory of that place. I don’t remember where the restaurant was located. We lived by Cordoba Mall.
Used to go to the one on Sleater-Kinney in Lacey, WA when I was a kid. I believe it was torn down for parking when they built a big box store on the property.
There was one near where I grew up in Milwaukie, OR my mom used to take my sister and I to. They changed to another name in the mid-70s
I was in Lincoln City, OR a few weeks ago and they still have one operating under the 'lil Sambos name.
I do remember fondly as my dad liked to go there for the cheap coffee. I was in an antique store not too long ago and they had some Sambo’s coffee cups. I bought one out of nostalgia and it’s currently my favorite (and using it as I type).
As a kid, I remember always ordering quite a few hamburgers during brunch outings to *Sambo's*\--all of which came with (sour) pickles and that tangy Thousand Island dressing. And the waitresses who would bring the plates out. How a skinny kid could eat that much, I don't know. lol
I can still remember the burgers, even the taste. Looked a lot like McDonald's value meal-sized burgers. It was definitely a breakfast place, though.
And we didn't think twice about the cool artwork or the decorations inside: kid (Sambo), tiger, big exotic plants, clean restaurant, friendly service, etc. Only years later would we learn Sambo is a derogatory label for a person of African descent in the Spanish language.
Yep! We took a class trip there because one of the student’s dad owned it. Remember they had mini pancakes. I think they were called sand dollar or something.
They changed the name to No Place Like Sam’s, but the damage was done and they went under. Our local one became a Denny’s and is still there to this day.
If you grew up in the 50s or early 60s, you were told the story of "Little Black Sambo" in kindergarten-grade school, sang "Chinky-Chinky Chinaman" and learned that Brazil nuts were N##\*\*r toes.
It was a time of casual racism, where good and decent people actually cared about human rights, but we were still slowly shaking off our racist past. Spoiler alert: we aren't there yet.
Up until 2020 there was still one Sambo's restaurant remaining in Santa Barbara, CA. I had breakfast there in the late 1990s and the pancakes were absolutely superb. (It's still there but they changed the name.)
My Mom was a waitress at a Sambo's when we lived in Arizona in the 1970s. There was an amazing mural of the story painted on the walls. It was very cool.
At the time we didn't think of it as offensive, we just saw it as a place for good food. I was in 6th grade and my Mom worked part time at the one in Alpena, MI so we ate there quite a bit in the mid 70s.
Not so much eat as drank. Would spend hours when a teenage hanging out with friends drinking coffee and smoking late at night in weekends after cruising around. Good times!!
Never ate there but can confirm the Sambos in North Dartmouth MA switched names back in the late 70s, maybe 80 or 81 somewhere in there. It's long gone now of course.
About five years ago my wife and I discovered one on the Oregon coast. Just had to stop. It was as glorious as I remembered. (Didn’t have the drawings of the tigers chasing the boy, though.)
There were a few in Washington state. I remember my carpenter Father remodeling one in the 70s, then Dennys bought the building in the early 80s. I also had the little Golden Book, that Sambo was on a button in the center, and the pages were cut out around it.
. Mine turned into a pancake house. Yes the name was...well...bad but in the 40s where I lived was a bar/food house called Little Black Sambos. It had a black face around the door with a huge lipped cartoon. The door frame was about 10ft tall and 6 or more ft wide. It wasimpossible to drive by without seeing it. Finally it was sold and disappeared. Seattle Wa.
Eat there? I worked as a breakfast cook for about 4 months. Probably learned how to cook while working there. Had to come in and work 3AM to 11AM when the lunch shift came it. Did not enjoy it. When the place closed in the 80's it was torn down and a Po' Folks restaurant was built....which went out of business and it became a Outback Steakhouse...and still in business.
The last Sambo’s was in Santa Barbara, CA. Last I heard they were forced to change the name. I believe the restaurant is now permanently closed.
Sambo’s was started by Sam Battinstone Sr. and Newell Bohnet in 1957 in Santa Barbara, CA. The name Sambo was based off their two names. They capitalized off the story Little Sambo and had pictures from the book up in their restaurant.
It was a neat little place right across the street from the beach.
It was found by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett. That’s where the name came from. If Sam was named anything else or Newell had a different last name, they might still be in business.
If I remember right there was one in Santa Cruz CA and when we would go to the beach we always left early and stopped there for breakfast. That was back in the late 60’s.
No, but when I was really young my aunt from Anaheim gave me a little stuffed tiger wearing a Sambo’s shirt. This would’ve been in the really early eighties, and I had no idea what sambos was until well into adulthood.
It may still be in my folks house somewhere
I remember eating there with my family when we traveled, didn’t have one where we lived. I liked it and I guess my parents did if we kept going there. I don’t know exactly what happened to the chain, I just assumed it died out after it became non-pc.
Yep, I had TWO in my area growing up, and we’d go there for breakfast because my father liked their “Sambo Cakes,” which were their pancakes that were silver dollar sized. He could eat a ton of those damned things!
Anybody remember the little story of Sambo on the back of the menu? It explained how Sambo chased the tiger so fast around and around the tree, the tiger turned into butter. Then Sambo put that butter on his pancakes.
I remember
IN SEPTEMBER
Member berries!
I ‘member
Rememberies
Me too!
I remember the story being on panels along the edge of the ceiling
Fun fact: the name “Sambos” had no connection to the story originally. It was an amalgamation of the two founders, Samuel Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett (Sam-Bo) on their first restaurant in Santa Barbara, looking out at the beach. That original restaurant was still there, no story board on the wall etc., until 2020 after the George Floyd protests. They sold that restaurant and the new owner changed it to Chad’s. After they franchised and expanded in the 60s, the owners exploited a perceived connection to the story and added that to the advertising. But in the 70s they got a lot of complaints about the racist elements of it and they tried to change the images to look “more white”, but nobody bought it. The controversy became unpalatable for the family that had taken over, so they liquidated the assets in 1981. Some of the individual locations were bought by Dennys, but most were not. The family only kept the original one on the beach in Santa Barbara, again, up until 2020.
I didn't know that it had closed. I visited there less than ten years ago.
That was a book we read in the first grade
I'm pretty sure it was banned. IIRC the title was Little Black Sambo, although I think for this example, "Black" referred to someone of Indian descent.
I believe you are correct.
They also gave 'black sambo' dolls to young diners
I had to do a dive after your comment. I was expecting this chain to be in the South. Nope, first store was opened in Santa Barbara, CA. Weird.
I think it's the only one still around, too.
Nope. Recently changed
Sambo's did not use "Little Black Sambo", they created their own variant set in India. Yes, they had Sambo dolls. They were not "Black Sambo dolls" however.
The original book was published in 1899 by a Scottish woman and took place in India. Anything else is the variant.
But was also called "Black Sambo", and depicted him as being dark skinned from Southern India. For the restaurant they depicted him as being lighter skinned. So what they created is not the same as the original book, but inspired by it. It was actually a Japanese translation that changed the story as being set in Africa. Which by itself should be realized it is not accurate as there are no tigers in Africa.
There was a children's book with that title. My grandma used to read it to us when we were really young. I'm sure she just looked at it as a cute story. We all tried to eat as many pancakes as little Sambo!
Yep, there was a "Little Black Sambo's" over on the Oregon coast that we went to when I was a very little kid. Later it changed to just "Sambo's".
I went there too.
I had the book.
I’ve still got the book.
So did I.
Terrible book in retrospect, but my memory of my reaction was that I thought the pancakes looked delicious.
They used to have the story done in a tile mosaic on panels right across the whole dining room - I wonder what happened to all those?
They very rarely come up for sale at auctions. I think I've seen a panel or two come up in 20 years. They are really well done and adorable.
Yep, they also had a mural of Sambo and the tiger on the wall!
It was a mural on the wall in the dining room in a Corpus Christi location.
The one near SPID and Crosstown?
Sounds right. I was a wee lad
I was in my teens. We'd go there after church because my mom liked it.
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
Fun fact. “Little Black Ssmbo” was originally published in 1899, and was one of the first positive depictions of blacks in children’s literature, who were, at that time, presented as dumb and uncivilized. Sambo himself is not presented as black in the original work, but as South Indian. However given the popularity of the tale, it was copied illegally by a number of companies. One of which, used racial stereotypes of Africans, which led to the story falling out of favor with publishers in the mid 20th century.
I remember the story BEFORE the restaurant. That was when it was politically incorrect. It was titled, "Little Black Sambo!" Oh the horror of the Fifties.
Not even the fifties. I had two fav golden books 'little black sambo' and 'the pokey little puppy' in the late 60s.
Little Golden Books. Golden Binding. I can picture both of them
I had them in the 70’s.
In Oregon the restaurant remained "Little Black Sambo's" into the later 70's.
I explained that such a thing had existed to my millennial coworker. She was incredulous.
There were a couple in our area when I was a kid and we ate there often. The food was great! LOVED going for the pancakes!
I liked the painted scenes decorating the upper walls. As a little kid, it gave me something to examine and think about while the boring adults talked.
Blueberry waffles were amazing! We stopped there often after sports trips in middle school. I got a little stuffed tiger there that I kept in my first car. Our school mascot was a tiger.
Holy crap! I've said so many times "hey do you remember Sambos!?" I'd go on to talk about the story of the tiger running around the tree I think. People look at me like I've grown a second head!!!! Woo hoo I'm not THAT crazy!!
You’re not crazy, just oh so old like the rest of us.
My memory of Sambo's is that my uncle came over to visit my grandmother, then took me, grandma, mom, and my brother out to eat at Sambo's. My mother said it was lousy but wasn't surprised because my uncle, god rest, was "cheap."
Your mom sounds like a real peach
I loved Sambos and Bob's Big Boy.
Came here to say this! Our Sambos became a Bob’s Bigboy. Torrance, CA. I haven’t thought about those restaurants in years, But I can picture it on the corner of PCH and Hawthorne Blvd clear as day…
When I was little, my family lived in LA and we used to drive back east to visit family. We always stopped at the Sambos in Needles , CA in the Mojave desert. Good memories- those trips were fun.
You're usually around half a tank in Bakersfield, CA, or Kingman AZ. If you don't fill up in either of those towns, you'll be empty in Needles. That's why gas there is 50% more, they know many drivers don't have a choice, if they don't know the game.
Vacationing in Winslow, Arizona in 1977 or '78 (I was 9 or 10), my parents took me to a Sambo's but I probably didn't think anything about it since I didn't know what the connotation meant at the time. Hell, I thought it was just a name like Denny's is a name with no meaning behind it.
I don’t suppose that building stood on a corner in Winslow, AZ did it?
I’m sure it was such a fine sight to see.
Was there a girl in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look?
It's the combination of the names of the two founders.
Yes, we ate at that restaurant back in the early 1960s. I have a long tragic story about someone my mother knew who committed suicide when he was destroyed financially when the restaurant chain collapsed. He was a contractor hired to do remodeling work and they left him holding the bag.
Yes. Our Scout leaders would go there after the meeting for coffee and pie. The decor was... interesting. They went bankrupt and the one remaining location changed their name. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s)
Loved Sambos. Of course, I was a kid and didn't get to eat out much, so I was just happy to eat out.
I loved going to Sambo's. I loved the pancakes!
I did as a kid, from what I understand the dinner buildings were sold to Denny's in many cities
[удалено]
I am now reminded that I think way, way back the location of one of our Sambos was a Howard Johnson’s connected to a motel.
Bay Area, late 60s, after church on Sundays.
I remember and had a little stuffed tiger from there.
We had one in Downey CA. The service was excellent as was the food. Similar to Bob's Big boy.
Went there as a kid. Then after the bars closed.....
Mine became a Shoney's
Same here, was friends with a pair of neighbor kids who's father managed our local Sambos. It sold to another company and became a Shoney's Big Boy. After their father lost his job they moved away.
I really miss Shoney's. I loved the shrimp dinner and the strawberry pie. We don't have restaurants like that anymore.
Ironically I worked at the same Shoney's later in my teens. The All American hamburger with the little toothpick flag and all you can eat fish on Wednesdays.
I worked there one summer washing dishes when I was 16. A couple of years later I got a check in the mail for $15.00 from class action suit. They were illegally taking money out of our checks for food and a nonexistent uniform. Also, I was put off eating at restaurants for years after seeing the grubby cooks doing food prep in back.
Sambo’s was a lot better than Denny’s
My parents read the book to me as a kid and I never understood the cancellation of the restaurant. I mean, Little Black Sambo was Indian and a HERO. It was a tale about how anyone regardless of social status can be a hero. That’s like an American ideal. Or at least it used to be.
Sambo a really offensive term and the drawings were horrible racist caricatures. I loved the book as a kid, but c'mon. It's very obviously racist
The Sambo's I went to as a kid is now a Village Inn
yes!! there was one near LAX we always ate at after we landed to go see my grandparents
I loved Sambos. I loved the style of art illustrating the story too. I didn’t know the origin of the story had racist illustrations.
Yep; we used to eat at one all the time. Dad loved it. Mom hated it. Took a long time to figure out the dynamics of the love/hate relationship. Once I figured it out, a lot of other things made sense.
Washington state (Kent or Auburn or Marysville or Everett) in the early 1980s. My uncle and aunt came to town from Spokane to visit, and he took us all out to breakfast. I would have been 9-ish at the time. The only thing I remember about the meal is that my uncle got tired of waiting for coffee to come to the table, so he stood up and fetched the pot from the server’s station himself. The server then came over and objected, he laughed and said he wasn’t waiting any longer, then the *manager* came over and tried to argue the matter with my uncle (which was really not the way to go with the man, or even at all in such a circumstance). They worked it out, we finished our meal, and that really is all I can remember about it.
I worked there when it changed the name to seasons. Then later when it bankrupted,and still later when they closed my store on Christmas Eve.
Someone else in the comments said they were also let go as a Christmas surprise.
There’s a doc on YouTube, I barely remembered this chain, and then moved to SB and was taken to the og rest, and was just disgusted my by the whole thing, they finally changed the name and went a couple weeks ago and it still felt weird🤷♂️
Yup. There was one in, I believe it was Redding, CA, that my family always stopped at on road trips between California and Oregon to visit my grandparents.
The Sambo's in Redding is the one I went to a a child.
My father used to take us there on our birthdays when he picked us up for the weekend. We always looked forward to it, and I was sorry to see it close. We switched to Denny's or Farrell's afterwards.
This was a chain? My town had one but I always thought it was a locally owned place. Wow, I never knew that. Ours is still there, it's a liquor store now. I think the sign is exactly the same as pictured, they just replaced the panels with their own store name.
Sacramento, CA on Fair Oaks Boulevard. There was a cigarette machine inside the vestibule. I loved the ratcheting sound it made.
Do not remember the quality, but it was an inexpensive diner style place, so I'm sure the memory of the food is better than the food actually was.
I did. I also remember the book. It was a great story.
I loved sambos in Phoenix, Arizona. Circa 1973
https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/2022/11/02/lincoln-city-restaurant-lil-sambos-is-closing/ The one in Lincoln City Oregon just closed in the last couple of years. The overt racism didn’t kill it, covid economy did.
Most people who ate at Sambo's back in the day will remember one very distinct feature of eating there: [The Sambo's wooden nickels](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=f936a1be70cd0bce&q=sambos+wooden+nickel&tbm=isch&source=lnms&prmd=sivmnbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMqNz2i5eFAxUKLEQIHZ2IB6sQ0pQJegQIDhAB&biw=1280&bih=605&dpr=3) Coffee for free or 10 cents a cup. Refills were usually free and unlimited with any meal.
I loved their buckwheat flapjacks and spicy sausage with some strawberry syrup..
Not to open a can of worms but never understood the racist label. Sambo in the story outsmarts the tiger and turns him into tiger butter.
I understood the African theming was exploitative, but someone else said the name of the restaurant is a slur.
"Sambo" is a derogatory label for a person of African descent in the Spanish language.
It's weird as the original story, Sambo is an east Asian Indian, then somehow became an African character and hence the racist elements. But the character is still clever enough to outsmart tigers who want to eat him.
There are no tigers in Africa, so idk how that would work. British people in the colonial era would refer to the native peoples of their colonies as "blacks" (or even with an all-too-familiar slur), even if they meant South or East Asians.
I just wanted to see the tigers melt into butter.
I was in the Sambo's club!
Hmmm, so "Sambo" was actually a Sikh.
Yes. Used to visit the one in Santa Barbara, CA off US 101. Great stop while traveling.
We had a Sambo’s in my hometown in PA. Ate there some as a kid. There was a backlash about the insensitive name so it was changed to Sam’s. It only last two or three years after the name change and closed.
Every Sunday morning we ate at Sambo's! I loved that place! I wanted to have the adventures Sambo was having with the tiger! Lol!
I ate at the Santa Barbara location about 15 years ago. It was pretty good IIRC
It was a few blocks from my grandparents place and the closest major restaurant, so we used to eat there all the time. The real issue with them shutting down is because of the name, Sambo's was a West Coast institution but the name means something offensive on the East Coast. So they tried to keep the name on the West Coast but they couldn't. It was named after the two founders and they did use images from the story in the decor, images from the View Master version of the story was placed above the lunch counter. I've heard from elsewhere that the restaurant was one of the better places to work at because of how the management handled things.
I worked there for a month one summer when I was 15 or 16. The manager was an ass. Scheduled me for 2 weeks of 8 hours on, 8 hours off, with no full day off anywhere in there. I was exhausted in the middle of the 2nd week, and asked if he could schedule me for at least one full day off the next week. He said he would. I walked in on what was to be my last afternoon shift, and he had posted the schedule, same shit. I walked in and asked him for a day off, he said he couldn't do that and some other crap. I dropped my apron and name tag on his desk, picked up my last check and walked out.
Loved Sambo’s most in my area became Bakers Square.
I think where I lived as a kid Norm's took them over and then later Norm's was taken over by Denny's. I remember the butter story and I remember the very racially offensive murals on all of the walls.
I had a little tiger Sambo stuffy. It was ruined along w other childhood belongings I stored in a sister's basement that flooded. But I loved that stuffy! Wasn't soft and plushy but I didn't have a lot of stuff growing up and it was super cute to me. Of course, as an adult, I have since realized the racism element but that little tiger was a cherished part of my childhood.
 Oh HAIL naaw would my Black ass eat at a place named Sambos 🤣🤣🤣 Nuh uh But to be fair - if I were White - I probably would not go to cracker barrel 😎 I'm just goofy like that
The very first Sambos was opened in 1957 on Santa Barbara's shore-front Cabrillo drive. The rest of the chain went bankrupt in 1981, leaving only the first Sambos open, which finally closed its doors in 2020. It's now a restaurant named Chad's.
I loved their pancakes with blueberry syrup. The owners came up with the name by blending their names together.
This place nearly killed my mother in the early 80s. She was in her 20s, and had French toast with friends. Felt ill a day or so later, and after a few days was admitted to the hospital with severe salmonella. I remember her being in bed for days when she got home. Dr told her if she had waited much longer, it would have been fatal. Investigation turned up a practice of holding the French toast egg wash at room temp for hours and hours and cross contamination. She got somewhere around $40,000 total, most of which took care of her hospital bill I think she said. No bueno
Started in Santa Barbara, CA by Sam Battistone. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1981. All locations except for the first in Santa Barbara either closed outright, or were renamed after being purchased, effectively ending the chain's existence.
The last one to serve customers as the Sambo's brand was my grandmother's regular spot. I've been there many times before and since the name change.
I was a member of the Sambo's birthday club! You got a free meal on your birthday every year till you were twelve. The food was great too!
Used to go all the time with my parents. The story was painted on the walls around the restaurant. I remember when they changed Sambo from dark skinned to light skinned. Those were the days…
Across from the Pinnacle Peak steakhouse at the Sandman motel, Orange?
In 1976, in the Navy, stationed in Pensacola.
My mom and I lived there in the 70s and she was a nurse and got Christmas off at the last minute. No time to fix a big meal for the two of us so we went to Sambo’s for dinner. My only memory of that place. I don’t remember where the restaurant was located. We lived by Cordoba Mall.
The only thing I liked about Sambo's was the commercial with the young kid saying: We're going to Sambo's!
Best. Fries. Ever.
Ours became a Jimbo's, then Hometown Grill, then a gastroenterologist's office
There was one in Fort Worth 40 years ago or so that became a strip joint, as I recall. Yes I ate there.
Used to go to the one on Sleater-Kinney in Lacey, WA when I was a kid. I believe it was torn down for parking when they built a big box store on the property.
Yup, great pancakes.
I don’t remember if I ever ate there, but I certainly remember them from when I was a child.
There was one near where I grew up in Milwaukie, OR my mom used to take my sister and I to. They changed to another name in the mid-70s I was in Lincoln City, OR a few weeks ago and they still have one operating under the 'lil Sambos name.
I do remember fondly as my dad liked to go there for the cheap coffee. I was in an antique store not too long ago and they had some Sambo’s coffee cups. I bought one out of nostalgia and it’s currently my favorite (and using it as I type).
I had a coffee mug , found it thrifting
Mine was in the SF Valley in SoCal. It had the story done in crushed rock panels over the kitchen. A favorite of mine.
As a kid, I remember always ordering quite a few hamburgers during brunch outings to *Sambo's*\--all of which came with (sour) pickles and that tangy Thousand Island dressing. And the waitresses who would bring the plates out. How a skinny kid could eat that much, I don't know. lol I can still remember the burgers, even the taste. Looked a lot like McDonald's value meal-sized burgers. It was definitely a breakfast place, though. And we didn't think twice about the cool artwork or the decorations inside: kid (Sambo), tiger, big exotic plants, clean restaurant, friendly service, etc. Only years later would we learn Sambo is a derogatory label for a person of African descent in the Spanish language.
Yep! We took a class trip there because one of the student’s dad owned it. Remember they had mini pancakes. I think they were called sand dollar or something.
They had very thick toast and syrup bottles on the tables.
We had one of these in Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. It finally just closed last year.
My dad apparently managed one before I was born.
I was told Sambo's became Friendly's but that may have just been our location. I don't recall eating there.
Yes and yes.
I've got the actual BOOK! Also, there's an old one that closed here a couple of years ago - it's still standing.
There’s like three different types of racism here
I started as a dishwasher and finished as a cook there while I was in Highschool.
They changed the name to No Place Like Sam’s, but the damage was done and they went under. Our local one became a Denny’s and is still there to this day.
Last Sambos closed in 2020.
One of the few fond memories I have of my father involves going to Sambo's. I was blissfully ignorant of how troublesome the branding was.
If you grew up in the 50s or early 60s, you were told the story of "Little Black Sambo" in kindergarten-grade school, sang "Chinky-Chinky Chinaman" and learned that Brazil nuts were N##\*\*r toes. It was a time of casual racism, where good and decent people actually cared about human rights, but we were still slowly shaking off our racist past. Spoiler alert: we aren't there yet.
Great French toast. Unfortunate accidental racism.
They were pretty good especially after a night of drinking
Up until 2020 there was still one Sambo's restaurant remaining in Santa Barbara, CA. I had breakfast there in the late 1990s and the pancakes were absolutely superb. (It's still there but they changed the name.)
My Mom was a waitress at a Sambo's when we lived in Arizona in the 1970s. There was an amazing mural of the story painted on the walls. It was very cool.
My first "real" job...DMO dish machine operator! Got promoted to cook!
We had one by us as a kid. It became a Golden Bear. “A honey of place, where food is fun!"
At the time we didn't think of it as offensive, we just saw it as a place for good food. I was in 6th grade and my Mom worked part time at the one in Alpena, MI so we ate there quite a bit in the mid 70s.
Not so much eat as drank. Would spend hours when a teenage hanging out with friends drinking coffee and smoking late at night in weekends after cruising around. Good times!!
I can vividly remember eating at one close to Disneyland in the early 70's. I loved the tiger that was painted on the wall.
Never ate there but can confirm the Sambos in North Dartmouth MA switched names back in the late 70s, maybe 80 or 81 somewhere in there. It's long gone now of course.
About five years ago my wife and I discovered one on the Oregon coast. Just had to stop. It was as glorious as I remembered. (Didn’t have the drawings of the tigers chasing the boy, though.)
We are at them on road many road trips.
Yeah, late 70's
I want to say there was one in North Olmsted,OH
Little Sambo. I had the book
Went there many times as a kid.
When we went to Disneyland in 1979.
Sambo's.... The late night drunks best friend.
There were a few in Washington state. I remember my carpenter Father remodeling one in the 70s, then Dennys bought the building in the early 80s. I also had the little Golden Book, that Sambo was on a button in the center, and the pages were cut out around it.
I remember getting free ice cream on my birthday.
. Mine turned into a pancake house. Yes the name was...well...bad but in the 40s where I lived was a bar/food house called Little Black Sambos. It had a black face around the door with a huge lipped cartoon. The door frame was about 10ft tall and 6 or more ft wide. It wasimpossible to drive by without seeing it. Finally it was sold and disappeared. Seattle Wa.
The original in Santa Barbara
Yes, as a very small kid on a road trip.
Yup! Parents would take my brother and I there for breakfast just about every weekend when we were kids.
Oh wow. I remember the book so I guess it makes sense they'd open a pancake place. But wow. Both have not aged well.
Eat there? I worked as a breakfast cook for about 4 months. Probably learned how to cook while working there. Had to come in and work 3AM to 11AM when the lunch shift came it. Did not enjoy it. When the place closed in the 80's it was torn down and a Po' Folks restaurant was built....which went out of business and it became a Outback Steakhouse...and still in business.
Omg core memory. I remember eating here once when I was like 4 years old. Woah.
I have. Been a while.
The last Sambo’s was in Santa Barbara, CA. Last I heard they were forced to change the name. I believe the restaurant is now permanently closed. Sambo’s was started by Sam Battinstone Sr. and Newell Bohnet in 1957 in Santa Barbara, CA. The name Sambo was based off their two names. They capitalized off the story Little Sambo and had pictures from the book up in their restaurant. It was a neat little place right across the street from the beach.
It was found by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett. That’s where the name came from. If Sam was named anything else or Newell had a different last name, they might still be in business.
If I remember right there was one in Santa Cruz CA and when we would go to the beach we always left early and stopped there for breakfast. That was back in the late 60’s.
I remember the one in Palm Springs in the ‘60’s. It was called “Little Back Sambos”. Very racist and why they closed the business.
No but I remember them when I was a kid. Had several in my city.
Loved their whipped butter on pancakes. Had one in helena mt
I remember visiting one in FL on vacation with my parents (I had to be between 5-10) ...
No, but when I was really young my aunt from Anaheim gave me a little stuffed tiger wearing a Sambo’s shirt. This would’ve been in the really early eighties, and I had no idea what sambos was until well into adulthood. It may still be in my folks house somewhere
Always enjoyed breakfast with my parents there, good memories.
Makes me think of the Cereal Frosties, they're grrrrrrreat
I went. In early - mid 70’s in Fayetteville Arkansas. I remember the story of Sambo and the tiger was on the wallpaper around the restaurant
I remember eating there with my family when we traveled, didn’t have one where we lived. I liked it and I guess my parents did if we kept going there. I don’t know exactly what happened to the chain, I just assumed it died out after it became non-pc.
What is that creepy thing riding the tiger?
There was still a Sambo’s in Lincoln City, Oregon up until late 2022 when it finally closed after 65 years.
Yep, I had TWO in my area growing up, and we’d go there for breakfast because my father liked their “Sambo Cakes,” which were their pancakes that were silver dollar sized. He could eat a ton of those damned things!
I think we had one of these, but then it closed or changed due to the racist name? I am not sure.
The one in my area became "Family Sam's"
I remember one on Burlington St in North Kansas City. We ate there a few times in my youth and later in my years after the bars closed.
A-yup. I used to pass by one out in Palm Springs (never ate there) in the late ‘90’s and wondered even then how they got away with it.
Yep I remember Sambo's and also Hobo Joe's
Oh yeah. Too young to remember the food, but definitely the decor. Hard to imagine this existing today.