Sambo's Celebrating Americas Bicentennial

This side of the coin says, Sambo's
Two Hundred
Years Of
Freedom
1776-1976

This side of the coin says
"Something good is always cooking Sambo's.
Then the date, in roman numerals, MCMLXXVI

These coins are hard to find now, heck they were a limited edition. I don't know the value of this coin but, on Americas Bicentennial they were given to a few select customers.

Here is a little bit of history of Sambo's, for those of you who don't know.

Sambo's Restaurant chain, a pancake-specialty joint founded in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1957. The decor and advertising leaned heavily on images from Bannerman's book, but the name ultimately was a merging of the names of the founders, Sam Battistone and Newell "Bo" Bohnett. making the name, "Sambo's".

Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with "The Story Of Little Black Sambo". Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy and tigers. By the early 1970s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers.

In 1982 my Sambo's closed the doors to become "Season's". It was at Season's, I met my future wife Sue and that love has endured. But that is a story, for another day.

Also another sad story, Pat's Pizza, which opened October 17 1978 closed there doors, on April 14 2008 (I think). I use to walk from Sambo's, to my apartment, and stopped there in the morning. I was there the day Pat's opened, and there the last day. I remember watching Pat and Trish's kids grow up, in Pat's. The original name of Pat's was, "The Irish Chicken Ship" I believe. Never the less, that name was a mouthful, least for me.

My favorite meal at Pat's was the "Meatball Grinder".

Well, I'll write more memories later on, later all....................

California Sambo's

In fact, it has come to my attention that the original Sambo's Restaurant building is open in Santa Barbara. Here is a link to the original store, Sambo's.

Here is a little history of Sambo's.

Sambo's Restaurants was started in 1957 by Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from the names of the founders. Sam and Bo, from Bohnett, adding together for Sambo's.

In 1979, Sambo's had about 1,200 restaurants in 47 US states. In the late seventies controversy over the chain's name drew protests and lawsuits. A few communities viewed the term Sambo as a racial towards African-Americans. With the help of public pressure and even some lawsuits, the owners of Sambo's restaurants, eventually changed the name. Many of the restaurants became "Sam's. Bad management lead to the down fall of Sambo's.

I closed down a few of Sambo's restaurants. I helped closed, Sambo's in, Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Kingman, Needles, and in Las Vegas.

Personally, I wish Sambo's Restaurant would come back. The food was good, and the prices were very reasonable. If I ever won the "powerball" lottery, I would open a Sambo's, right here in Arizona. I have a menu from Sambo's I grabbed, when I helped close them.

I've rattled on long enough, now onto the California Sambo's.

I was in Torrance store #223 when I worked for Cathy, she drove a little MG, early 60's. While I worked there I was dating my high school sweet heart, Elizabeth "Liz" Chapa. This was during, the second time I worked at this store.

Interior view of Torrance Sambo's.

Across the street, kitty-corner was Harbor hospital, where my sister and younger brother were born.

The first time, I was 13, when I was looking for a job. I was hired as a dishwasher. What I didn't know was there was a bet between the head cook, and the manager. I was the subject of that bet. The head cook told the manager (who's name I've forgotten) that he could teach better then the manager could. The next person that walked through the door, would be trained, as a cook.

Little did I know this would change my life permanently. Before you ask, yes I lied about my age.

After I had learned how the dishes, and all those duties. The head cook took me off to the side, and asked me how I would like to learn to cook. Course I had to say yes, I mean it was a raise and everything.

Well the head cook won the bet. I never knew what the bet was over but, I enjoyed the benefits.

Later I transferred to Sonoma, just to get away from the big city. Yes, I am a country person. I transferred from, my 2nd time from Torrance. The managers name was Amir. I could not pronounce his last name, so I will not be saying it here. This was during the expansion of Sambo's, the store was #1018.

Well California, was really wearing on my nerves, so I left to go back home to Arizona. I will post on Arizona later, not today but later.............

The beginnings or my first post

I created this blog to share with my children, wife, and friends.

My name is Bob McKown, born in Daniel Freeman Hospital in Ingelwood, CA. I am of Scotch-Irish descend.

I am married to Sue, who has been my wife for the past 25 years, almost 26. We have 2 children, and no grand kids. Which doesn't bother my wife or me.

I was thinking back a few days ago, about Sambo's Restaurants. They were one of the fairest jobs I ever had. Management didn't care if you were black, white, yellow, red, or pink with green polka dots.

I worked in Torrance, Ca., Winslow, Az., Show Low, Az., and Sonoma, CA., for almost 18 years. Only a few managers I worked with made a impression on me. They were, Calvin Gin, & Geneva Billingsley, in Winslow, Charles Glockner, and Mildred Householder in Show Low. Those I worked for in California, I don't really want to remember for reasons of my own.

I will write more about my experiences at Sambo's tomorrow. I will start with the California (Sonoma, and Torrance) Sambo's restaurants. I had much better experiences in Arizona.