Sambo's restaurants...pictures

Anyone remember these? We always ate at the Anaheim one in the morning before family trips to Disneyland.... (oops! this has already been discussed - http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic-new.php?topic=6286&forum=6) - I should have titled this Sambo's restaurants...pictures

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-02-17 17:23 ]

The Royal Inn in Alameda still stands as a Day's Inn with the adjoining coffee shop but it's no longer Sambo's.

However, the Linoaks motel is closed and will be torn down to build a new public library. At least it's not going to be a Walgreen's!

More Sambo's info. I do miss the one one we use to go to at the corner of Bristol Street and West Dyer Road in Santa Ana. IHOP (International House of Pancakes) took it over after Sambo's moved out a few decades ago.

Great stuff Tangaroa. So not only do you collect tiki, Sea World and other theme park items, you also collect Sambo's?

Sorry, double post, this should be here, not in the other thread.

That story was one of my favorites when I was a child. My Grandparents lived in India during the war(grandpa was a doctor with the British army, grandma a nurse) and my Dad was born there.(Whitbread is the last name, a very English/Scottish family) My Grandma had this book at her house, and I loved to read it, especially since I'm an animal lover. I loved the part where the tigers ran around a tree, eventually turning into butter, which was eaten with a big stack of pancakes! Sooo silly. The book I loved is one I haven't seen anywhere else. It was big and thin, softcover with big beautiful pictures. I still search for it on e-bay, but haven't seen it yet. It's amazing all the memorabilia and restaurants associated with this story, apparently made up by a lady to keep her children occupied. Sadly it was changed to be more 'pc'(a turban added to the boy to make him look more Indian). Personally, I loved the original.

On 2004-02-17 21:11, ZuluMagoo wrote:
Great stuff Tangaroa. So not only do you collect tiki, Sea World and other theme park items, you also collect Sambo's?

I wish I really did have a good Sambo's collection! The new baby & house take most of my money these days....

There used to be a Sambo's close to where I lived in the 'burbs of Ft. Lauderdale. They changed it to a Hooters a LONG time ago.

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2004-02-18 19:25 ]

There was on in Ocean Beach on Voltaire, I think, unitl the mid 80's.
TG
Tiki Gardens Memorial
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

There was a Sambo's in Torrance (or was it Harbor Gateway?) on Western just north of Sepulveda. We didn't eat there much when I was a kid; mostly we went to Alphy's on Sepulveda near Crenshaw, where they had a cookie club for kids. Both are long gone, but I think they're still there as some other coffee shop.

I seem to recall that a lot of Sambo's restaurants became Season's in the early 1980s, then later Season's morphed into Bakers Square.

Season's, you may recall, was where Spinal Tap designed the Stonehenge model for their tour. :lol:

On 2004-02-18 17:11, cynfulcynner wrote:

There was a Sambo's in Torrance...
I seem to recall that a lot of Sambo's restaurants became Season's in the early 1980s, then later Season's morphed into Bakers Square.

There was a Sambo's in Torrance, just a stone's throw from the Latitude 20 on PCH. After morphing into a Season's, it later became 'Godfather's Pizza', was vacant for a looong time and is now a paint store. My folks would take me there as a child and I was always transfixed by the mosaics above the counter depicting the story of "Little Black Sambo" and the whole tigers-turning-into-butter thing. Made me wonder what I was actually eating with MY pancakes...

Oh, and the Alphie's is now a Denny's.

Doctor Z
Mix-maestro of the Castaway Lounge,
Redondo Beach, CA

[ Edited by: Doctor Z on 2004-02-18 22:44 ]

Teitelbaum took some pics of the former Sambo's in Seattle when he was visiting in October, maybe he'll post them here? The exterior is pretty cool, but they've painted it a green I'm not fond of. The interior is fairly intact, and still has the same light fixtures in the picture above.

Yo tangoroa, awsome photos!!, got me all mushy inside after taking in the era that was so damn fun....for us kids!. I am sure it has been stated, but the original sambos is serving food daily in santa barbra cal.I had no idea they still existed till my wife and I got a room next door to it on our honeymoon.Just a short walk north from state street where it meets the ocean.Awsome food and lots of t-shirts for the brave!.And yes, there were people of color eating there!.

[ Edited by: twowheelin'tiki on 2004-03-01 20:07 ]

Thanks! Anyone else have some pictures to post...?

I swear I have a postcard of a Sambos that has a tiki sitting outside of it.

Oh now I have to see if my memory serves me right.

TG

On 2004-03-04 01:35, TikiGardener wrote:
I swear I have a postcard of a Sambos that has a tiki sitting outside of it.

That..... would be completely godhead.

On 2004-03-04 01:35, TikiGardener wrote:
I swear I have a postcard of a Sambos that has a tiki sitting outside of it.

Oh now I have to see if my memory serves me right.

TG

oooh oooh ooooh let's see it!

That could be from THE TROPICS Motels. The Palm Springs Tropics Coffeshop (now that Mexican Restaurant) was initially a SAMBO'S (when the Reef bar was THE CONGO ROOM, and the basement housed THE CELLAR).

I really love those resin storyboards with the characters in different situatons that lined some of the Sambos...
but then I love everything resin...

I have to dig through various area to see if I have it. I'm begining to think it was an ebay auction that I saved the image from. Unfortunately I had to reinstall windows some months back and lost a bunch of images ( yes i know, back up yer info, it was an unexpected occurance and I got caught off guard ).

But I'll hunt for it. And in the meantime, if my memory is right, pay attention to the postcards sections of the flea markets!

TG

On 2004-03-01 19:57, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
...the original sambos is serving food daily in santa barbra cal.[ Edited by: twowheelin'tiki on 2004-03-01 20:07 ]

Yup, I drive by it about once a week, but I haven't been there for about 10 years. I had completely forgotten about it, but now I want to go soon.

BTW... from Santa Monica... I was born and raised there. Small world eh!

-T.J.

On 2004-02-18 11:37, Tikiwahine wrote:
It's amazing all the memorabilia and restaurants associated with this story, apparently made up by a lady to keep her children occupied. Sadly it was changed to be more 'pc'(a turban added to the boy to make him look more Indian). Personally, I loved the original.

[ Edited by: naugatiki on 2004-03-16 09:16 ]

Here is some info on Sambo’s . This info is a little old so I do not know if the one in Santa Barbara, California is still there.

Sambo's is based upon a children's fairy tale from India about a poor starving boy, "Little Black Sambo." A group of African-Americans, who were more unfamiliar with the story , protested that Sambo's was unfair in its representation of black people with the pictures from the story hanging all over the stores. Sambo's fought tooth and nail to save the chain. Now, if he is a poor black boy from Africa, I can understand the ghee. There are lots of people from India all over the metropolitan areas of the continent of Africa and he could get some. But, tigers? Come on! There are no tigers in Africa, except in a ZOO. Does the little boy in the picture above look African? I don't think so. It didn't matter to the group, which filed the complaint. It was the perception. The chain went belly up about 1987 (even though they won the lawsuit; the legal costs were too much!) Today there is only one Sambo's, located at its original location on the beach in Santa Barbara, California. There are no pictures from the fairy tale on the walls anymore. Instead, there are pictures of the great chain that once was. And lots of people with ancestries from Africa AND INDIA eat there! Meanwhile, Denny's still packs 'em in.

powerofthetiki
http://www.marylanddctiki.com
http://marylanddctiki.proboards2.com/index.cgi

On 2004-03-06 11:50, bigbrotiki wrote:
That could be from THE TROPICS Motels. The Palm Springs Tropics Coffeshop (now that Mexican Restaurant) was initially a SAMBO'S (when the Reef bar was THE CONGO ROOM, and the basement housed THE CELLAR).

Found this postcard on eBay for Ken Kimes TROPICS Motel in Blythe, CA. It also had a Sambo's. The picture is from the auction (not mine) so in fairness, here is the link.

http://cgi.msn.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=924&item=2249918859&rd=1

There is still a Sambo's in Oregon! It is at the coast, in Lincoln City.

Ok - I'm a little premature here, as I don't have them in hand yet... But I just bought four original back-lit panels from the defunct Sambo's in Tulare, California. I'm really excited about these, as I remember looking up at them while scarfing down pancakes (we'd always go to the Anaheim location before a day at Disneyland) as a kid...
The have wooden frames, and the characters are made of crushed glass, with openings in the back to be lit from behind (see pic #2 at the begining of this post)...
Now, where am I gonna put them?

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-09-17 08:25 ]

Man, I really miss Sambo's after this thread.
That was much better times.

Those are really cool Tangaroa!

Could you make a large box for them to be mounted to? I guess it depends on size.

Actually, I'd love to mount them on a downward angled surface near the ceiling, and light them from behind - just like in this photo:

It would be nice to get some similar lighting fixtures to complete the effect! Of course, with four of them - that kinda takes over a whole room....
But I can dream, can't I?

Man, does this thread bring back some memories. I actually managed a Sambos for less than a year...this was in 1982. I trained in the Anaheim location on Katella, and then was asked by the Regional Mgr. to move up to Port Hueneme to manage the Sambo's there. I also did a little time at the Santa Paula Sambos.

Many things led to the downfall of Sambos...the run in with African-Americans was not by any means the knock out punch. There was a period of time where Sambos allowed their manager's to 'franchise' the unit they managed...and there were all kinds of stories I'd heard about watering down the syrups and pancake batter to be more profitable. I think that this episode had a lot to do with the eventual bankruptcy.

For you trivia buffs: the founder of Sambo's was Mr. Samuel Battistone, and the name actually derived from his being nicknamed Sambo as a kid. At least that was the company line AFTER the racial card was dealt.

Wow Bamboo Dude! Cool.... Tell me you have some interior photos of the locations you worked at! I'm having a tough time getting pictures of the actual restaurants...
What you said jibes with the lady selling this auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7101331440&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT)
Here's her take on Sambo's (she says she ran the Odessa, Texas location)

Q: You said to ask... So, what in your opinion was the reason for Sambos' demise, when most of the competition (e.g. Denny's) that wasn't doing as well as they were at the time, still surviving? I'd be curious what you think. My family was involved in Sambo's at one time and had a restaurant in Fresno CA. But both parents are gone now so I missed my chance at the "real" story...
Answered on Sep-14-04

  A: Sambos expanded too quickly. They used the manager's money to build the chain. One would work almost 24/7 running his/her restaurant, and receive the option to purchase a "group" for $5000 at different intervals. The returns on the group - which was a percent of a group of various Sambos Restaurants - were phenomenal - almost too good to be true. So every time an option arose to purchase a group one took it, hence, Sambos built another store, and so on, and so on, then too good to be true was. We only lost 40K when is folded - I'm sure others lost more but many who were privy to inside information got out before it went bankrupt. They were the ones on the bottom of the pyramid. Sambos (the name) came from Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett (who was called Bo) therefore - "Sambos". It was an interesting 7 years with Sambos. We moved to 3 different states climbing the ladder, ending up at headquarters in Santa Barbara, California - one year later the Company went down. pairinabox

Interesting, eh?

Unfortunately, I never felt enough of a connection with that job to take and save pictures, so I can't help you out there, but I can give you a little more information about the 'waning' days of Sambos.

Can't remember if this was '82 or '83 when Sambo's brought in a new CEO. His name was Bob Lucky ('not Lucky enough' is what I used to say!). Bob was the son of the guy who founded Chart House Restaurants, a very high end steak/seafood house, the original being a little place on PCH in Newport Beach (restaurant row). Bob was a bigger than life kinda guy...a very large man, who liked to live large. One of his first acts was to secure a $15 M investment in Sambos from Godfather's Pizza which was rapidly growing at the time, and probably viewed their involvement as buying into the eventual demise of the chain, and being able to cherry pick the best locations...which is kinda what happened. Then Mr. Lucky organized 'pep rallys' in each of the 5 regions. I don't know, in total, how much was spent on these pep rallys, but at the one here I heard the figure was comfortably over $200,000 (today it'd be like spending half a mil or more)! The event, held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, was well publicized in the LA Times, the Ram's Cheerleaders (at the time, the LA Rams were calling them "The Embraceable Ewes"...'embraceable' fer sure!) were there, and every manager was put up in the hotel for the night, so we could drink ourselves sick at the open bar, and crash there for the evening.

The idea of rallying the troups was a noble thought, but the unrestrained free spending for these events was inappropriate for a company circling the drain!

As the fortunes of Sambo's were grinding to a halt, a last ditch attempt was made to reinvent the chain into a quasi Marie Callendar's/ Coco's type restaurant named "Season's". The first opened up near the Corporate offices in Carpinteria (just south of Santa Barbara), but in the end, the chain went under, and Godfather's Pizza along with Coco's, go many of the primo locations. The Katella Sambo's went to Coco's, the second best location in Anaheim was a block away and close to the Disneyland Hotel...that went to Godfather's.

Wow! Great info - thank you so much! I wonder if there were any sort of archives that the Santa Barbera headquarters had (i.e. photos of interiors, the original artwork, etc...) - or is it all gone? I've read that "Sam's" son still operates the original location - I wonder if he has any info...
The thought of a bunch of Sambo's documentation all sitting in a warehouse somewhere makes me all excited!

http://www.santabarbara.com/dining/a_stones_throw/sambos/default.asp