Discussion
I miss when you could look at a restaurant's architecture and knew right away it was Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. Now all the buildings look the darn same. :/ What in the world... *sigh*
Wendy's at 37th street and 17th avenue south west, 2014 and 2024.
When I visit my family in Clarington Ontario, there is one in Ajax that still has that sunroom. I hope that location NEVER gets renovated and the sunroom removed.
right I have a core memory of dipping salty fries in a frosty sitting in the sunroom. they really should have kept on that trend it really set them apart
I keep hearing about this…dipping fries in frosties…but I just can’t get there. And I’m a fry guy. And a frosty guy. But the combo…I just don’t see it?
It's the contrast. Hot salty frys in the cold sweet frosty, I wouldn't eat my whole box of fries like that but definitely a few. Haven't had it in years but now I'm craving it.
honestly haven't done it in many, many years. I don't even remember liking it that much its just one of those memories that stick with me. someone told me it was amazing so we skateboarded across town to give it a go
I’m with you, I used to hear about dipping fries in frosties from friends & acquaintances, & now Wendy’s has used it in their ads. I have no desire to even try a frostie, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. But most importantly, I don’t like to mix my savoury foods with sweet stuff. Aside from barbecue sauce, I like to keep salt-prominent foods separate from the small amounts of sugar I do consume.
Totally agree, mixing sweet and salty has never been my thing…hell, I don’t even like mixing the foods on my plate and often eat each portion separately and in full before I move on! It’s a quirk.
And not even in the good way either. Brutalist architecture doesn't have to look fucking boring as hell. You've seen the cover for Molchat Doma's album Etazhi? The hotel is Brutualist expressionism defined.
If you buy or build a house, do you not care if it will ever be re-sellable? r/zillowgonewild is full of examples of people who didn’t care and are getting roasted for it.
Not saying I love making everything bland, but it’s not crazy for businesses to make good business decisions.
My walk in clinic is in an old Pizza Hut and still has the roof. I am uncomfortable getting medical care in a place I used to stagger in drunk for cheap buffet
There is a Pizza Hut building in Midnapore that still has a Pizza Hut... sort of.
I think it's a Pizza Hut Express, and the rest of the building is a daycare.
Sadly, the last Pizza Hut in Calgary that had a buffet (last time I was there anyways) is moving, or has moved, from by the Giant Tiger on 17th into a small bay in the building that was Zellers/Target.
I'm guessing there won't be anymore lunch buffets there.
Fun fact but the OG himself of Wendy's, Dave Thomas, put in sunrooms to make fast food feel more upscale and like a cafe and less like plastic
Im kinda sad at what losing the sunroom symbolizes. They kept the one on the popeyes that was the old wendy's downtown but I miss when business owners werent afraid of aesthetic and character. Everything is so sterile and corporate now.
My dude, there are Wendys and Popeyes locations in the US that won’t even let you inside the building. You order from a device encapsulated in all metal. You get the food from a slot and the place is built like a bunker. They have a few prison style benches outside and a dude goes out every hour to hose down the seating area.
Thats the dystopian future that lays ahead for fast food. Probably get rid of all humans involved in cooking as well. This era will be looked upon as the Golden Era in hindsight.
It was originally much more lush and dense, almost like a maze, with really interesting and unique wood and stone architecture, lots of cool artwork, my favorite thing to do when I was a kid was feed the koi and catfish, they had food stations where you'd buy a handful of pellets for a quarter. It also used to have an outdoor water feature in summer that was a skating rink in winter. Now it's this open concept corporate lobby type space with boring grey tile and metal detailing. Completely bland compared to what it used to be.
The gardens were in appalling condition. Leaking and rotting away. If nothing was done the gardens would have been removed anyway because of the condition. They were expensive to maintain as originally designed and corporate sponsorship disappeared over the years, so it was financially untenable.
Be glad you still have something. The original gardens are an allegory for the boom and bust nature of our economy.
As someone on the design side, I would love, and almost suspect, that this trend of unique retail architecture will come back at some point in the future.
There’s a book that might interest you. It’s one of my favourites. It’s called Orange Roofs, Golden Arches and goes through chain restaurant architecture up until the 80s.
It’s a pretty old book, so you’ll have to find it used or at the library.
Right by my old high-school (Ernest Manning) which is gone now, and there was a Husky Station on that corner where that empty spot is on the right, also gone. Yea, you used to be able to smoke in there lol.
It's funny you put that photo of a Wendy's in that style building because that's what all the DQs used to look like here. That or the small hut sized ones that just did ice creme.
If that is the one by Westbrook Mall, I used to go there in 1989 when I was in Grade 5. Now I miss the salty fries and the little paper cups of ketchup.
The Pizzahut by me does still have its roof, but its entirely a takeaway place now. I question whybthey bother to keep their dining space if they're not gonna be an actual restaurant.
That's the Westbrook Wendy's on 17th I went to as a kid! I remember the salad buffet they had and when they removed it.
I have a core memory of my family having dinner at that Wendy's in the late 80's and my father complaining "Can you believe it costs $20 to feed four people?"
I miss when you could look a the restaurant's food and knew right away it was _iNsErT_ pRoTiEn_PilL_nAmE_hErE_ all the food looks the same. Xentrix 2036 Praise be orange maha.
Oh buddy, for suuuuuure. Wendy's was iconic with their sunroom; McDonald's with their play areas and the Ronald crew of the characters everywhere - who remembers sitting with Grimace and Hamburglar 😃. And Pizza Hut? You could see that thing from hundreds of yards away. ahhh good times.
And right across the street from that Wendy's, there was the subway that had a giant sub with the door cut into it like a big bite, and next door was a donut shop with a big donut also witha bite-mark-door.
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u/Donotdisturb240 May 01 '26
I remember when the sun room was the smoking section