On Saturday, as promised, I took the family to Shakey's Pizza in West Allis just as they opened for the day. There's a whole lot of memories wrapped up in that place and we needed to say goodbye since it was closing for good on the 30th.
I don't know if there's a Shakey's near you, as there are only a few left east of the Mississippi (including one in Warner Robbins GA, home of our nephew). In spite of that fact there are still over 400 in the world, mostly in Asia, but only 60 of the 200+ US restaurants are still kicking.
According to the owner their long-time franchise contract was running out, and if they were to keep the name Shakey's wanted them to completely remodel and scrap the famous pizza buffet (GASP!). The owner, acting both on principle and with his depleted wallet, said no, he'd rather close his doors.
And so we lost yet another childhood institution here in Milwaukee.
We all sat down for the buffet, grabbed our drinks from the beverage bar, and had our bellies cry goodnight for some of the best pizza (and wall signs) around.
Shakey's also boasted a small but packed game room, complete with tickets that earned you those classic Oriental Trader prizes.
We kinda cheated on behalf of Smiley on the basketball game
But playing from the legit distance, yours truly sank 11 shots in a row. Booyah baby!
Along with other trinkets, YaYa selected a heart pendant that came in two pieces (you know the type). When you put both together it says 'best friends' and she gave the other half to LuLu.
From the small world department who should sit next to us but an old employee of mine, one I famously fired for not only sleeping on the job but making a makeshift tent to accomplish the task. Still, she was a pip and when YaYa was only two she went to a great birthday party for the woman's daughter. Here's a shot of them together five years later
And a pic of Lump from the ride home
Goodnight sweet Shakey's! We never did get to have one of our kid's parties with you - ah regret! We'll miss you!
Oh jeez, the Shakey's buffet....
ReplyDeleteI don't think I was living here when our Shakey's here closed, but this is my hometown, and Shakey's was one of our main high school hangouts. Plenty of good food, low prices, and just a lot of fun.
Sorry to hear that we've lost another one.
Beth
Glad t that you all had such a nice farewell to Shakey's. It is such a pity when our well known and loved institutions close...we hav'nt got any Shakey's in the Uk that I know of so we won't have to say goodbye. however nothing to do with eating ! we do have a hardware store on the outskirts of Bath that has just announced that it is closing after 158 years in the one family, They will be greatly missed as it is the one place we can always go to get just two or three screws/ one dishcloth...whatever... nothing comes in huge packets and advice is always there to help any novice DIY person...sadly missed it will be. Love Sybil x
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever eaten at Shakey's. The pizza buffet sounded good. We recently lost our Dairy Queen in town after 20 years, now I have to drive 9 miles for the closest one. Too far for a butterscotch dipped cone at $4.19 a gallon. ::sigh::
ReplyDeleteLeigh
No Shakey's here, so sad to see another institution disappear :o(
ReplyDeleteOh, man :^P Shakey's gone?
ReplyDeleteWhen we first married, Shakey's was the our place to eat from border to border, coast to coast. I especially liked the one in Tucson, AZ. Shortly after we moved to this house (30 yrs ago) they closed the Shakey's just around the corner from us. This was a real bummer, because our favorite take out was a large pepperoni and Chick'n'Chips.
Then after we'd been here about 15 yrs, the Dunkin Donuts went belly up--not that that was so bad for our bellies. But it was Lloyd's "corner bar."
And whatever happened to the Chucky Cheese predecessor, Mouse Factory?
;^) Jan the Gryphon