I freaking loved Burger Chef when I was a kid.  And, oddly enough, my most vivid memory of the restaurant was getting in trouble at it.  If my memory serves my correctly, I was with my friends Jerry and Sherry Crabtree.  We were in the lobby (not sure whose parents were lucky enough to have us that day) getting ready to order and Jerry ripped the biggest burp ever.  It was so loud and echoed through the lobby and bounced off the menu boards.  Naturally, we all laughed and then, as you can predict, immediately got into trouble.

I was reminded of Burger Chef the other day when my friend Julie Parker shared a story on her Facebook feed.  It was called What Ever Happened to the Burger Chef Chain?  That inspired me to do some research and scroll through YouTube for some vintage Burger Chef commercials.

Believe it or not, Burger Chef got its original start not too far from the tristate.  It started back in 1954 in Indianapolis.  But the early 1970s, it had over a thousand locations, including one right here in Owensboro. According to the Burger Chef Wikipedia page, General Foods (who owned Burger Chef) sold the chain to Hardee's and the final Burger Chef restaurant closed in 1996.

I don't remember many specifics about the restaurant, but I do remember that burgers were dirt cheap and I remember their version of McDonald's Happy Meal.  It was called the Fun Meal.  For kids, that was EVERYTHING!!

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Burger Chef, you can check out Restaurant Rewind's rather definitive account of the chain.

And if you want a true taste of Burger Chef nostalgia, check out this commercial I found on YouTube.  I vaguely remember this.  And, yes!  That's Eve Plumb (a.k.a. Jan Brady) in the commercial.

Do YOU remember eating at Burger Chef?  What are your favorite memories?

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