Since many New Yorkers may be unfamiliar with this chain, I thought you might need a quick primer: The chain was founded in Los Angeles as a hot dog cart in 1941 by Carl and Margaret Karcher. And, as is the case with Manhattan’s newest entrant Carl’s Jr., the food is frequently not even any good. Of course, both types of interloper displace our indigenous ma and pa eateries, entrap fellow citizens in low-paying jobs, import many of their raw materials from far away, and presumably send cash out of town in bulging sacks. Yet domestic chains also regularly appear and often provoke little interest. JIM CARNETT, who lives in Costa Mesa, worked for Orange Coast College for 37 years.When foreign restaurant chains like Tim Ho Wan, Teremok, Nusr-et, Ichiran, and Sorbillo fly into town, they’re greeted with enthusiasm, getting write-ups everywhere. though, in point of fact, I guess it is.Īnyway, my kids and grandkids are happy to have a Hardee’s in the neighborhood. The elderly Southern gentleman’s life didn’t hang in the balance, so nothing was lost in the kerfuffle. There’s no right or wrong here, it’s just that John had been raised in a different milieu. “Oh, Hardee’s,” the disembodied voice shot back. “Well,” he explained, “I know it’s Carl’s Jr., but the sign says … Hardee’s.” John glanced back at the restaurant and now clearly saw the name, “Hardee’s.” What the hey? Tens of thousands of impressions over the years had left him with MacDonald’s, Jack-in-the-Box and Carl’s Jr. That distinctive red-and-yellow color scheme - and happy little star - had been rattling around John’s Huntington Beach noggin for decades, occupying a place on his hierarchy of fast food brands. “What are ya’ll talkin’ about?” he asked, irritation welling in his voice. Nope, the flummoxed dispatcher didn’t know the restaurant. “Carl’s Jr., you know, the restaurant,” John clarified. “Carl who?” asked the Southern accented voice at the other end of the line. “The accident is in front of Carl’s Jr.,” he replied. John knew the street name, but looked around for a further identifier. No serious injuries, but my son-in-law called for paramedics. An elderly gentleman had crashed into a light pole. One day, while off duty, he came upon a single-car accident. Shortly after our daughter and son-in-law moved from Southern California to North Carolina nearly 14 years ago, the family had another Hamburger Star close-encounter. It’s emblazoned upon my consciousness as immutably as the fact that Coke, Target and the Angels all wear red. I’ve since never been able to call it anything else. He loved that cuddly little gaseous mass - the star not the jalapeno burger! When my son Jimmy was a little tyke four decades ago, he would beg me to take him to “Hamburger Star.” That was his designation for Carl’s Jr. I can attest to the fact that Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s provides customers with charbroiled excellence. They use the same branding - the distinctive red-and-yellow color scheme and that zippy little star logo. Hardee’s is a fixture in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. If you see Carl’s Jr., you’ve seen Hardee’s. They’ve been a team since 1997, and they market their chains almost identically. Well, to be completely accurate, they’re two siblings with the same parent: CKE Restaurants. In case you don’t know - and why would you? - Hardee’s is the East Coast equivalent of Carl’s Jr. Madison Avenue pays real cash money to copywriters to invent such testimonials. Whoop, whoop!Ī local resident was quoted in the article as saying that the restaurant will allow him to consume “buttery biscuits and black angus burgers” to his heart’s content. relations - meriting front-page headlines in the local bugle - is that a Hardee’s will soon open on the Interstate. Let’s see: a Target discount store opened half a dozen years ago a Starbucks was welcomed three summers back and an Olive Garden went in two years ago.īut the biggest recent advancement to hit our Mayberry, R.F.D. We’ve visited their community several times a year for the past 13 or 14 years and have witnessed mammoth changes. It was blessedly quiet - except for the full-throated cicadas - but also hot. My wife Hedy and I spent last week with our daughter and her family in rural North Carolina.
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