Let's talk about Naugles
 

I know that many in the Southern California area fondly remember a little fast food chain known as Naugles. I'm interested in knowing what food items you remember best and any other memories you might have.

Sadly, I don't think I've lived here long enough to have been to a Naugles.

:(

Yeah, sadly they merged with Del Taco in 1988. I only have a few years of experience with them myself. I do remember the Naugleburger, Macho Burritos, and the cheese burrito, which contained nothing but cheese and sauce, kind of like a quesadilla log.

Quesadilla log!

Oh, I miss Naugles! We had them in Vegas too.

I loved their tacos, and my mom would take me all the time, until my cousin worked there and told her that they would thin the meat out with oatmeal. It disgusted my mom, so we never went back. :(

But, I still loved it anyway.

Tuesday (?) was 6 tacos for a dollar night, I always insisted on a cheeseburger with mustard and mayonnaise. Yes, I was a picky kid. Dick Naugle also founded Del Taco, the first of which was in Corona, where I grew up. After he sold Del Taco, which used to be excellent, by the way, he opened the Naugles chain. There was a short period of time, I'm guessing after he died, that the two chains merged, and then they both sucked.
The most important information here is that Del Taco used to be good. Now, if you're in the Inland Empire, go to Miguel Jr.'s. Amazingly good drive-thru Mexican food. Almost worth jumping on the 91 and heading down there.

But I think I'll resist the temptation.

I'm trying to remember the saying printed on the drink cups, "Fix it fresh, Fix it fast, something something something - Dick Naugle," with a little drawing of his head.

Oh, as for the meat, my Dad always claimed that they used Naugahyde.

Get it? :D

Actually, I like the Del Taco near me... I've had bad experience elsewhere. The Del Taco near me has had the same owner for at *least* 15 years, but I'm guessing longer...probably more like 20+. I remember going there as a kid when I came out during the summer, and seeing the guy and his wife working behind the counter.

For years, that was the only Del Taco I'd gone to. Over time, I'd ventured to other Del Tacos and they SUCKED! When I moved back to HB, I saw the owner at my wonderful Del Taco. I asked him why his Del Taco was so much better. Tacos, burritos, anything that requires meat all have lots of meat, quesadillas are loaded with cheese, they don't skimp on anything! He answered, "I'm not about to cut quality. This is how I've always run my store, and it's not gonna change." Judging by the regular customers and how busy it is on a regular basis, this guy don't need to worry about a thing. We'll keep coming back.

I just gotta remember to not drive up to any other Del Tacos. I've been spoiled.

Egg Bean Burritos - which became available after 11:00PM as breakfast, but we slept in to late to have them otherwise. The Macho Combo was also a fearsome beast, often compared to donkey parts. We refered to our local Naugles as JPL - ask Russell

I remember them existing, but was too young to appreciate any difference between them and Taco Bell/Del Taco.

Mmm, I remember one in Long Beach near the traffic circle.

Hmm, that has my curiosity peaked. I'm assuming that all of the answers I'm coming up with in my head, naughty as they may be, probably pale compared to the real answer. :)

I remember going to Naugles in St. Louis in '83-'84. Their hot sauce containers were little plastic cups (like chicken mcnugget sauce containers) as opposed to the more typical ketchup-packet style. At the beginning of each meal, we'd take an extra hot sauce container and drop the dirtiest penny we had to the bottom. By the time we were done eating, the penny was bright and shiny.

Yum.

I know I've been to one. I think there was one in Chico and we'd go there for dinner on field hockey trips.

Isn't it remarkable how the fast food chains we remember as having the best food are those we can no longer eat at?

I nearly lived on Naugles for one summer! I miss it terribly -- esp. the macho combo...How on earth did I stay so skinny for so long? Oh I remember: Naugles was often my only meal of the day!

Ah yes...eating Naugles in the Star Wars line at the Big Newport waaaaay back when...

I fondly remember the Steak and Egg Burrito.

As I recall, you could get them starting at midnight and the drive-thru was open 24 hours. They made the best post-party/concert/coital snack after a long night's debauch.

Egg Bean Burrito after a night of, well, fun.......that was absolute heaven! Perfect munchie food.

People seem to be drawn to mediocrity in the fast food world.

ETA: I should clarify that. What I mean is that I've noticed that in the restaurant world, those with mediocre food are often more popular. Those with good food die. In my subjective opinion of good food, of course, but damnit Olive Garden is not good food!

The implication I was going for is that those things we remember as best tend to be those thing no longer available to us.

They're unsullied by the reality of over familiarity. It is kind of like my recollection that Thundercats was a wonderful show until I happened to watch a few episodes again last year. Nostalgia covers many sins.

My dad used to talk fondly of Naugles. But I doubt I ate there.

Now, Cupid's on the other hand.... :)

Anybody remember Love's?

Where in HB is that Del Taco?

Yes, I do! Are they no longer around? There use to be one on Harbour Blvd. near the 22 frwy. I haven't been through there in a while. They had the best ribs!

How to build a Naugles Burger (by an ex employee):

The shredded lettuce goes directly on the bottom bun, and then generously sprinkling pepper on the lettuce, followed by the secret sauce, two thinly sliced tomatoes, and then cheese. This was followed with the cooked hamburger patty. The top of the bun was spread with mayo, a few dill pickle slices, and then a thin slice of onion completed the top. Turn the top bun onto the burger patty, and you have a "Naugles" burger.

Now to the burning question... what WAS the secret sauce? It was very simply...

2 parts Mayo
1 part Buttermilk
dash of lemon juice
and seasoned with pepper

...that's it! Whisk the ingredients well and refrigerate to blend the flavors.

Also, I remember a chain called "Pup n Taco". Don't think I ever had the pleasure of dining there, however. I grew up in the West Covina area and remember two hamburger joints myself. One was the "Volcano Burger" (HUGE orders of fries which were real cut potatos), and the other was "Horrible Harry's Burgers" (with a name like that, how can you forget). I was always afraid to eat there!

When you're at Love's the whole world is delicious.

Yeah, I got that. And I have no doubt that that's true in many cases. But in a world where I've seen Olive Garden put Italian restaurants that cost lest and have better food out of business I also have no doubt that I don't trust the tastes and restaurant decision making abilities of the majority of people.

I remember my family was going to Naugles with our cousins once when I was a kid. My Uncle called it Liver City so I thought they only put liver in their meat. I could not anything there because I had this mental barf going on. On the flip side, Del Taco was the only fast food I ate for years and years. Now they have gone totally down hill. As BE said, they are not all the same. I only like the one in Costa Mesa.

When you're in Loves the whole world's delicious... DPR beat me to it!

Springdale and Warner.

Only once was I disappointed, but that's because I got picky when my quesadilla had too much crap on it.

I don't know what was up with me that day.

I had the same experience watching The Last Unicorn. I was so pumped it was out on DVD, and so disappointed that... well, it was pretty much lame.

By Menen.

Go see Cal.

Let me chime in on Miguel's Jr. being delicious! Who knew a simple bean and cheese burrito could be so good? They are so close to me that I can drive to 2 different ones in about 5 minutes - so we go through the drive through often enough. Even my parents who live about 45 minutes away in O.C. will make sure they go through the drive through on their way home from dropping off the kids from a visit with them.

As for Naugles, I remember that wierd cheese burrito. Only ordered it once to see what I was I guess. I remember making things Macho. I remember going through the drive through for a large diet coke and order of fries after a night of cruising on Balboa Island.

Has anyone tried Taco Mesa? There's one by me... food's awesome, albeit a little spicy for my gringo lingua.

Taco Mesa (in Costa Mesa) is delicious!

Yeah, I'm a fan of Taco Mesa, as well. I like their calamari taco.

Y. U. M.

Thanks! I drive by there all the time and didn't notice it there. I tend not to eat at Dell Taco, so that's probably why. I work at Bolsa Chica and Bolsa.

I'll have to try it! :snap:

Oh.... really.... We'll have to get together sometime for lunch! Del Taco or elsewhere! (I live at Warner & Graham)

The one on Bristol and Baker? I love that one.

I really like the DT out in Barstow. We tend to stop there on the way to Vegas.

The Del Taco on Atlanta and Magnolia is really good too.

Oh my gosh - same thing. I got it for Maddy. Then when we started watching it, totally sucked. I don't think we even finished.

Anyone remember Sambo's? The little black kid and the tiger.

ayup. used to go there all the time when I was younger. much...much younger
:p

There's still one left in Santa Barbera (the original one).

Never heard of Naugles. All it makes me think of is some sort of strange animal that is used to make naugahyde.

"How many Naugles died to make this couch?"

Lol! I had never heard of them myself, Steph- it just makes me think of Bugles or Tribbles.

Nauglehyde.:D

Sambos was always a favorite for breakfast after we stayed at a Howard Johnsons with an orange roof. I come from CLASS I tell ya!

Just yesterday I was Googling for info on the going prices for Sambo's wall decorations. A friend has several large vintage pieces she wants to sell, and I was surprised at how many collectors there are of Sambo's stuff out there. I vaguely recall eating at Sambo's but they kind of disappeared from our town a long time ago.

My mother loved HoJo's. We ate there a lot when I was a kid. Do they still have any restaurants, or is it only motels now?

I remember Sambos.... I loved the part of the story where the tiger turns into butter!

There are (as of February this year) three Howard Johnson restaurants left. One in Maine (Bangor) and two in New York (Lake Placid and Lake George).

The fourth to last was in Waturbury, Connecticut, and was forced to change it's name earlier this year.

According to that article, the company that own the rights to the name for restaurants (no longer related to the hotels) is looking to relaunch the chain. The article doesn't make it clear if those remaining three will be forced out first or not.

As did we. Mostly for ice cream and HoJo cola at the counter. Occasionally for dinner and all you can eat fried clams night and the like.

I used to love HoJo's. I would often take out-of-town visitors to the one in Times Square. So many memories...

Digressing from restaurants for a moment…. anybody else miss Bell Brand Corn Chips. They were soooo much better than Fritos - and there was a bell shaped chip in each bag!

Oh man, in 1984, my family spent 6 weeks touring the east coast, starting in New Hampshire and working our way by auto down to Virginia. We stayed at HoJo's probably 80% of the time. I don't believe I've ever set foot in a HoJo's again.

OMG we were somewhere recently (the last few months) and there was a Sambos! I can't remember where, but I grabbed the business card (can't find it right now) because I couldn't believe they were still around. I think it was Kentucky. Didn't they all turn into Denny's? I just remember the one we went as kids to had a beautiful mural on the wall.

The murals were always wonderful. I think I still have a childhood copy of "Little Black Sambo" somewhere. My mother LOVED that book.

Are you forgetting MouseAdventure?

The only Sambo's restaurant that was part of the original chain is in Santa Barbera. There are Sambo or similarly named restaurants elsewhere but apparently none of them were ever part of the chain (for example, Li'l Sambo's in Lincoln Beach, Oregon).

But if there's someone out there running an illicit Sambo's that would be cool.

My coolest memory of Sambo's (I think I've shared this before) was at the one in Newport Beach, Oregon. We were in there during a rainstorm and it was a decent one. But we were right on theedge of it. Big front wall of windows for the restaurant and halfway down the building it went from heavy rain to no rain at all in a very steady line.

The local Sambo's in our home town was turned into a Burgerville.

Speaking of Sambos, I just came across this history of racially stereotyped "spokespeople".

I'd read that yesterday. And in it Sambo's is the only one where I still shake my head trying to see the racial insentivity.

I see nothing wrong with that representation of Sambo. Looks like something you'd fine on Small World.

That would be Naugas:




(My Hairdresser collects them)

Taco Bell used to have that style as well (a LONG time ago). I remember getting those to leave a penny in to see how well it would clean the penny.

I can still eat at my all time-favorite fast food joint: In N Out Burger.

The Love's chain is no longer. I don't believe that there are any restaurants left called "Love's". However, the one by me was purchased and the new owner changed the name of the place to "Riley's" and kept pretty much the same menu (albeit, with new names for all the items). If you are interested, it is on Brea Blvd. in Brea, just south of the intersection with Central/State College.

If you are near the city of Orange, check out Tulsa Rib

mmmmm...Tulsa Rib! That is the place I had dinner with my sweetie just 16 years ago before he popped the question.

Interesting, but I'd have to drive up and down the whole of Orange to find it as they don't give an address.......

Mmmmmm, ribs. (insert Aleister photo licking chops here)

It is under the Contact Us link. It has the address and a map.