MovieChat Forums > The Jerk (1979) Discussion > Restaurant next to service station

Restaurant next to service station

posted 15 years ago by donnieandsarah
13 replies | jump to latest

Was seen as "Sambo's". I used to go there as a child in Little Rock AR in the 70's. No one believes me that a place was named that. Anyone else have memories of this poor brother of Denny's.

[–] imdb-19700 15 years ago

I can't speak to the movie reference, but there certainly was a Sambo's chain in the 60s and 70s. I grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon, and there was one there. The original Sambo's is still in business in Santa Barbara, or at least it was when I visited it in 2002.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] orlandotek 15 years ago

Yup, I remember seeing the Sambo's in "The Jerk". It was next to the service station Steve Martin's character worked in and I think can only be seen in the wide-screen version of the movie. We had a couple of Sambo's here in Orlando, FL back in the early-mid 1970's.

[–] glamourina 14 years ago

Yeah! I used to go there with my grandfather when I lived in Southern California. I didn't know what it meant either.

[–] martycthomas 14 years ago

It's from the Childrens Book of Stories. Little Black Sambo. Little Black Sambo was a Black Kid who lived in the Jungle. The Tigers were eating everyone They could catch. Little Black Sambo outsmarted the Tigers & got them to chase their Tails so fast that they all turned to Butter! Some see it as Racist. But I don't, He was Smart, & used that to outwit the Tigers, save everyone else & become the Hero!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo

[–] kaneforgov 14 years ago

Make no mistake, it was racist.

[–] psdhart 13 years ago

Indeed, but why on earth did they choose that name? Just wondering

edit: there still seems to be one in Santa Monica CA

The fact is - SAM (the Founder) was a real person and BO (his partner) was a real person.

Sam is Sam Battistone and Bo is Newell Bohnett, known affectionately to his friends, family and associates as "Bo".
Despite all the other stories you may have heard - this is really how SAMBO'S got its name.
'The Story of Little Black Sambo' by Helen Bannerman was an afterthought.

[–] donnhw 14 years ago

Our town had one; Yes, they def existed. I actually worked for the manager of our town's Sambo's, but not at the restaurant.

[–] sfwmson 11 years ago

There Was One In Apple valley Rhode island.

[–] bhoover247 11 years ago

There was one in Athens, GA which is a pretty liberal town, especially for Georgia. It didn't last long.

[–] crockett_john 10 years ago

There was one in Missouri, but it had Jungle Book characters on the wall above the lunch counter.

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I'm just expressing my opinion.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

[–] briand10 9 years ago

I just read this on the board for Edward Scissorhands:

The restaurant that the family eats at was, at one time, a real restaurant; a national chain diner called "Sambo's". It was located directly across the street from Southgate Shopping Center, as appears in the movie. Due to the controversial nature of the name and interior design, the diner (and entire chain) closed sometime in the late 70s/early 80s except for the original location in Santa Barbara, California, which to this day remains open in its original location. It remained an abandoned building for many years, until Tim Burton came to town to film "Edward Scissorhands". Burton's crew unboarded the doors and windows and redressed the interior to look like a working restaurant again.