adunne wrote: I remembered what Zim's in Greenbrae was named before it was Zim's: "Lions". Score a point for the brain cells! Now, where did I leave my car keys? Hmmm....
Gonzalez' Hacienda actually took over Acapulco in Larkspur Landing before closing.
A note on Upstart Crow where many a weekend brunches were enjoyed. A couole years ago I was walking through a touristy mall on the water in San Diego and just about fainted. Right in front of me was Upstart Crow (without restaurant). Same company, same look and they said they had another one at I think Universal Studios.
Re: Traveler's Inn -- my dad was co-owner of The Photo Shop on 4th St. from 1950s-1970s (more on that later). They would do inventory on Jan. 1 every year (with employees and family members). For several years, the reward was a big chinese lunch at Traveler's Inn. As a kid, that was a big deal that made counting widgets worthwhile. -Nancy Reichard (the page says "posting anonymously", I don't know why/how to change)
our family used to eat at gonzales' hacienda! one of my childhood memories. now, does anyone remember the old traveler's inn chinese restaurant on third street at tamalpais? was salute after that and burned several years ago. the traveler's was another childhood memory. we were always treated well because my dad (who owned the forest knolls lodge) knew the restaurant owners.
First of all, thanks Jason for setting this site up. I saw it mentioned in the IJ today.
Here are some memories of my favorite places:
-Bon Air Drugstore. I'm not sure if that's right name, but there was a drug store at the end of the old Petrini's shopping center (now the Molly Stones shopping center) where Wells Fargo is now. I used to go down and buy Charleston Chew candy bars there with my allowance. It had huge ceilings. I saw Joe Dimaggio in there once when I was about 7 years old, when he was living in the Greenbrae area.
-The Refectory. Also in the Petrini's shopping center. It had big brown wooden doors, and was really dark inside, with a bar. I never ate there, and I remember thinking that it was a restaurant not meant for kids. I don't know why. My mom tells me it was a kind of a '70s swinger place, and so there must have been plenty of patrons for that place.
-Lothar's Flowers in the Petrini shopping center. I bought a corsage or something there for one of my proms. A nice German(?) elderly couple owned it.
-Straw Hat pizza in Larkspur, across the water from South Eliseo (now a medical practice building). It goes without saying that the arcade was a huge destination spot for pre-teens and teens in the late '70s and early '80s, but how about the magic shows that they used to do in there on a little stage? I think it was weekend nights they did that.
-Games & Things in Larkspur Landing. They sold Atari and Intellivision games, and had tons of RPGs and board games. That was during my Dungeons and Dragons phase I think. :)
-Alpine House on Sir Francis Drake in Kentfield, where the John Robert Powers modeling agency is now. I loved the camping stuff in there.
-Marin Surplus in San Rafael, which eventually became Marin Outdoors, and then folded a couple of years ago. The military surplus equipment in that place was incredible -- gas masks, guns, etc. I remember a boat hanging from the ceiling or something like that.
-Arthurs. This was the bar that shared the Zims building in Greenbrae. I actually was a regular there for a couple of years after college. Nobody ever went in there, and we could shoot pool, play darts, and put whatever we wanted on the jukebox because nobody else came to the bar. Just us and the blue-haired old ladies who were smoking at the bar. No wonder it went under! (BTW, does anyone remember what Zim's was called before it was Zim's?)
-Las Galinas golf course, right off hwy 101 north of Terra Linda. It was the cheapest 18 holes (or was it 9?) of golf in Marin. Now it's a retirement complex. My dad got tagged in the head by a golf ball there when I was playing with him in the early '80s and the paramedics had to drive an ambulance onto the fairway to treat him. Wow, what a day that was.
-Hungry House restaurant in Kentfield, in the Woodland Shopping Center. I saw Steve Perry of Journey in there around 1980. He was wearing a long white fur coat and was with some bimbo. :)
-Gonzales Hacienda resturant in San Rafael. This was a great, authentic, family-owned Mexican restaurant somewhere around 3rd and D street. I think when the Acapulco opened in Larkspur Landing in the early '80s and became THE hot Mexican restaurant of the '80s, it really took a lot of business away from Gonzales and Gozales eventually closed.
-The Upstart Crow in Mill Valley. This was a nice combo bookstore and cafe in the same shopping center as the Cantina. It was where the gym is now.
-The Co-Op in Larkspur, on Tamal Vista, where Any Mountain Sports is now. I remember it as a funky '70s style grocery store where you could buy granola by the pound from clear plastic bins. This was before most of the US knew what granola was!
-The Local Yogurt, on the corner of Sir Francis Drake and College Ave, on the street level. It was the first frozen yogurt place in Marin. My brother worked there in the summer of '78. They had chalk boards where they'd write the 5-6 flavors of the day.
-The roller skating rental store Sir Francisc Drake, near Uli Seiler's ski shop in Kentfield. I remember renting roller skates (not inline skates, but the old style that looked like Adidas shoes with skateboard wheels underneath) and going down the bike path between Kent School.
My God. I can't stop writing down memories. This is scary.
