The End Of An Era - Captain Kidd's Buffet Closed Permanently

Sailor310

Well-Known Member
Was it the restaurant brilliantly and whimsically named PIZZA on the corner of Harbor and Katella?

View attachment 601150

They serve PIZZA for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, according to the sign. It's been there forever, and it's really bad.

How is it even possible in this age of smartphones and Yelp that anyone can still wander in there when the Pizza Press is a block up the street? 🤣
No. As I remember, it stood by itself in the middle of a block with trees all round.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No. As I remember, it stood by itself in the middle of a block with trees all round.

In the 1980's there was nothing better than Shakey's Pizza. I remember there used to be one north of Disneyland a few blocks. Their pizza was fantastic, and it seemed like every table in the restaurant had a big plastic pitcher of cold Budweiser. 🍻

I really do wonder what becomes of the Captain Kidd's space? It's next to the International House of Pancakes, which is a longtime franchise owned by the family that has also owned/operated the Park Vue Inn since the early 1960's. On the other side is the Tropicana Motel, which is owned by the Badalian family who has been there since the late 1950's.

Who dares take on the Captain Kidd's property I wonder?
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
In the 1980's there was nothing better than Shakey's Pizza. I remember there used to be one north of Disneyland a few blocks. Their pizza was fantastic, and it seemed like every table in the restaurant had a big plastic pitcher of cold Budweiser. 🍻

I really do wonder what becomes of the Captain Kidd's space? It's next to the International House of Pancakes, which is a longtime franchise owned by the family that has also owned/operated the Park Vue Inn since the early 1960's. On the other side is the Tropicana Motel, which is owned by a different family who has also been there since the late 1950's.

Who dares take on the Captain Kidd's property I wonder?
Shakey's is still there and operating. And still good food!


I loved going to the Shakey's in Point Loma as a kid, that one is long gone.
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Only business I see going in that spot is some kind of multi-million dollar national chain of either a restaurant or coffee / donuts type place.
Can't see anything 'small scale local' going there....


Any thoughts on if Disney would consider buying the property in relation to the proposed parking area?
Don't they already own a chunk of vacated former Carousel Inn property a door or two down?
Hmm....

-
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Only business I see going in that spot is some kind of multi-million dollar national chain of either a restaurant or coffee / donuts type place.
Can't see anything 'small scale local' going there....


Any thoughts on if Disney would consider buying the property in relation to the proposed parking area?
Don't they already own a chunk of vacated former Carousel Inn property a door or two down?
Hmm....

-
No way in hell will the Stovall Group sell to Disney.

So should be interesting who takes over the lease
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Only business I see going in that spot is some kind of multi-million dollar national chain of either a restaurant or coffee / donuts type place.
Can't see anything 'small scale local' going there....


Any thoughts on if Disney would consider buying the property in relation to the proposed parking area?
Don't they already own a chunk of vacated former Carousel Inn property a door or two down?
Hmm....

-

Your New England level-headedness made me think of something...

This would be a great location for a Dunkin' Donuts.

I'm sorry, but the breakfast and pastry options at Starbucks are just too hit and miss. Starbucks can't keep breakfast/pastry stuff in stock past 9am, it always takes too long to put them in the Military Grade Microwave they keep on the back counter, and Starbucks food is just not very good. You can't reheat bread, it just doesn't work.

Dunkin' Donuts would do a killing here in this location.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No way in hell will the Stovall Group sell to Disney.

So should be interesting who takes over the lease

Is that a Stovall property??? I never knew that!

I've been at a couple social things over the years with the Stovall's. They live nearby. Mrs. Stovall is a lovely hostess. I knew the family still owned the motels, but I had no idea they also owned Captain Kidd's.

I kind of wish I'd known that years ago, it would have made for some snarky jokes from the back of the room when Mrs. Stovall took to the piano. Although... I don't blame them for keeping it a secret. Or at least not mentioning it in polite company.
 

DLR92

Well-Known Member
Your New England level-headedness made me think of something...

This would be a great location for a Dunkin' Donuts.

I'm sorry, but the breakfast and pastry options at Starbucks are just too hit and miss. Starbucks can't keep breakfast/pastry stuff in stock past 9am, it always takes too long to put them in the Military Grade Microwave they keep on the back counter, and Starbucks food is just not very good. You can't reheat bread, it just doesn't work.

Dunkin' Donuts would do a killing here in this location.
Ummm…Krispy Kreme would be ideal!

But it a celebration that Captian Kidds Buffet is no longer in buisness! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
 

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Shakey's is still there and operating. And still good food!

I loved going to the Shakey's in Point Loma as a kid, that one is long gone.
Was nice to see it make a comeback…wasn’t it Big Top Pizza for a few years before reopening again as Shakeys?
 

smooch

Well-Known Member
'm sorry, but the breakfast and pastry options at Starbucks are just too hit and miss. Starbucks can't keep breakfast/pastry stuff in stock past 9am, it always takes too long to put them in the Military Grade Microwave they keep on the back counter, and Starbucks food is just not very good. You can't reheat bread, it just doesn't work.
Their bacon, egg, and gouda sandwich is very very tasty, have not had a bad experience ordering that. Also for lunch their grilled cheese is so good I know it's just bread and cheese but I'm addicted I love it so much.
Ummm…Krispy Kreme would be ideal!

But it a celebration that Captian Kidds Buffet is no longer in buisness! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Krispy Kreme would be insanely good to go there, but I am curious if they have enough space for all the machinery they have in Krispy Kremes. I don't know the size of Captain Kidds so it might be spacious enough, but yeah some fresh glazed Krispy Kreme donuts in the morning would be an amazing way to start a day at Disneyland.
 

SSG

Well-Known Member
In the 1980's there was nothing better than Shakey's Pizza. I remember there used to be one north of Disneyland a few blocks. Their pizza was fantastic, and it seemed like every table in the restaurant had a big plastic pitcher of cold Budweiser. 🍻

I really do wonder what becomes of the Captain Kidd's space? It's next to the International House of Pancakes, which is a longtime franchise owned by the family that has also owned/operated the Park Vue Inn since the early 1960's. On the other side is the Tropicana Motel, which is owned by the Badalian family who has been there since the late 1950's.

Who dares take on the Captain Kidd's property I wonder?
Oh, that takes me back! There used to be numerous Shakey's in the Seattle area. My family would go on All-You-Can Eat nights. Pizza, salad bar, greasy fried chicken. Perfect for me and my starving brothers.

Now, there's just one in the area, but I seldom get to lovely, bucolic Renton :p
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
With today's Disney News...

SFQK6VVNEH3TFOGOILFRCRW2KY.jpg



I remember when there was talk about a casino nearby...

 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Some interesting facts...

>>Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States.[1] Founded in 1954, it was the first franchise pizza chain in the United States.[2][3] In 1968, the chain had 342 locations.[4] The chain had about 500 stores globally, and 58 in the United States, as of July 2019. Currently, the stores can be found in the states of California and Washington as well as in the Philippines.<<

>>Shakey's Pizza was founded in Sacramento, California, on April 30, 1954, by Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and Ed Plummer. Johnson's nickname resulted from nerve damage following a bout of malaria suffered during World War II. The parlor opened on a weekend, but since the pizza ovens were not yet completed[5] only beer was served. Shakey took the profits from beer sales and bought ingredients for pizza the following Monday.<<

>>By the early 1970s, Shakey's had become popular with families and youth sports groups in Southern California. The long rows of picnic tables end-on-end facilitated large groups. Youth sports teams would go to Shakey's after their weekend games, where the kids could eat pizza and have fun, and the parents could drink beer and socialize. In fact, the advertising motto for Shakey's was "We serve fun at Shakey's... also pizza". One of the features of Shakey's was its large windows between the dining hall and the kitchen. One could order pizza and then watch as the dough was prepared, sauce and toppings added, and then pizza slid into the oven. Kids enjoyed watching the process and running to tell their parents when the pizza came out of the oven.<<

>>In a season five episode of South Park titled "Kenny Dies", Cartman uses human stem cells to clone a Shakey's restaurant.[25] In a season 10 episode, titled "Stanley's Cup", Stan mentions visiting Shakey's after a supposedly infamous peewee hockey game at the Pepsi Center (currently Ball Arena) between periods of a Colorado Avalanche home game.<<

 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Your New England level-headedness made me think of something...

This would be a great location for a Dunkin' Donuts.

I'm sorry, but the breakfast and pastry options at Starbucks are just too hit and miss. Starbucks can't keep breakfast/pastry stuff in stock past 9am, it always takes too long to put them in the Military Grade Microwave they keep on the back counter, and Starbucks food is just not very good. You can't reheat bread, it just doesn't work.

Dunkin' Donuts would do a killing here in this location.

You read my mind!
Seriously, I was thinking 'Dunkin' when I was typing my response.

I'll admit, I was shy name checking the place as it would bare my rampant New England-ness for all to see.
😋

There are more 'Dunkies' locations in the state of MA then anywhere else on earth..like, 8000 locations or so before the Covid Apocolpyse hit and they had to close 800 stores.
There is literally a 'Dunks' on every single corner in the state of MA.
You can't go 30 feet without hitting another one.
See one on the highway? Look directly across the opposite side of the street and there will be another!
No kidding!
It's crazy.

What can I say, we like cheap coffee and sugary donuts.
Mmmmmm......donuts......
( Homer Simpson drool sound )

🍩


Anyway, I digress -
Back on topic.

YES....a 'Dunkin Donuts' would do well at that location.
Cast alone would make them a mint.

-
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh, that takes me back! There used to be numerous Shakey's in the Seattle area. My family would go on All-You-Can Eat nights. Pizza, salad bar, greasy fried chicken. Perfect for me and my starving brothers.

Now, there's just one in the area, but I seldom get to lovely, bucolic Renton :p

Isn't Renton where they build the 727's and 737's? At the south end of the lake? My Seattle geography is hazy this time of night.

You may be too young to remember this place, but in the early and mid 70's there was a popular pizza place in Seattle called Pizza & Pipes. It was a giant pizza parlor, there were a few of them around town as I remember, but we always went to the one just east of what is now Bellevue Square.

Pizza & Pipes had a bunch of pinball machines and penny arcade games (this was pre-PacMan), but the real star of the show was a two-story tall pipe organ at the front of the big vaulted dining room. They had an organist who would sit there in a fancy pastel colored tuxedo (it was the Gerald Ford era, remember) and play songs on this giant pipe organ. You could go up and make song requests by writing down your song on a slip of paper and putting it in a fishbowl that sat prominently and ceremoniously at the side of the organ, within reach of the pastel-colored organist. As if that wasn't enough, every 30 minutes, a big movie screen would descend from the ceiling, the lights would dim and a mirrored disco ball would spin from the rafters, and they would play an old-timey black and white silent movie featurette. The organist would go into Full Liberace mode and really work himself into a frenzy at the organ as he accompanied the movie, and for no apparent reason there was a bubble machine that would waft giant waves of bubbles out over the entire dining room during the featurette. Many of the bubbles would land on your table and pop on your pizza. No one seemed to care.

In the 1970's this type of dinner entertainment was high drama and terribly exciting, and obviously made an impact as I remember it almost 50 years later.

I don't suppose Pizza & Pipes is still there, is it?
 
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Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
You read my mind!
Seriously, I was thinking 'Dunkin' when I was typing my response.

I'll admit, I was shy name checking the place as it would bare my rampant New England-ness for all to see.
😋

There are more 'Dunkies' locations in the state of MA then anywhere else on earth..like, 8000 locations or so before the Covid Apocolpyse hit and they had to close 800 stores.
There is literally a 'Dunks' on every single corner in the state of MA.
You can't go 30 feet without hitting another one.
See one on the highway? Look directly across the opposite side of the street and there will be another!
No kidding!
It's crazy.

What can I say, we like cheap coffee and sugary donuts.
Mmmmmm......donuts......
( Homer Simpson drool sound )

🍩


Anyway, I digress -
Back on topic.

YES....a 'Dunkin Donuts' would do well at that location.
Cast alone would make them a mint.

-

Sorry, but you can't get a new Dunkin' Donuts franchise.

But, you can get a Dunkin' aka DNKN'

 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sorry, but you can't get a new Dunkin' Donuts franchise.

But, you can get a Dunkin' aka DNKN'


I'm going to have to go look at the sign on the Dunkin' Donuts here in my little town. I know for a fact they still serve donuts. I just had one there yesterday!

But in New England especially, Dunkin' Donuts is HUGE. It's like a cross between Starbucks and In-N-Out there; ubiquitous yet culturally defining.
 
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Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
I'm going to have to go look at the sign on the Dunkin' Donuts here in my little town. I know for a fact they still serve donuts. I just had one there yesterday!

But in New England especially, Dunkin' Donuts is HUGE. It's like a cross between Starbucks and In-N-Out there; ubiquitous yet culturally defining.

Click on the link, It is for the Villa Park location, In English! @DunkinVillaParkCA


But Google Street View shows they have the old signs.
 

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