During the heyday of local 19-cent hamburger joints that peppered California in the 1960’s, the small Kwik-Way chain prospered. Three of these places lingered in Oakland for decades. A few years ago the stores left began to deteriorate and the main Lake Merritt stores closed in disrepair some months back. A shame really. When you ordered a burger and fries the bag into which the food was placed would turn translucent from the abundance of crisp greasy fries stuffed into the bag. Always a good sign. Another bit of Americana gone forever.
How many died from food poisoning back then?
Good Riddance !!! Those 19 Cent GREASE-BURGERS WERE CHOLESTEROL BOMBS !!! We pay the price now, for eating those Cusine Quislings !!!
I’ve eaten at that place! Good Pete’s Coffee Shop and Mom and Pop pastry store right down the street.
In my town 80 miles away, they just tore down one of those roller skate burger joints into a Starbucks. Have to drive by and see if it has been torn down too. The time from good idea to over expansion and closure seems to be getting pretty slim?
Kwik-Way may be gone but your heart might last a couple extra years now.
JimD and Hops, I’m glad to see the politically correct police have arrived with nutrition advice and to condemn and disparage something with which they have had zero experience. Woot!
If you want greasy goodness The Varsity in Atlanta owns all.
http://www.thevarsity.com
Yeah, another one gone forever.
In SoCal there was one called “Pup ‘n Taco” that was the same way. You could see through the orange taco wrappers, so tasty… – now all Taco Bells.
http://tinyurl.com/5mxuzb
John, I made the comment in jest as I love greasy burgers and fries.
Fewer and fewer really good places left. My favorite was Ships in Culver City. Best Ruben ever made. Gone.
Fortunately we still have a couple of hold outs.
In-N-Out’s Double-Double hasn’t yet been sued or legislated out of existence yet, and there is this Mom and Pop local place which serves the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had. TWO 1/3 pound 100% fatty beef patties with thick slices of sharp cheddar and all the fixing!
We here call’em Heart Bombs!
Wow, it’s gone, I went there several times. It was a good way to get a well balanced meal for well balanced maneuvering while replacing Safeway’s air filters.
How about that hot dog place on San Pablo Ave in El Cerrito, still there? It had a little bit similar design.
If you get fat because you eat burgers because your Body is Dumb!
I eat greasy burgers for over 2 years of working the road for breakfast, lunch and dinner never broke 160lb mark.
Now I still eat everything is taste good, I’m 31. I don’t goto gym and still weight the same.
#11 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, You said it!
Oh, by the way, you mind if I can take a life insurance policy out on you? I’m sure it would pay off any day now…
Oh man, how sad. My favorite order was two little cheeseburgers, a bag of fries and the small lemonade. The cheeseburgers with the reddish sauce and the little bits of grilled onions had a nicely different taste from the standard cheap burgers from McD, BK or Jacque. And it was hit or miss on the fries, but they were fresh cut, you could see the guys in the back cutting them, and when you got lucky with the oil being the right temperature and relatively fresh they were excellent fries, blowing away mcdonalds. Other times the white bag that held the whole mess would be practically transparent before you got it to the car. then it was only a little harder to finish the meal.
I’m glad you posted this because I used to go out of my way when I was in Oakland (by myself, my wife hated Quikway) to get my junk food fix. It would have been a drag to drive over there and find it gone.
If anybody knows another place in the bay area for cheap little cheeseburgers with that style of a sauce I’d like to know. regfman@yahoo.com
John,
You still have Nations, and if you ask nicely, the women cooking will sweat on your burgers for you, just kidding. Good greasy burgers tho, a bay area treat.
John,
You still have Nations, and if you ask nicely, the women cooking will sweat on your burgers for you, just kidding, I don’t think you have to ask. Good greasy burgers tho, a bay area treat.
Has it really got the stage where we get sentimental about a burger place?
Next we’ll be keeping our medical reports after we recover from heart attacks, and selling them like autographs
#11 That’s nice. Weight is important. But if you ever take a trip to the doctor’s, you might find out that there are other vital life-signs to watch; blood pressure, cholestoral, signs of diabetes, all that happy stuff.
It is sad to see so many people who have been brainwashed out of nostalgia forever. Greasy hamburgers and fries were never the problem. Laziness, sloth, political correctness and euro-ignorance are far worse than remembering with fondness a time when America was actually free, truly great and represented the best, the very best, the world had to offer. So go back into the living room, turn on your garbage TV and think about how wonderfull you are, now that you know the “truth” about cholesterol and all those other “bad” reactionary and sentimentala things.
#18 Please don’t ever have children.
Bad as it was at the end, when I was a teenager it was my second home. I remember if you got a red start on your register receipt your meal was free. It wasn’t so bad in the 60’s. It’s a classic for design of the period. I’ll miss it. Been there, did that, and have a t-shirt to prove it! Never speak ill of the ‘dead’, even if its a drive in. LOL
NO MORE Kwik-Way!!!!! I still remember back in the 80’s my parents would take me to Kwik and it would be packed!!! because the food was good! and dirt cheap! back than you can feed the whole family with $10.00. It was something about them fries. I’m sad to hear this. Oakland wont be the same whenever I get a chance to return.
-east coast girl
OKAY EVERYONE, SO WE BOW KNOW THAT KWIK-WAY IS GONE,AND MANY OF US LEFT KWIK-WAY DECADES AGO. THE DAILY STORIES THAT LEFT WITH IT. OOOHHH, THERE WERE TOO MANY TO REPORT ON KNOW. ONE OF THE FEW THINGS I LIKED WAS THERE PRAWN SAUCE. SO, I’M CALLING OUT TO THE EX-EMPLOYEES FOR HELP IN PUTTING TOGETHER THAT PRAWN SAUCE THAT I MISS SO MUCH. I STILL EAT PRAWNS, BUT NO SAUCE MATCHES KWIK-WAY’S PRAWN SAUCE.
IN ADVANCE, THANKS
MARWAN
P.S. YOU CAN SEND THE RECIPE TO ME VIA EMAIL” :MARWWWAN@YAHOO.COM
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