Frisch's. The End of an Era

The End of an Era

High School. 

If you follow me, you know I graduated from George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida in 1971. (If you are one of my younger readers and find yourself in awe or laughing at the idea of someone that old once in high school, STOP NOW. Your day will come.)

I moved to Florida the summer before my ninth-grade year. One of the places my classmates and I frequented was a Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant on Florida Avenue. It wasn’t far from the high school and a great place eat. The fact you could drive into a space, push a button, and order a hamburger with fries... all over a speaker was a treat.  A few minutes later your food was carried to your car on a tray that hooked nicely to your rolled down window. 

But the best part of Frisch’s for most of us wasn’t the food or the convenience. It was the place to meet up with your friends. 

Frisch’s was a touchpoint of our youth.

Like me, Frisch’s was birthed in Ohio. Dave Frisch was, like me, from the Cincinnati area. Frisch invested himself in the family business and when his father died, he took over the three family-owned restaurants. He was twenty-years-old at the time.

While attending a restaurant convention in California, Dave learned of the “double decker” hamburger. He added his own unique form of tartar sauce and the Big Boy was born. It soon became the restaurant’s signature burger.

The first Frisch’s Big Boy opened in a Cincinnati suburb. They called the restaurant

 The Mainliner 

It was named after the first tri-motor passenger airplane. That first restaurant had room to serve eight customers inside and sixty cars outside!

I don’t know how many people our Frisch’s in Florida could handle, but I do know most of the crowd who assembled there on the weekend were high schoolers…and most were from Chamberlain. And... most of us ate outside, a tray hanging on the side of the car.

The End of an Era

Never too old
for a first date at Frisch's

Frisch’s is no more. Oh, there might be a restaurant or two here and there, but most have closed or are closing. Our favorite hot spot on Florida Avenue is long gone. 

When Mike and I were dating in 2022, we went to the Mainliner…the original Frisch’s restaurant in Cincinnati. On that first visit, we met a woman who started working there as a car hop. Car hops had long gone by the wayside. This woman still worked for the company. She had interesting tidbits to share with us about the way the place was and how it grew. 

That was then. 

Mike and I returned to Ohio for Christmas this year. We’ve driven past many closed Frisch’s restaurants. It is sad. We hoped for one last “date” at the Mainliner, but it was not to be. They have closed.

The Frisch's Mainliner sign
is going to the American Sign Museum

There is a saying: All good things must come to an end. That may be true. But I don’t have to like it.