No this is not an interesting post about crime, but a boring one about a restaurant. I remember going out for a burger for my birthday. This would have been about 1978 when I was 10 and I had never really sampled American food. I don't think even Macdonalds was over here then. We went to a place called Gangsters where I had a char-grilled burger. The taste of this, compared to the usual 1970's home-cook and school dinners was fantastic. Of course, now, these palces are everywhere, but this was the first I ever went to. I seem to think it was at the top of Cambridge Street in the building on the corner which became a quite posh Indian for a number of years (Anilas?). Anyone else remember???

Gangsters used to advertise on Radio Hallam with this full-on sales pitch about how they had an amazing light show and "twentieth century beams" (poor man's lasers?).

So I too picked it as the place to go for my birthday when I was about 12 or 13. Only thing was, we went straight after school, so it was about 5pm or something, and I couldn't understand why the place was deserted and of course, they hadn't got their twentieth century beams switched on. So disappointing.

First proper burger place I remember was Uncle Sam's Chuck Wagon in the early 70s on Ecclesall Road. We used to go there virtually every Friday tea time when I was dead young - and the burgers really did come in a basket, which I found unspeakably bizarre.

Thanks for reassuring me about my memory. I always loved Yankees on Ecclesall Road myself. I think the 'sloppy' cheese employed there is a Sheffield speciality. Of course it was perfected by Chubby's on Cambridge Street and I have enjoyed many boozy evenings which finished with that stuff all over my shirt and face. I've never encountered this strange stuff in any other burger anywhere other than those 2 places. I know people who get off the train in Sheffield and go straight for a fix. I live out of town now. Is Chubby's still going strong? Is the cheese still sloppy? IS this a Sheffield claim to fame??

Originally posted by sporaboy
I live out of town now. Is Chubby's still going strong? Is the cheese still sloppy? IS this a Sheffield claim to fame??

I live out of town too - not had a Chubby's burger for bloomin' years. Know what you mean about the sloppy cheese though - great stuff.

Yeah, used to like Yankees too in subsequent years, though Uncle Sam's predated it by quite a while. As a 7 year old I was absolutely intrigued by all the mid-seventies Americana that used to adorn the walls, particularly a portrait of Richard Nixon that said 'Tricky Dicky' across the top, and a poster of a gorgeous black woman with a ginormous afro that used to gaze down on you while you ate. (The woman, not the afro).

All run-of-the-mill stuff these days, but then it seemed mightily exotic.

Gangsters & scoffers very nice, scoffers used to be on west street & did a nice ice cream with hot fudge source.

i seem to think wimpey was the first burger bar place..could be wrong like but i remember going to them in the mid seventies..bit crap like to it was the place to meet on a saturday afternoon after the top rank:D

I think you're right Kirky, Wimpy were open on Fargate in the late 60s and was a favourite sobering up place after the nightclubs turned out. The food was pretty awful, but it tasted like heaven after 10 pints in the Penny Farthing. :)

wimpy was decent, taste better than MacDonald's or burgurking, yeah i recon they were first fast food chain.

Originally posted by owdlad
I think you're right Kirky, Wimpy were open on Fargate in the late 60s and was a favourite sobering up place after the nightclubs turned out. The food was pretty awful, but it tasted like heaven after 10 pints in the Penny Farthing. :)
where was the penny farthing grandad?:)

Originally posted by kirky
where was the penny farthing grandad?:)

You young oik. The PF was the best club in town at that time, so it wouldn't have allowed such uncouth louts as yourself in, it only allowed people of a certain social standing to become members, so the rif raf were sent packing to other lower class establishents. The beer was a bit like all town pubs/clubs though, it saved you putting your fingers down your throat :gag:

Originally posted by owdlad
You young oik. The PF was the best club in town at that time, so it wouldn't have allowed such uncouth louts as yourself in, it only allowed people of a certain social standing to become members, so the rif raf were sent packing to other lower class establishents. The beer was a bit like all town pubs/clubs though, it saved you putting your fingers down your throat :gag:

but where was it? am i right in thinking it was beside the hoffenbrau (sp)

Originally posted by kirky
but where was it? am i right in thinking it was beside the hoffenbrau (sp)

Oh aye I forgot (it's my age) your right it was next door to the Hofbrau :thumbsup: now that German stuff in there was powerful falling down juice :wow:

Originally posted by owdlad
Oh aye I forgot (it's my age) your right it was next door to the Hofbrau :thumbsup: now that German stuff in there was powerful falling down juice :wow:
my uncle was the manager there....good job he had left by the time i started going to the strippers on a sat afternoon:D :D mi owd ma would have gid me a reet hidin:hihi:

Originally posted by kirky
my uncle was the manager there....good job he had left by the time i started going to the strippers on a sat afternoon:D :D mi owd ma would have gid me a reet hidin:hihi:

What did they call him ? although I never sank as low as watching the strippers ( well I didn't realise they were on) I can remember the big bloke on the door called Bill who looked a bit like Kenny Rodgers, and a lovely looking lass called Wendy who worked behind the bar.:razz:

Uncle Sams? - couple of pints in The Nursery, then into uncle Sams for burger or chicken in a basket - music by bands i had never heard of , gorgeous ladies from the teacher training college - some of Sheffields posers came and went, but still was a cool place to be.

Scoffers on West Street? - was that the place that did the Barnsley Chop? - I think I am a bit of a trencher man but those things laid me out.

I have a faded memory of a fast food chain restaurant at the top of Fargate roughly where the entrance to Orchard Square is. It was called the Golden Egg and again the faded memory of it is brightly colored plastic seating and plastic potted plants.
This wasn't a dream was it???

Originally posted by owdlad
What did they call him ? although I never sank as low as watching the strippers ( well I didn't realise they were on) I can remember the big bloke on the door called Bill who looked a bit like Kenny Rodgers, and a lovely looking lass called Wendy who worked behind the bar.:razz:

his name was pete..the big bloke later worked in the cannon down stairs bar