Comments on: Sambo’s Lake Tahoe, 1967

By: Debra

Debra — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:08:52 +0000

I moved to Lake Tahoe in 1974 when I was 18 and stopped at this Sambo’s Restaurant the first day I got to South Shore Lake Tahoe. I loved their Pancakes.I cried when they closed the restaurant. When I went to visit my cousin in Minden Nevada in 2005 we stopped at an Antique shop and they had one of the old Sambo’s signs from this Restaurant in Tahoe with little Sambo’s picture on it and it cost $300.00 I really wanted to buy it but decided I did not really need it. Thanks for the memories Mr Phoenix !

By: Shirley Rhuems

Shirley Rhuems — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 18:22:14 +0000

I loved the Sambo’s Restaurent in my town,of course it was the only one I was ever at. Would or could there ever be a chance that there will ever be any more Sambo’s? would love to have one in my town again. Pittsburg,Kansas.

By: Mike from Cleveland

Mike from Cleveland — Fri, 12 May 2006 18:41:11 +0000

There was a Sambos in the 1970′s in North Olmsted, Ohio also.I wonder how big the chain actually was?

By: Hollywood

Hollywood — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:15:54 +0000

Yes, Sambo’s was very much a part of southern California in the 1970′s. I can still vividly recall the story panel images of the little indian boy turning a tiger into butter that were featured above the counter in every Sambo’s restaurant. Some of them can even be seen in this picture.

After a serious accident in 1976, I awoke to find my parents crying by my hospital bedside, I looked out the large window of the recovery room, and my first words upon regaining conciousness were, “There’s Sambo’s.” And my parent’s eyes were filled with joy.

The Sambo’s of my youth became a Continental Kitchen, then a Seasons, then a Coco’s, then a Baker’s Square, then a Denny’s, and today it is a Mimi’s. But when I think back, it will always be Sambo’s to me.

A few years ago I had the chance to dine with friends at the last remaining Sambo’s, the one in Santa Barbara. It was everything I had remembered. Of course, I ordered breakfast, and I asked for extra butter.

Here’s to Sambo’s and you…Mr. Phoenix!