I've had this picture for quite some time now. I ran across it when dad asked me to get rid of a ton of old records from his office. I found some cool stuff that he let me keep. This image is of one of a 'Battle of The Bands' next to Biff-Burger in the parking lot of Agricola Shopping Center at the foot of Noccalula Mountain. The Gadsden Cinema was later built behind (and to the left) of Biff Burger. This picture has always made me chuckle at the turnout. Biff-Burger must have made a killing on fifteen cent cheeseburgers that night!
I didn't eat there much growing up. The last time I went was with Dan Noojin. His dad wanted a milk shake from there and we all drove down together. That was sometime in the mid-eighties, during Biff Burger's waning years. If memory serves, the place was leveled by the end of eighties. Gadsden used to have a bunch of burger joints back in the 1960's. The big hang out when my older brother and sister were in high school was Burger Chef on Meighan Blvd. I remember eating there a good bit. I also remember Pick-A-Burger. Wayne's
Burgers, a local joint, was in Alabama City and offered good old school
tasting burgers and great service. Wayne's is now gone. Majik Burger in Attalla closed for good only a few years ago. Gina doesn't like going to these places for some reason. I like to go to them because they usually serve better tasting food than the big franchises. The last stand for the experience is Big Chef in Glencoe. They make good burgers and great shakes. I've been told they make a mean grape shake.
I've got an idea...How about packing your family in the car one night during Spring Break and hit a mom and pop burger joint? They're some still around. I think I'm going to take my girls to Big Chef for a banana split. Sounds like fun huh?
Well what do you know, Biff-Burger was a franchise!Website: http://www.geocities.com/biffburger_drivein/ -dbf
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6 comments:
This is a GREAT picture of a former location of a legendary burger chain! Thanks for posting and sharing this.....
What year was this?
Feel free to check out the Biff-Burger Drive-In website that I created in honor of this former burger chain.
http://www.geocities.com/biffburger_drivein/
and feel free to stop by the Biff-Burger blogger to leave your story!
http://www.biff-burger.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-it-all-began.html
C. Catherman
Biff-Burger Fan and Historian
Glad you dropped by. I will check out your site. I can't tell you exactly how old this image is. You can probably get pretty close by looking at the model cars in the foreground of the picture.
This Bif-Burger was built a little after the opening of (if not the same time)the adjacent Agricola Shopping Center. This Biff Burger was located on 12th Street, at the foot of Noccalula Mountain.
I was just a kid and remember my dad driving around Gadsden's first strip-mall to check the build back in the early sixties.
I did a little Googling and found a photograph (arial view from the Gadsden Public Library's Scarboro Collection) of the Agricola Shopping Center's Opening Day. The photograph was taken in 1962. The lots where Biff-Burger and the Gadsden Cinema were built are still vacant in the photo. This info should help a little.
Very Interesting....
With the aid of Microsoft Virtual Earth and the known former address of 301 N. 12th Street for the Gadsen Biff-Burger location, I see an interesting existing yellow sign that resembles an old Biff-Burger sign but modified a bit (no spiked satellite ball on top).
Here is the link for the Virtual Earth photo: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=pp38zk7tyf10&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=25054560&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
It appears to me that according to the former known address, the Biff-Burger building was removed for the existing building that is yellow with a blue roof at the corner of N. 12th Street and W. Meighan Blvd, across from the shopping plaza.
If one notices the angle of the Biff-Burger sign in relation to the building in the black/white photo above, one will quickly see that it is exactly the same angle as that of the existing sign today displayed in the Vitual Earth link above.
A quick visit with a photo of the existing building and sign would verify this location. I am very curious about this sign!
That's a Churchs Chicken franchise that you've pointed out with the blue roof. That's not the site of the old Biff-Burger.
You'll have to go across the street and up about a block (N 12th Street) to find the only remaining evidence that Biff-Burger was once here. There's a large black roofed / gray & white abandoned movie theater next to the site. There is a triangular (sort of triangular) angling toward 12th. It was located between the theater and the old cinema. There is a red vehicle in that immediate area of the entrance of the old restaurant.
If this doesn't help - go up N.12 from the Church's until you get to the left turn on Etowah Avenue. Stop and move your eyes up to 1:00 position. Do you see the unusual shaped cement foundation? That's where the Biff-Burger was located. The Biff-Burger was set toward the back of that slab.
The last thing I had there in the early eighties was an extra large chocolate milkshake.
You are correct! After cross-referencing the address for the former Gadsden Cinema Center (built in 1970), the Family Dollar, and the Poor House Restaurant, all of these establishments within this block including the Agricola Shopping Center have the address of 301 N. 12th Street.
Now that you pointed it out, the existing triangular-shaped island does resemble a pad for the modular Biff-Burger building. The angle of the triangular pad in relation to 12th Street also corresponds with the angle of the road sign in relation to the building, as shown in the old photo.
Thanks for helping to "pin-point" down the exact location of this former legendary Biff-Burger location.
I would still be interested in seeing a close-up photo of the Church's Chicken roadsign. From the aerial photo, it appears that they could have moved and modified the former Biff-burger sign (notice slanted roof design in roadsign shadow and double poles).
C. Catherman
Biff-Burger Fan and Historian
http://www.geocities.com/biffburger_drivein/
The Biff-Burger Drive-In website has moved to its permanent home and can now be viewed at:
biff-burger.com
Please continue to check us out from time to time! Enjoy!
C. Catherman
Biff Burger Fan and Historian
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