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The original fast-food joints that came in the 1950's and 60's introduced us to quick-serve burgers, fries, milkshakes, fried chicken, tacos, roast beef sandwiches, donuts, and more. They gradually replaced the drive-in restaurants by offering year-round dine-in, to-go, and eventually, drive-thru service. Most of these chains are gone now, forgotten by many. McDonald's and Burger King are the obvious survivors of the fast-food wars.

BURGER CHEF Burger Chef arrived in Lansing in 1967, on Homer St. near Frandor. Other stores opened in subsequent years on N. East, W. Saginaw, S. Cedar, and W. Holmes. They were all gone by 1977, replaced by Arby's. Burger Chef was popular for their "Big Shef" burger, and the "Works Bar" where you could top your burger with all your favorite condiments. More Burger Chef info can be found at the Burger Chef Memories, and Burger Chef Reliquary websites.

McDONALDS Michigan's first McDonald's opened in May, 1957 at 2120 N. Larch Street. Other classic Lansing area Mickey-D's opened on South Cedar in 1960, and two more in East Lansing in 1959, and 1964. Like all McDonald's nationwide, these classic buildings were all demolished and replaced with a bland modern design.

RED BARN The long-lost Red Barn Restaurant chain had only one store in the Lansing area, it opened in 1967 at 1010 E. Grand River in East Lansing. The chain was sold and dissolved in the 1970's, the East Lansing site closed in 1976. Red Barn was known for their Barnbuster burgers and chicken dinners. Find out more on the Barnbuster.net website. The original Red barn building remains, it is now home to Georgio's Pizza.

DAWN DONUTS Michigan-based Dawn Donuts had three Lansing area locations, this one on Grand River in East Lansing, one on South Cedar in Lansing, and one on West Saginaw in Delta Twp. Dawn Donuts was absorbed by Dunkin' Donuts in 1991, and the chain faded away. But, this fantastic googie inspired Dawn Donuts building in East Lansing remains, now home to Bell's Greek Pizza.

Lansing-Area Fast Food Restaurants
Restaurant	Address	Year Open	Closed	On Site Now	Notes
Burger Chef	620 N. Homer	1967-78	n/a	n/a	n/a
Burger Chef	2316 N. East	1968	1969	parking lot	Demo'd
Burger Chef	4219 W. Saginaw	1969*	1976	Arbys 1978	n/a
Burger Chef	6031 S. Cedar	1970	1977	Arbys 1978	n/a
Burger Chef	909 W. Holmes	1972	1973*	Arbys 1977	Family Dollar now
Burger King	1141 E. Grand River (EL)	1967	n/a	n/a	n/a
Burger King	3702 S. Logan	1967	n/a	n/a	n/a
Burger King	3012 N. East	1969	n/a	Dollar Store	Demo'd
Chick-N-Joy	3205 S. Cedar	1970	n/a	n/a	n/a
Chick-N-Joy	536 E. Grand River	1970	n/a	n/a	n/a
Chick-N-Joy	515 W. Grand River (EL)	1970	n/a	n/a	n/a
Dawn Donuts	1135 E. Grand River (EL)	1969*	n/a	Bell's Greek Pizza	Original Bldg Remains
Dawn Donuts	3221 S. Cedar	1970	n/a	n/a	n/a
Dawn Donuts	4124 W. Saginaw	1972	n/a	n/a	n/a
Famous Recipe Chicken	1900 E. Kalamazoo	1968	n/a	n/a	n/a
Famous Recipe Chicken	4500 S. Cedar	1969	n/a	n/a	n/a
Famous Recipe Chicken	3007 N. East	1971	n/a	n/a	n/a
McDonald's	2120 N. Larch	May 1957	n/a	n/a	1st Michigan McD's
McDonald's	1024 E. Grand River (EL)	1959	n/a	n/a	n/a
McDonald's	4700 S. Cedar	1960	n/a	n/a	n/a
McDonald's	234 W. Grand River (EL)	1964	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mr. Taco	4021 W. Saginaw	1975	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mr. Taco	3122 S. Logan	1977	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mr. Taco	521 N. Clippert	1978	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mr. Taco	920 American Way	1979	n/a	n/a	n/a
Rax Roast Beef	1881 W. Grand River (Okemos)	1984	n/a	n/a	n/a
Rax Roast Beef	6521 S. Pennsylvania	1984	n/a	n/a	n/a
Rax Roast Beef	5019 W. Saginaw	1981	n/a	n/a	n/a
Rax Roast Beef	808 W. Lake Lansing (EL)	1983	n/a	n/a	n/a
Red Barn	1010 E. Grand River (EL)	1967	1976	Georgio's Pizza	Original Bldg Remains