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Post by Mojave Gator on Jan 26, 2020 22:38:29 GMT -5
Those of you still living in the south may know more about this than I do, but yesterday I heard about the Krystal hamburger chain filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I grew up on Krystal, and whenever I return to Florida, my first stop after landing at Jacksonville International is the Krystal on Dunn Avenue, the closest one to the airport. After not being back for about ten years, I took a side trip to Bristol, TN (four hours round trip in the rain) from Blacksburg, VA when I accompanied my stepdaughter to a campus visit at the veterinary school at Virginia Tech in 2016.
It certainly won't be a determining factor, but the loss of Krystal would be one less reason to return to Florida after retirement.
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Jan 26, 2020 23:36:53 GMT -5
I do miss those little gems down here in South TX, but I am lucky enough to get them when I visit my father in Mobile AL.
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Post by Ocean Gator on Jan 27, 2020 3:40:04 GMT -5
I ate many of them late-night in Gainesville as a UF student. I love the way the meat, pickles and mustard melded together for that unique flavor that I've only ever gotten from a Krystal.
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Post by gatorgibson on Jan 27, 2020 7:38:45 GMT -5
Those of you still living in the south may know more about this than I do, but yesterday I heard about the Krystal hamburger chain filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I grew up on Krystal, and whenever I return to Florida, my first stop after landing at Jacksonville International is the Krystal on Dunn Avenue, the closest one to the airport. After not being back for about ten years, I took a side trip to Bristol, TN (four hours round trip in the rain) from Blacksburg, VA when I accompanied my stepdaughter to a campus visit at the veterinary school at Virginia Tech in 2016. It certainly won't be a determining factor, but the loss of Krystal would be one less reason to return to Florida after retirement. I use to live in Oceanway and have visited that Dunn ave Krystals many times Mo! |
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jan 27, 2020 15:27:43 GMT -5
I have White Castle here locally, and while they are similar, Krystal beats them, period.
Years ago, in Jacksonville we had a local chain called Milligan's that made similar burgers, and they cost even less than Krystal. When the owner died in the mid-1970s, there was nobody left to run the chain and they shut down.
Caiman, were there any Krystals near you during their short-lived Texas expansion? I never figured out why they shut down there, because they always seemed to be doing good business. A high school buddy from JAX now lives in the Fort Worth area, and there was one just a few minutes from his house. He said that one day he went by there and they were gone.
Gatorgibson, I had a lot of friends from the Oceanway area. I lived in the North Shore area of town, within walking distance of the original Joseph's Pizza (which is still there). I went to Andrew Jackson High, and at the time the kids from Oceanway went there. I understand that they go to First Coast High now.
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Post by gatorgibson on Jan 29, 2020 6:28:21 GMT -5
That's funny, most older folks i ask about Milligans say they don't remember the joint. I do! Had one on Edgewood Ave. If i recall they were round and not square like Krystals though. BTW Mo, i went to Paxon.
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Jan 29, 2020 20:17:27 GMT -5
Been down here on the boarder for 20 years now, never saw a Krystal this far down.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Feb 1, 2020 14:07:27 GMT -5
That's funny, most older folks i ask about Milligans say they don't remember the joint. I do! Had one on Edgewood Ave. If i recall they were round and not square like Krystals though. BTW Mo, i went to Paxon. The one closest to me was in the Brentwood area. A Paxon Eagle. We used to play Paxon in football. |
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Post by Mojave Gator on May 23, 2020 11:31:25 GMT -5
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Post by gatorgibson on May 25, 2020 12:39:12 GMT -5
We have one where i live and it's surrounded by a Burger King,Wendy's and Taco Bell. I will say i rarely see any cars at the Krystals. Higher price's and poor service is the norm there.I do still go there and get my regular 2 doubles with cheese and fries but they slow and sometimes the bread is soggy. Sad
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jul 19, 2020 14:15:31 GMT -5
I didn't know this for years, but Burger King began in Jacksonville. It started in 1953 as Insta-Burger. Two franchisees in Miami purchased the company in 1954 and gave it the name that it still carries.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jul 19, 2020 14:27:23 GMT -5
That's funny, most older folks i ask about Milligans say they don't remember the joint. I do! This isn't the greatest quality photo, but it shows the basic architecture of Milligan's restaurants. The distinctive steel M that passed through the roof still exists in some of the former restaurants that have long since been converted to other uses.  This is the former Milligan's at 9303 Lem Turner Road, its most distinctive feature still in place although it has been a sandwich shop for more than 20 years.  |
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Post by Mojave Gator on Oct 30, 2022 15:44:47 GMT -5
As many of you know, I just returned from a trip to Jacksonville to visit my sister. I was there for a little over two weeks. I had occasion to visit several Krystal restaurants during my time there, and if my experience is indicative of how they are being run, they may as well lock the doors.
My flight landed in Jacksonville at around 8:30 PM on Thursday, October 6. My brother-in-law set out to find a Krystal for me to get some food on the way back to their house. It went like this:
Restaurant #1: Person who answered the speaker said that it would be 15-20 minutes before we could get food, because he just came on duty and hadn't counted the register.
Restaurant #2: Person who answered the speaker said that it would be at least 20 minutes before we could get food, because there was a big order in front of us. Got food during a third stop.
Tooling around town:
Restaurant #3: Was handed the wrong food at the drive through. Was left standing at the counter for more than ten minutes until a manager finally came along and resolved the issue.
Restaurant #4: Was told that I couldn't get food for at least 15 minutes, no reason given.
Restaurant #5: Went here after leaving #4. Got my order, but made the mistake of ordering a cup of chili as part of the order. The staff crushed the cup putting it into the bag, and chili went everywhere.
I thought that I might resolve the issue by downloading Krystal's app and pre-ordering. I had everything set up, but when I tried to enter my payment information, no keyboard appeared. A total dead end.
All told, I went to six or seven Krystal restaurants during my stay. The only one where I didn't have an issue was the one in Starke, where I ate on the way to Gainesville for homecoming.
I sent comments to Krystal, with a promise of a response within 72 hours. That has come and gone, with no response from the company.
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Oct 31, 2022 11:16:31 GMT -5
Your breaking my heart MO..........  |
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Post by Mojave Gator on Oct 31, 2022 19:20:25 GMT -5
Want a real laugh? On the burger boxes, a company that has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for more than two years has printed the slogan, "If it ain't broke..."  |
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