Dinner Break! - Wendy's - Fridley, MN

From what I’ve been reading online, Wendy’s is looking to further downsize their roster of active restaurants in 2026. Seen a few stories of them looking to shed another 600+ stores in this coming year. So the chances of finding more soon-to-be abandoned Wendy’s in my area will probably increase. And I can always use new material!

A few years ago, I found this former Wendy’s at 7601 Viron Rd NE, in Fridley, Minnesota. When I first spied the building from the intersection of Highway 65 & Osborne Road, I knew it looked like a Wendy’s, but it had been something else, afterwards. That’s not a Wendy’s sign frame. Regardless, this was the big prize of my abbreviated north metro drive around, on August 27, 2022. Haven’t been near as many drive around photo missions in Minnesota, compared to the last five years of Colorado, for multiple reasons. But at least this was something new… 

And a quick story to fill in after what has been a very busy month in my life.

I started writing and collecting material for this story, while listening to an episode of the Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru podcast.

Subliminally motivated by the logo.

Wendy’s, Annapolis, Maryland, September 2019

A Wendy’s with their old facade, from the 1980’s. Photo taken from a 7-Eleven parking lot, across the freeway. Laura and I were running late, driving to the airport to fly back to Minnesota. We’d stopped to gas up the rental car and have a smoke at the 7-Eleven, when I saw it. Would have liked to have take a better picture, but it would have been difficult from where we were standing. It was still really cool and unexpected to see a time capsule Wendy’s. If it’s still a Wendy’s today, I’m sure it looks like an office building.

I can't, in good conscience, write this story and not include this.

But we're not going to spend any time on it...

And here’s what the Fridley Wendy’s looked like, when it was still open, in October 2016. Thanks to the Googles.

How about a fan uploaded photo of the Fridley Wendy’s main entrance, from 2015?

Including a St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper vending box. Don’t see many of those around anymore…

Just go right through that there door and place your order…

Wendy’s - Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger

My go-to for many years. They were priced at 99 cents a piece from the late 1980’s, until 2002, when they went up to $1.29 each. Couldn’t argue for that price, and they had a signature flavor that made you want them over other options. The leaf of lettuce worked perfect with the tomato, and you got a decent amount of bacon on top of the cheese melted to a thin patty. That almost always was cold, next to the lettuce and tomato. But it worked perfect for what it was supposed to be. The only way a Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger was bad, is if they put mayonnaise on it, despite my order. Fuck mayonnaise. Worst condiment ever.

In 2011, Wendy’s changed their burger presentation, and it fell out of favor with me. Of course this was done after consulting a mass amount of research and focus groups. Instead of sticking to what you know, come up with an amalgamation of many other people’s ideas of what a burger should taste like. Now the burger patties were packed looser and not pressed as much during the cooking process. This changed the taste and the texture. Excess grease that cooked off before, now stays in the meat. Which makes a big difference on its own, but it was paired with more changes that took away the classic burger taste I wanted from Wendy’s. 

Switching from thinly sliced white onions, to slightly thicker red onions. I do not like red onions. I do not like sweet onions. You can have those for your salads, where apparently color is the most important factor. But on any sammich of any sort, be it burger, submarine or even hot dog, white onions are the flavor you need. Red or sweet alters the sammich by too much. Onions should compliment, not overtake. Subway lost me when they switched to red onions, and now Wendy’s did the same.

Thicker pickles are also a big problem. Burger pickles should be thin, and just be there to provide a little contrasting kick against the meat and cheese. Allegedly, they are the same pickles, only cut differently, but they don’t taste the same to me. I could accept that if they were still sliced thinner. It’s not a crunch I’m looking for in a burger. If you want a thick, circular shaped burger topping, well that’s what tomatoes are for.

Buns were now buttered and toasted. Not a negative, but it again was a change that took away the classic Wendy’s taste, and replaced it with what other fast food places were doing. If I wanted a toasted bun, red onions and thick pickles, I would go to a place that served burgers that way. I went to Wendy’s because I liked how they presented burgers. Now that I don’t, I go elsewhere.

Which won’t be the Fridley Wendy’s, because they closed in early 2017.

After sitting vacant for a while, Sultan Authentic Lebanese Cuisine, opened in late 2018. Apparently they never bothered investing in a sign to fill in the Wendy’s frame. This shot from a June, 2019, Googlesmobile drive by doesn’t do a good job in convincing you there is indeed an open restaurant on site. Perhaps the “I promise you, we’re not abandoned” approach led to their downfall.  Despite favorable online reviews, Sultan closed in late 2020.

And is what I’m here to look at today!

Fridley Sultan, Saturday, August 27, 2022.

Roughly the same angle as the previous shot.

Sultan sign has been removed from the frame, paint is looking rather shabby.

Broken street light, next to where I took that photo. Intact street light behind it, so you know what it should look like.

Empty Wendy’s sign frame behind that.

Walking up to the side entrance.

Not as many weeds as I would have liked to see in the parking lot, but a nice amount of them on the sidewalk.

Fridley Wendy’s side entrance.

Fun Fact! - Founder Dave Thomas later said he regretted naming the franchise after his daughter, because it put a lot of public pressure on her. Wendy was just her nickname, her birth name is Melinda. She posed for a picture when she was 8 years old, wearing the same blue and white striped dress and pigtails, their logo is derived from.

Which was revamped at some point in the last decade. I prefer the old style.

Wendy’s - Chicken Nuggets

Wendy’s seems to be really full of themselves over their chicken nuggets. I’ve always felt they were some of the worst tasting things on Wendy’s menu. A few months back, Wendy’s launched a new marketing campaign that immediately got on my nerves. Trying way too hard to get the word “Nuggs” over as a thing.

As far as the food item itself, eating a Wendy’s Chicken Nugget has always been comparable to the ones inside Banquet frozen meals. The REALLY cheap ones. I remember picking these dinners up for less than a dollar a piece from the Safeway, just blocks from my apartment, back in the early 2000’s. Once I picked a bunch of them up for 77 cents each. I got so sick off the Banquet Chicken Nuggets and Fries dinner that I swore that I would never eat a Banquet frozen meal again. Been about 23 years since that happened, and I’ve never eaten another Banquet frozen dinner in that time.

But a Wendy’s chicken nugget still brings alarming flashbacks of nausea… 

Wendy’s Riverdale location in Coon Rapids, MN, September 2012 (built in 1991).

Back in the early to mid-1990’s, Wendy’s restaurants had a salad bar named: “The Garden Spot”. One afternoon, I was there with a visiting Military Mike (on leave), and several others. We were grabbing some food on our way to do something I long forgot about. While there, we convinced Melon-head that Wendy’s was using “The G Spot” as a shortened name for their salad bar. Because “The G Spot” was really just slang for salad bar. Everyone knows that!

That might not be exactly how that whole conversation went. My notes from that time period are pretty much limited to a few words, with an implied ‘You’ll remember the rest”.

Before I talk about the pond, make note of the Dairy Queen barn at the right side of the photo. The DQ was still open in this 2011 photo, but would close a few years later. It’ll be featured here at some point.

This little pond, next to the parking lot of the Coon Rapids Square Shopping Center (a block away from the sad Family Center Mall), used to be home to a Wendy’s. Burger King built a restaurant on this land, back in 1981 or 1982. They lasted here until 1992 or so, before it was taken over by Wendy’s. Wendy didn’t last too long here, since all focus was shifted to the new Riverdale Shopping Center, while this area’s retail was dying a slow death. (See my story on the original Coon Rapids Target, for more on that.) Wendy’s closed this store in 1996 or 1997, and it was immediately converted into A Taste of Asia. Korean “best food”, if I remember their sign correctly. After a few years, the Coon Rapids Square Shopping Center expanded their parking lot, and demolished the Burger King/Wendy’s/Taste of Asia. They were replaced with this little pond.

I did catch some food out of the Wendy’s drive thru here occasionally. But in my mind, Wendy’s couldn’t compete with Burger Time, on the other side of the sad Family Center Mall. So I would just go there instead.

About 25 years ago, I was chatting online with Wasted Quarter Staff Cartoonist Tracy, and she brought up something from when this building (that you can’t see) was a Burger King: “I just thought of my fuzzy memory… When you put salt in my eyes. You were at Burger King, by the Family Center Mall with someone, probably Mr. Rux. I walked by with my mom, and you said ‘hi! want some salt?’ Cuz salt REALLY FUCKING HURTS.”

I don't remember that happening, but I can’t rule out that it did happen…

Wendy’s in Blaine, Minnesota, across the street from the Northtown Mall. September, 2012.

The first Wendy’s I remember eating at, back in the early 1980’s. Still open today. Next door was a Rax, that had really good food. But it closed in -I think- 1987, and the building was converted into a KFC. Which hasn’t had good food since about 1987, if even then. 

In September 2002, I was visiting Minnesota from Denver, driving around with Wasted Quarter Staff Cartoonist Tracy. No idea what we were out doing, but we ended up in the Northtown Wendy’s drive thru. I’d been trying to schedule an appointment with my Doktor, when I came back to town, but didn’t have his newer new address, or newer new phone number. In the unlikeliest of coincidences, we ended up in the drive thru, the car behind his girlfriend. She stuck her head out of the car and we tried to relay messages, which seemed to get lost in translation. 

Tracy replicated the chance meeting, with a cartoon for the following issue of Wasted Quarter.

Wendy’s - Fries

Pretty sure our order that night, included fires. Wendy’s did have pretty good fries. Think I was in the minority, but I preferred the new fries they unveiled in 2003, over their previous deep fried potato stick offerings. The natural cut potato, with Sea Salt, had a different taste than the long standing traditional fries. Which were still better than Burger King and Hardees, in that era of fast fooddom. Remember shortly after they changed, in 2002 or 2003, I talked them up to my friend Dave. He frequented Wendy’s, but hadn’t yet tried the new fry offering. We went there with his kids one night and had dinner, but he wasn’t impressed. Made fun of me for liking them over the next few months.

As much as I hate to say it, McDonald’s fries are still the best in fast food choices.

This is the second Wendy’s story in Four Baggers history. Way back in the first month of this blog (August 2017), I wrote a quick little story about the recently closed up Wendy’s in St. Anthony, Minnesota. Soon, it would be converted into a Starbucks. 

Weeds start looking even better as you walk towards the back side of the old Fridley Wendy’s.

Someone ditched a rectangular window in the loading area. Really surprised no one has smashed it yet.

Off in the distance is a sign reading: “Creative Church”. A name I found intriguing. On one hand, it’s a church. And you know how we feel about them… On the other hand it’s “creative”. Well, that could mean anything!

Creative Church, with their great smily face logo, sat behind Wendy’s and the building next door. Street access/parking, is beyond Wendy’s drive thru lane. While writing this, I went online to read about Creative Church, and discovered they’d just closed, in February 2026. According to the Googles, they’ve shifted operations to their Maple Grove location. 

That says there’s no Creativity left in Fridley…

Out behind Wendy’s, there appears to be a big brown walk-in freezer next to the dumpster house.

Mess in the dumpster house.

Walk in freezer door.

Entrance to the Fridley Wendy’s drive thru.

Wendy’s - Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Always a good thing to order once you get into the drive thru intercom. I was on a big Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich kick, back in the early 2000’s. Lettuce and tomato meshed perfectly with the spicy coating on the deep fried chicken breast. As long as they kept the damn mayonnaise off. Eating probably at least two every week. Back then, Wendy’s was cheap and I didn’t want to cook in the crappy kitchen hallway of Kenyon. I’d just hit the drive thru either after doing whatever I did before going to bed, or on my way to work.

An old and painted over Wendy’s sign, stood at the entrance to the drive thru. 

The opposite side was missing.

Brought to mind another former Wendy’s. This one a coincidental discovery, in my adopted hometown of Englewood, Colorado. Between 2014-2015, I was deep into writing Wasted Quarter issue #70 - Abandoned Englewood. A big part of that was walking around, taking pictures of the town. One of those days, I was walking around West Hampden, across from where the old Cinderella City Shopping Mall stood. Until the mall was demolished in 1998.

This vacant lot used to be the home of Le Peep. A breakfast restaurant that had pretty good waffles. Ate here a few times with friends over the years, but didn’t know it had closed, until I saw the vacant lot. Being a breakfast restaurant, they closed daily by 1 or 2 pm. So every time I drove by in daylight and looked at the building, I wouldn’t expect cars to be there. Le Peep actually closed in 2011. The former Wendy's/LePeep was demolished in 2014, for expanded veterinary clinic parking. (The building behind where Le Peep Le Was.)

Le Peep, from the Googles, October, 2013.

Years ago, a Wendy's operated in this building. No idea when it opened, and it had closed before I moved to Englewood, in October, 1996. With Cinderella City dying a rapid death in the early 1990’s, I’d assume Wendy’s got out before 1995. Oddly enough, I only found out this was a Wendy's when I discovered their old drive thru signs, still standing at the property exit. 

Some twenty years after they were last relevant, here they are! 

Outlasting the restaurant that replaced them!

Le Peep closed off the drive thru, to put in outdoor patio seating. 

Funny that no one ever bothered to take them down

Thank You for the smashed up TV, left under the thank you sign.

You can’t use the Wendy’s Drive Thru at 990 West Hampden in Englewood, Colorado today, or at any point in the last 30 years. Because it was either a Le Peep or Le Demolished. But if it was still a Wendy’s, you’d still need a car to drive thru to pick up your Spicy Chicken Sammich… 

Well, I would have been unable to do any of that for a few weeks in January of this year. My previous car decided on the way home from work one night, to drop dead at an intersection. Glad it was 10pm, so the roads weren’t packed with cars. Of course it was negative 5 degrees and windy, because… Minnesota… I knew the car was dying. The amount of oil it was leaving all over town and on my garage floor, was a sign that it wasn’t going to last through the winter, without stranding me somewhere.

It wasn’t a Bitchin’ Camaro, it was Leaky Impala…

That was the latest in my list of the lamest of all vehicular timelines.

Satellite of Love (1972 Plymouth Satellite, 1991-1994) - The dashboard caught fire and I sold it.

Strawberry Honksicle (1992 Ford Escort, 1994-1996) - Traded off for the Vanilla Honksicle, just before I moved to Colorado.

Vanilla Honksicle (1995 Ford Escort, 1996-2000) - Wrecked in a car accident, T-boned by a truck running a red light.

Blueberry Honksicle (1998 Ford Escort, 2000-2018) - Died of natural causes, in the Greenwood Point parking lot.

Donated to the evil jingle, before we moved to Minnesota.

Car I never liked enough to name (2008 Chevy Impala, 2018-2026) - Also donated to the evil jingle.

Out of urgent necessity, I now present to you…

The Blackberry Honksicle! (2010 Ford Fusion, 2026-????)

Now I can hit that abandoned Wendy’s Drive Thru!

Get your order ready… We’re the next car!

I always wish the previous tenant would leave their drive thru menu board intact when they leave.

Always a good time capsule, to see specials and prices left behind. 

Wendy’s - Frosty

(Made from Penguin!)

Now you can buy yourself a Frosty, to place in your center console cup holder, until you reach your destination. Where you will find that Frosty has melted enough to spill over sticky, non-dairy goo, that will never fully come out of your cup holder. Hope it was worth it. 

I wasn’t the guy who used the Frosty as a dip for Wendy’s French fries. Never was a thing for me. Tried it… Psuedo-chocolate ice cream and hot deep fired potato isn’t a taste combination I crave. More power to you if that’s your thing. 

I do like the Frosty, but my main gripe has always been the accompanying Wendy’s plastic spoons. The shape of them being somewhat deep and pointed, always seems to leave sharp ridge on top of the spoon’s cup. Which is rather abrasive on my lips, when I withdraw the spoon from my mouth. Meaning I have to be careful when eating a Frosty, because I’m never at home, so I always have to use their plastic torture utensils.

Pulling up to the window…

Still Pulling up to the window… 

Building anticipation I can’t possibly pay off…

Looking inside the back drive thru window. The one that you’d typically pay at, before the food getting window. This ione just has a wall infant of it. Instead of revealing any sort of interesting, behind the scenes type stuff. Storage, walk-in coolers, we just have a boring old wall.

Inside the other back window. The printed pieces of fake wood panelling were likely used to cover these windows up at some point. A Googlesmobile twice used this drive thru, after Wendy’s closed (2017 and 2019), and these windows are covered, in both sets of photos. 

If you asked me which Wendy’s I’ve patronized the most in my lifetime, it would have to the the Englewood location. Shown here in February, 2014. Wendy's opened this location in the Kmart parking lot, in the Spring of 1998. After a move from their previous early 1980’s restaurant, three blocks south. The car dealership surrounding it, bought the property, to make room for more cars. The old store closed on the day this new one opened. The old store was demolished the next day. The site was paved over two days later and had Toyota inventory parked on the site in under a week of Wendy's selling their last Triple.

Wendy's would be joined in 2005 by Del Taco. I’m happy to see they’ve reopened after a temporary closure.

Kmart didn’t reopen after closing permanently in 2017.

The Englewood Wendy’s closed down in the summer of 2014, for a few weeks. This was in order to undergo a remodel, to make it look modern and stupid. With the newer Wendy logo. I don’t remember where I got the post-remodel promotional flyer. May have come in the mail. Didn’t put in the work of finding the original I most certainly would have saved, to do a fresh scan. This is a digital picture of the flyer I took after it arrived in the apartment.

Oh! The back of the Englewood Wendy’s remodel flyer answers all the questions I had of its origins. I seriously didn’t look at it until after I wrote the above paragraph. This flyer was collected from inside the Englewood Wendy’s, before it closed. Likely grabbed by Laura, as she would go there after her doctor appointments, while I was sleeping.

Hurry! Coupons expire 12/31/14!

Approaching the second, food getting, drive thru window of the old Fridley Wendy’s.

Looking through the small window at the soda fountain. With shelves of Bag-In-Box condensed syrups, to the left. Big ice chest chest sits behind that.

I’m assuming this is pretty much the same set up that Wendy’s used.

Through the actual food getting window. Cash stands and hand washing station on the right, kitchen on the left.

I had to walk through the deep weeds in order to stand against the wall for decent interior images of the seating area.

Completely devoid of expected seating and tables.

Must have accidentally picked an exceptionally dirty part of the window, for this picture.

But I did find some chairs!

And a cup of Speedway coffee, with a couple cans of Sprite.

Rounding the corner to stand in some thicker bushes. What I do for my art… Looks like there’s been some water damage to the roof. Given the fallen, broken drop ceiling tiles on the floor. At least there appears to be some work done to remedy this. Although who knows what the building is like today.

Should have hopped into my new old car, and driven over there to update this story.

Guess there’s a limit to what I’ll do for my art…

Before going around to the side windows opposite this part, I walked over for a better shot of the empty Wendy’s sign frame. There needs to be a good promotion advertised on the message board. How about putt some of that unfortunately delicious Wendy’s Chili on sale, for me?

Wendy’s - Chili

Yes, I know that Wendy’s Chili is made out of rat poop and human fingers. But it’s still tasty, in that “this is really wrong” sort of way. Especially better when eaten with your own tortillas and extra cheese. Back at my old job in Denver, Wendy’s Chili, an order of fires and a chocolate Frosty, was a popular order of mine when the office chose Wendy’s for our late night dinners. 

Unless Cory absolutely had to have his Taco Bell, in which case I wisely abstained.

The reason I had that job traces back to my run at Overpriced Art School, which was located conveniently on the outskirts of a large parking lot. Used by the school, a big liquor store, the Parker Landing shopping center, briefly featuring a Safeway and of course, a Wendy’s (still open today).

Terrible X-Mess morning, 2013, photo of the Aurora, Colorado, Wendy’s, located at 3110 South Parker Road. Their drive thru was frequently hit after my final class let out at noon. Those days (April, 1997 - February, 1999) I would attend classes from 7am until noon, Monday-Friday. Then I’d go home and sleep before I had to give rides to pizza for a few hours. Then it was drinking and smoking weed with the other pizza taxi’s until whatever point in the night I called it quits. My diet those days was typically Wendy’s drive thru after school, then pizza pilfered between deliveries, followed up by a bunch of beer. Possibly late night Denny’s after the bar closed. 

I could not live as I did when I was 23, ever again…

While researching half-assedly for this story, I found out that Overpriced Art School moved away from their long time Aurora, CO, location (next door to a Wendy’s). They’d abandoned all of their graphic design courses about 15 years ago, existing solely as a nursing school today. Guess you jump to the new trend, instead of building on what you did for 30 plus years. Maybe you’ll be better at saving lives, than you were at improving them?

Current tenant of Overpriced Art School’s old building? 

Lavender Porta Potty Rentals.

I really wish I’d made that up.

Okay, time to walk back through that thick brush for more pictures of what the Sultan left behind after departing Wendy’s

Off in the distance is my recently deceased car. Sitting and likely leaking oil onto the former Fridley Wendy’s parking lot. 

Looking inside a front window on the right side of the building. They were clearly trying to dry out some water damage. Curious as the timeline. Sultan would have been closed for nearly two years, by this point, and their next restaurant leasee, was a good year plus away.

The mostly cleared out interior of the former Fridley Wendy’s, reminded me of another abandoned Wendy’s I’d photographed. This one also once removed. I was randomly driving out West Colfax Avenue, from Denver through Lakewood, just to see what was around that part of town. 

Former Wendy’s and Twister’s, at 11355 West Colfax, Lakewood, CO. It was built in 1995, but I don’t know when Wendy’s closed. Also don’t know when Twister’s opened, but based on Yelp reviews, it closed shortly after October 2015. Inside, it still looked very much like a late 1990’s, Wendy’s. I’ll get to this place eventually, but I did cover the Twister’s at Evans and Franklin, a few years back.

Similar to Twister’s, Sultan did very little to modify the Wendy’s interior, after moving in. If you didn’t know this was something after Wendy’s left, you’d assume it was just a closed up 2010 era Wendy’s.

Do like the random things left hanging from the ceiling. Like the three yellow balls hanging down on the left side of this picture. 

And the foil ribbons and stars hanging down in front of the fire exit. 

Seeing the blue tape on the floor, compared to what Spice & Flames did with the building, during their limited run, I’m now wondering if work on converting to the new restaurant wasn’t just starting in August 2022. From the Googles photos of Spice & Flames interior, they did a considerable amount of work on the building. Including adding a wall separating the ordering area, from the dining area. Which would be consistent with the blue tape’s location.

2015 Googles photo of the Fridley Wendy’s order area, with ornate people corral to keep unruly lined up customers in check. There’s only a tiny chunk of it showing, but it would appear the old Fridley Wendy’s had some very 1990’s carpet installed. If it really looked like that, the Sultan was very wise in ripping it out for tile.

Also, if it was 30 years ago, those children standing at the counter could be waiting for their Wendy’s Kids Meals… 

Featuring Wendy and the Good Stuff Gang!

Which consisted of a cartoon Wendy, and her animal pals: Sweet Stuff and Overstuff’d, who are both cartoon bears, Hot Stuff the cat, Cool Stuff the penguin, and Lite Stuff the Rabbit. I have zero memories of this ongoing promotion, which ran from 1984-1988. There are many different plastic toys made for these characters, available on the ebays, if you feel the need to own some. 

Find the idea of naming this group of cute, fuzzy animals, “stuff” is rather odd. I get the idea they were trying to correlate the names to menu items, without mentioning food. In terms of “stuff”, you have, Hot, Cool, Lite, Sweet and Overstuffed. So while that kind of makes sense, but it could imply something about the ingredients… That Frosty you just ordered? Well, it’s made of Penguin! Those hot and juicy burgers? Made from cat. A cat who was wearing a sweater.

Probably not what the Wendy’s marketing board was thinking of when they came up with this concept, but it’s funny that no one clued them in. No wonder the Good Stuff Gang was turfed in favor of current movie and cartoon toy tie-ins. They’d never compete with the clown. 

Until the clown’s keeper fired him too…

Wendy’s - Double Stack

As much as I loved the Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, some 25 years ago, it slowly was overtaken by the Wendy’s Double Stack. Over the years, I’ve learned that I prefer a good cheeseburger without bacon, to one with. Blaspheme, I know… But I have to be in the mood for a bacon cheeseburger, where I’ll always be in the mood for a regular cheeseburger. As long as it’s topped with ketchup, (good) pickles and (white) onions.

And none of that terrible mayonnaise slop.

Prior to the faceless focus groups convincing Wendy’s to make their food differently, their quarter pond Double Stack was a time capsule of a burger to me. In the 1980’s, my grandfather owned a cabin on Upper Cormorant Lake, in the northwestern quadrant of Minnesota. This was one of many lakes in the region, and one of four in the Cormorant Lake chain, with the tiny Cormorant Village tying them all together. Decades ago, there was a small fast food style restaurant at the intersection of county highways, the Lakes Drive-In. 

This was just a small drive-in, order off the limited menu and eat in your car set up, that you’d expect in this area, However, they served fresh grilled burgers that had a distinct taste. Nothing fancy, just simple, quick and cheap. Wrapped in wax paper, with a grease pen indicating what was inside. As life moved on, everything changed. I was last at the cabin in 1993, and my grandfather sold it a few years later. The last time I had a cheeseburger from the Lakes Drive-In would have been no later than 1991. But I always remembered the taste of them. And I’ll be damned if the Wendy’s Double Stack didn’t taste exactly like the cheeseburgers that the Lakes Drive-In once served.

I don’t know when the Lakes Drive-In closed, but when I next drove through Cormorant, MN, in June 2000, the building was gone. I don’t remember if The Roadhouse had been built in 2000, or if something else was here. I took this picture in October, 2023, while on My Stupid Vacation to Fargo. (Not to mention the utter dismay of the immediate area my grandfather’s cabin is, versus where/what it was, 30 years ago.) No idea if The Roadhouse’s burgers taste like the Lakes Drive-In, or a Wendy’s Double Stack, pre-2011, but I’m guessing they don’t. Probably a lot more expensive too…

As far as the Wendy’s Double Stack, post-2011?

Yup… That tastes like a focus group…

Since I couldn’t get a delicious Double Stack (made of sweater wearing kittens), at the Fridley Wendy’s today, I chose to drive over to the Fridley Zantigo. Which is a Mexican fast food restaurant operating out of an old Pizza Hut. Zantigo was a Minneapolis area chain that disappeared in the mid-1980’s, when Taco Bell forced them out of business. They started popping back up in the early 2000’s, and operate 4 locations around the Mpls/St. Paul metro area today.

I went with my standard order, 2 hard shell tacos and 3 Chilitos. The Chilito is the Zantigo specialty. Red and Green chili spread on a tortilla, with a bunch of cheese mixed in, toasted and rolled up. They are fantastic and I crave them. Zantigo is a place I typically only go to when I’m out driving around aimlessly. After eating, I’ll sit and write out notes on my pocket notepad, of where I was that day. Come to think of it, I bet this day was the last time I did this… Need to do this again soon. I know of one specific address in Ham Lake that I simply have to photograph for a future story.

On August 27, 2022, those Zantigo written notes consisted of what I just saw at the former Wendy’s, plus notes from around the Crapids, Blaine, Andover and Fridley area I’d been driving around that morning.

And I have to make note of this window decal, I was waiting behind at a red light in Andover.  

If for nothing other than transition.

Don’t know that the stick figure family was more delicious than my Chilitos from Zantigo…

Or anything at the Fridley Wendy’s…

Before I wrap this up, I feel I should highlight the Fridley Wendy’s vestibule (all my best you and yours), where the previous tenant shoved their sign, after closing Sultan.

From the Googles, the Sultan sign attached to the front of the building, back in the Winter of 2020. Looks like there are some happy customers inside, enjoying Authentic Lebanese Cuisine.

And I’m including a second angle, to include the Arabic writing painted on the window to all the emptiness inside. Too bad there are so many reflections interfering with what could have been a cool photo.

Another shot of the closed up Sultan restaurant, from the Googles, November 2022. Interesting to note the sign pole has the top frame removed. This would have been the frame holding up the Wendy’s sign, with the removable letter message board remaining. Someone went through the effort of taking it down, in the three months since I walked around taking pictures. Perhaps they were alarmed that I got a photo of the sign frame and acted quickly to remove it. Ensuring that no one else would?

I’m positive that’s what happened here.

Or it could have been taken down for the perspective new tenant?

Spice & Flames Mediterranean Cuisine opened up in the old Fridley Wendy’s in late 2023. (Googles drive by from April, 2024.) Some money and effort was put into the place. The outdoor seating patio looks really nice, as did the interior photos after they opened. Unfortunately, like Sultan, they didn’t last long either. Closing in August 2024, with a “temporarily closed for remodeling” sign taped to the front door.

The Googles AI window had this to say about Spice & Flames Mediterranean Cuisine’s closure: “Long-time residents have noted that the 7601 Viron Rd NE site has struggled with visibility and access since the original Wendy's left. Despite Spice & Flames receiving positive reviews for its lamb shanks and "serene" ambiance, it was unable to maintain the consistent foot traffic needed for the large, standalone building.”

Soon, I won’t have to do any sort of research. Half-assed or better. AI is going to do this better than I ever could…

But, where’s the love?

Wendy’s Founder Dave Thomas

Wasted Quarter still feels a bit of guilt for calling out Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas, back in 2002, likely causing his death. Which happened just days after I printed Wasted Quarter #51 - Cube Steak and Onion Buns, in January 2002. As part of my 2001 Year-In (Urine) Review, regarding Wendy’s, I wrote:

“The advertising approach of ‘Hey, the owner of the company is such a down to Earth guy that he even WORKS in a Wendy’s’ has brought the once struggling fast food chain into prominence. But we’ve seen this guy working drive thru for the last 9 years now. Beyond the fact that I’m sick of seeing his face handing drunks food at midnight, is the fact that I’d think it is counterproductive to the company. What does it say when the owner can’t even get promoted to fry guy?”

Yes, I know that Dave Thomas died of cancer, in January 2002. But a small part of my brain imagines it as his nurse whispered into his ear: “Sir, I just got word that Wasted Quarter didn’t like your advertising campaign.” 

And he just couldn’t fight on…

That’s it Laura, raise your lackluster Wendy’s Chicken Sammich aloft in salute!

And for everyone else, who indulges me in my stupid stories (some 475,000 and counting!), let me present a heartfelt…

******

A few months back, I wrote about the McDonald’s, in Cannon Falls Minnesota. Fire destroyed the south end of the building in April, 2025. I’d stopped to photograph it on one our drives to Rochester, in October. The building was finally demolished in November, with a posted rebuilding proclamation. In early February, We had to go back to Rochester for another surgery, and I saw the rebuilding had begun at the McDonald’s site. 

Looks they’ll open back up before the one year anniversary of the fire. 

Hope they keep the old sign when they come back, but I doubt it.

Probably the last piece of Curt’s Cannonball to survive.