Editing Sambo's

{{short description|American restaurant chain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name                = Sambo's
| logo                = File:Sambo's.png
| logo_size           = 200px
| logo_caption        = Sambo's logo from the 1980s
| image               = Sambos.jpg
| image_size          = 300px
| image_caption       = The first and last Sambo's Restaurant in Santa Barbara, California (2005)
| trading_name        = 
| former_name         = The Jolly Tiger (12 locations)<br>
No Place Like Sam's (some locations)
| type                = 
| genre               = 
| fate                = Chapter 11 bankruptcy (1981)<br>
Remaining chain sold to [[Vicorp]] (1984)
Last restaurant renamed (2020)
| successor           = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded             = <!-- if known: {{Start date and age|1957|MM|DD}} in [[city]], [[state]], [[country]] -->
| founder             = <!-- or: | founders = -->
| defunct             = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location         = 
| hq_location_city    = [[Santa Barbara, California]]
| hq_location_country = 
| num_locations       = 1,117
| num_locations_year  = 1979
| area_served         = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->

| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Sambo's''' was an American [[restaurant chain]], started in 1957 by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnett in [[Santa Barbara, California]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=LaMotte |first1=Greg |title=Sambo's revival running into hot water |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9801/28/sambo.revival/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021130211014/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9801/28/sambo.revival/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 30, 2002 |accessdate=June 7, 2020 |publisher=CNN |date=January 26, 1998}}</ref> Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its two founders, the chain also associated with ''[[The Story of Little Black Sambo]]''. Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on this connection by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy, tigers, and a pale, magical unicycle-riding man called "The Treefriend". By the early 1960s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers. A [[kids club]], Sambo's Tiger Tamers (later called the Tiger Club), promoted the chain's family image. The chain filed for [[Chapter 11 Bankruptcy|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in November 1981.<ref name="nytbankrupt" />  All locations except for the first in Santa Barbara either closed outright, or were renamed after being purchased, effectively ending the chain's existence.

The Santa Barbara restaurant continued business under the Sambo's name until 2020, when it was renamed to '''Chad's''' after its owner at the time, Chad Stevens. The [[George Floyd protests]] against [[racism in the United States]] resulted in the owner of the restaurant changing the name of the establishment.

==History==

[[File:Big Boy former Sambos cropped.jpg|thumb|A former Sambo's in [[Alpena, Michigan]], now occupied by [[Big Boy (restaurant)|Big Boy]]]]
After the first Sambo's was opened in 1957, the restaurant was expanded to more locations. In late 1963, it had restaurants in 16 cities – in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1963-05-02|title=Sambo's Start New Restaurants|pages=7|work=Needles Desert Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52927913/needles-desert-star/|access-date=2020-06-07}}</ref> By 1969, the company had grown to 98 locations,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=1969-09-07|title=Local Broker Fills Post With Sambo's|pages=30|work=The Sacramento Bee|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52938893/the-sacramento-bee/|access-date=2020-06-07}}</ref> and over the next two years diversified to create additional restaurant franchises, including Red Top Hamburgers, Heidi's Pie Shop, and the Blue Ox Steak House.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=1971-05-13|title=Sambo Restaurant|pages=92|work=Tampa Bay Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52938693/tampa-bay-times/|access-date=2020-06-07}}</ref>

In the latter half of the 1970s, pressure began to mount on the chain to change its name, drawing protests and lawsuits in communities that viewed the term ''[[Sambo (racial term)|Sambo]]'' as pejorative towards Black Americans. Twelve of its restaurants were opened as or renamed "The Jolly Tiger" in locations where the local community passed resolutions forbidding the use of the original name or refused to grant the chain permits. The last of these restaurants was created in December 1977. In March 1979, the company reversed course on its "Jolly Tiger" restaurants and stated their intent to rename all of them back to Sambo's.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=1979-03-12|title=Sambo's Restaurants Drop 'Jolly Tiger' Alternate Name|pages=2|work=Chillicothe Gazette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52939576/chillicothe-gazette/|access-date=2020-06-07}}</ref> The company cited poor financial performance of these restaurants; the company's "constitutional, legal, and moral right to operate (those restaurants) under its corporate name"; and the assertion that Black people did not object to the name, citing studies that showed that "three times as many blacks [sic] ate at Sambo's as at any other full service restaurant".<ref name=":1" />

In 1979, Sambo's had 1,117 outlets in 47 American states.  Additional corporate level decisions made at the time also led to Sambo's corporate demise. Pressure to take Sambo's into a more normal, salaried manager compensation package was one issue. Their unique "Fraction of the Action" promotion – whereby managers were entitled to 20% of the profits from their stores, with employees allowed to bid for a percentage of the remaining profits – was an early company expansion plan, and the growth of the company outpaced its control.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/27/business/market-place-mistakes-at-sambo-s.html | work= [[The New York Times]] | title= Market Place; Mistakes At Sambo's | date= 27 November 1981 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949341,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714230509/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949341,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 14, 2009 |magazine= Time |title= A New Name |date= August 17, 1981 |volume= 118 |issue= 7 |page= 67 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Sambo's: Only a Fraction of the Action : the Inside Story of a Restaurant Empire's Rise and Fall | first= Charles |last= Bernstein |year=1984 |location= Burbank, California |publisher= National Literary Guild |isbn= 9780866662024}}</ref><ref name="tdjsambos">{{cite book |last= Jones |first=Thomas David |title= Human Rights: Group Defamation, Freedom of Expression and the Law of Nations |location= Boston |publisher= Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |year= 1998 |pages= 107–117 |isbn= 90-411-0265-5 }}</ref> In March 1981, in a further attempt to give the chain a new image the company again renamed some locations, this time to "No Place Like Sam's".<ref name="nytsambos">{{cite news |title= Company News: Sambo's to Alter Northeast Names |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/11/business/company-news-sambo-s-to-alter-northeast-names.html |work= The New York Times |date= March 11, 1981 |page=D4 |accessdate= January 3, 2008}}</ref> By November 1981, the company filed for bankruptcy.<ref name="nytbankrupt">{{cite news |title=Chapter 11 Petition Is Filed by Sambo's |work= The New York Times |at=sec. 2 p. 30 |date= November 28, 1981 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/28/business/chapter-11-petition-is-filed-by-sambo-s.html}}</ref> Neither the name change nor bankruptcy protection reversed this downward trend, and by 1982 all except the original Sambo's at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard in [[Santa Barbara, California]] closed their doors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/across.htm |title=Across America |website=Sambo's Restaurant |accessdate=July 26, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312045227/http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/across.htm |archive-date=March 12, 2007 }}</ref> By February 1983, 618 of the locations were renamed Season's Friendly Eating.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e-swAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yN8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1380,5107245&dq=season%27s-friendly-eating&hl=en |title= Six Area Restaurants to Get New Name |date= December 10, 1982 |work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal |page= 6B |accessdate= April 20, 2010}}</ref> Several locations were sold to [[Denny's]], including the [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida|Fort Lauderdale]] store.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/135071521/ |title=Denny's Expands in S. Florida |date= June 24, 1983 |work= The Palm Beach Post |page= D1 |accessdate= November 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel July 21, 1981</ref> [[Bakers Square]]'s parent company acquired Sambo's in California in October 1984. Many Sambo's locations were converted to Bakers Square restaurants and the ones that weren't were sold to other chains, including Denny's.

Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining restaurant in Santa Barbara which continued business under the Sambo's name until 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Palminteri|first=John|date=2020-06-05|title=American restaurant history changes in Santa Barbara with the end of Sambo's|url=https://keyt.com/lifestyle/money-and-business/2020/06/05/american-restaurant-history-changing-in-santa-barbara-with-the-end-of-sambos/|access-date=2020-06-07|work=KEYT {{!}} KCOY|language=en-US}}</ref> In late May 2020, [[George Floyd protests]] against [[racism in the United States]] began in cities across the United States, including Santa Barbara. A petition drive asked the owner to change the name of Sambo's. In June 2020, the name on the original Sambo's sign was temporarily changed to the motto "☮ & LOVE" ("Peace and love").<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.com/2020/06/05/amid-protests-peace-love-is-new-motto-for-last-standing-sambos-restaurant/|title=Amid Protests, 'Peace & Love' is New Motto for Last Standing Sambo's Restaurant|work=Santa Barbara Independent|author=Smith, Delaney |date=2020-06-05|accessdate=June 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Croft |first1=Jay |title=What's in a name? California restaurant agrees to a change amid national unrest |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/us/restaurant-name-trnd/index.html |accessdate=June 7, 2020 |publisher=CNN |date=June 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sambo-s-which-once-had-1-100-restaurants-changes-name-n1226696#:~:text=Once%20a%20chain%20that%20boasted,African%20descent%2C%20to%20something%20undetermined |title=Sambo's, which once had 1,100 restaurants, changes name amid national George Floyd protests |last=McCausland |first=Phil |accessdate=June 10, 2020 |publisher=[[NBC]] |date=June 6, 2020}}</ref>  In July 2020, the restaurant was officially renamed to "Chad's".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Palminteri |first=John |date=2020-07-15 |title=It's official – Chad's replaces Sambo's after 63 years in Santa Barbara |url=https://keyt.com/news/money-and-business/2020/07/15/its-official-chads-replaces-sambos-after-63-years-in-santa-barbara/ |access-date=2020-09-01 |website=[[KEYT-TV]]}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Sam Battistone, Jr. was the original owner of the [[New Orleans Jazz (NBA team)|New Orleans Jazz]] in the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hornetsreport.com/HRClassic/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=231|title=The Move to Utah|work=Hornets Report|accessdate=August 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141933/http://www.pelicansreport.com/HRClassic/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=231|archive-date=April 13, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He later moved the team to [[Utah]] and sold it.

An abandoned Sambo's was cleaned up and used for a scene in the movie ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=25 Things You Never Knew About 'Edward Scissorhands'|url=https://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Box+Office/articles/EuSNe9M933V/25+Things+Never+Knew+Edward+Scissorhands|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Zimbio|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/ The Original Sambo's Restaurant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113094219/http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/ |date=January 13, 2007 }}

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[[Category:African-American-related controversies]]
[[Category:Companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1981]]
[[Category:Defunct restaurant chains in the United States]]
[[Category:Restaurants established in 1957]]
[[Category:Restaurants disestablished in 2020]]
[[Category:Restaurants in California]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California]]
[[Category:Name changes due to the George Floyd protests]]
[[Category:Race-related controversies in advertising and marketing]]
[[Category:Stereotypes of African Americans]]