Name of a defunct 80's restaurant chain?

January 21, 2011 9:26 AM

In the 1980's when the Mountain Jack's restaurant chain was formed, the overarching company also had a chain of upscale seafood restaurants, which they built and promoted at the same time. These restaurants had a rooftop 'lighthouse'. In the 90's, they were converted to Mountain Jack's. What was the original name of this restaurant chain? Attached is a link to a google streetview of one (closed) in Michigan.
posted by bigguy1960 to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Actually, you neglected to attach the link...
posted by HuronBob at 9:34 AM on January 21, 2011

They weren't to my memory upscale but the Hungry Fisherman in my town had a rooftop lighthouse I think.
posted by pointystick at 9:40 AM on January 21, 2011

The company that owned Mountain Jack's also apparently had a chain called Hungry Hunter, so Hungry Fisherman would fit right in with that.
posted by kindall at 9:43 AM on January 21, 2011

We had one of these in Lansing - I'm not positive, but it might by Whaling Station or something similar.
posted by rfs at 9:44 AM on January 21, 2011

Could it have been called Hungry Hunter, Hunter Steakhouse, or Carvers?
posted by iconomy at 9:45 AM on January 21, 2011

The Whaling Company? This corporate history may help: here
posted by dpaul at 10:24 AM on January 21, 2011

I don't see a link, but there used to be an upscale restaurant on Van Dyke in the 1970s called The Whaling Station (which had a small "lighthouse" on the rooftop). I was a high school senior at the time, but my first job was in an office of a large company, so I was fortunate enough to be taken out to lunch to places I could have never afforded as a 16-year-old. There were a "string" of upscale (in this case "upscale" means several steps above TGIFriday's and maybe a step and a half above Mountain Jack's) eateries along that stretch of Van Dyke between 12 and 15 Mile Roads at that time. I had lunch at the Whaling Station a couple of times and remember having elaborately decorated and very potent Mai Tais (the drinking age was 18 but I was with business execs and my age wasn't questioned) and my first taste of prime rib.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:34 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Addendum to my previous post: when the Whaling Station closed, it didn't become a Mountain Jack's. What did turn into a Mountain Jack's was the delightful Stag and Hounds restaurant which, I believe, used to be near 12 Mile and Mound Road. The Stag and Hounds was very upscale and intimate comprised of several small dining rooms (one with a fireplace). (The Mai Tais there were served in what looked like fish bowls and contained five different types of rum, and in that Mad Men-ish era, my boss took me there often and encouraged me to drink as many as I cared to during a two-hour or so lunch. Looking back, I realize that Boss probably had ulterior motives in getting me snockered; I was 17 and very naive. Luckily nothing untoward ever happened, and being young and resiliant I was even able to actually work once we were back at the office.) Anyway, when the Stag and Hounds became a Mountain Jack's, they'd knocked down a lot of the interior walls and made two big dining rooms. The cozy dining room with the fireplace was turned into the reception area, where you waited for a table if the place was busy.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:50 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]