Toddle House was a national
quick service restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...
chain
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, which specialized in breakfast but was open
24/7. Lunch and dinner
entrée
An entrée (, ; ) in modern French table service and that of much of the English-speaking world (apart from the United States and parts of Canada) is a dish served before the main course of a meal. Outside North America, it is generally synonym ...
s included soups and salads and various sandwiches. Much of their business was
takeout
A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...
.
History
The precursor to Toddle House was started in the late 1920s, by J. C. Stedman, a lumberman from
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, seeking to use leftover building supplies.
Stedman persuaded the owners of
Britling Cafeterias, a restaurant chain that started a few years earlier, to build his restaurants. Shortly thereafter, Stedman was approached by a successful Memphis businessman named James Frederick "Fred" Smith, who was looking for a new investment since the Greyhound Corporation had bought a controlling interest in the Smith Motor Coach Company he founded 1931, and was renamed as the
Dixie Greyhound Lines. (Smith was the father of
Frederick Wallace Smith, who later founded
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
.)
In 1932, Smith became the president of the National Toddle House System, Inc. By the 1950s, Toddle House had more than 200 locations in almost 90 cities.
In 1962, Toddle House was purchased by Dobbs Houses, a competitor that also operated Steak 'n Egg Kitchen, and the franchise was allowed to decline. In 1980,
Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still op ...
borrowed $108 million to buy Dobbs Houses. In January 1988, Carson Pirie Scott sold Steak 'n Egg Kitchen and Toddle House to Diversified Hospitality Group of
Milford, Connecticut
Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...
. The chain has since been liquidated.
Business model overview
Original restaurant
Each outlet was built to the same plan, having the appearance of a small brick cottage, painted white with a blue roof.
Inside, diners found no tables — just a row of 10 stools at a stainless-steel counter. Customers paid on the honor system, depositing their checks with the correct amount in a glass box by the door on their way out.
[Huston, John P]
Last Chicago-area Toddle House building to be razed
Chicago Tribune, February 9, 2011. Accessed November 23, 2017
At its peak there were more than 300 of the first version,
[Green, Bo]
An Idea Whose Time Has Come - Again
Chicago Tribune, September 21, 1987. Accessed April 16, 2013 however, they disappeared in 1962 when they were converted to Dobbs Houses and then Steak N' Eggs. (Note that there is at least one news report that puts the total over 1,000.)
[Sherman, Chri]
Neighborly Toddle House Coming To Town
Orlando Sentinel, January 11, 1987. Accessed April 16, 2013
Joe Rogers Sr., a regional manager of the Toddle House chain, left Toddle House to found the similar
Waffle House.
William Cecil Davis, also a regional manager for the Toddle House, founded the Pitt Grill with his brother, Leonard, while still working for the Toddle House, prior to the Waffle House founding in 1955.
During the
segregation Segregation may refer to:
Separation of people
* Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space
* School segregation
* Housing segregation
* Racial segregation, separation of humans ...
era, the company also operated a
parallel
Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
Computing
* Parallel algorithm
* Parallel computing
* Parallel metaheuristic
* Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel
* Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of ...
chain of similar restaurants for
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s called "Harlem House".
Historic Memphis Restaurants...and some High School Hang-outs
Historic-Memphis.com. Accessed April 16, 2013
Second iteration
In 1981 Carson Pirie Scott, the retail/food giant, sold Steak N' Eggs and began to build a "new" Toddle House chain. By 1987 there were 40 Toddle Houses open, with five of them in Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
and at least one in Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
. There were ambitious plans that called for 500 by 1991, with 50 of them in Florida.pork chop
A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual por ...
s and country-fried steak
Chicken-fried steak, also known as country-fried steak or CFS, is an American breaded cutlet dish consisting of a piece of beefsteak (most often tenderized cube steak) coated with seasoned flour and either deep-fried or pan-fried. It is sometim ...
and fajita
A fajita (; ), in Tex-Mex cuisine, is any stripped grilled meat with stripped peppers and onions usually served on a flour or corn tortilla. The term originally referred to skirt steak, the cut of beef first used in the dish. Popular alternative ...
s.
However, Carson came on hard times and sold its restaurants in 1988.
After life
Although tiny by modern standards, many defunct Toddle House locations lived on for decades as other quick service restaurants, such as hot dog stands and other short-order formats.
References
{{Reflist
Restaurants established in 1932
Restaurant chains in the United States
Defunct companies based in Tennessee
Pancake houses
1932 establishments in Tennessee
Restaurants disestablished in 1988
Defunct restaurant chains in the United States