- Sambo's
Infobox Restaurant
name = Sambo's
image_width = 300px
image_caption = The first and only remaining Sambo's Restaurant (August 2005)
established =1957
current-owner =Chad Stevens
head-chef =
food-type =
dress-code =
rating =
street-address = 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard
city = Santa Barbara
state = California
zip =
country =United States
seating-capacity =
reservations =
website = [http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/ The Original Sambo's Restaurant]Sambo's is a restaurant, formerly an American
restaurant chain , started in1957 by Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with "The Story of Little Black Sambo". Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy and tigers. By the early 1970s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers. Akids club , Sambo's Tiger Tamers (later called the Tiger Club), promoted the chain's family image.By
1979 , Sambo's had 1,200 outlets in 47 U.S. states. However in the late seventies controversy over the chain's name drew protests and lawsuits in communities that viewed the term Sambo as apejorative towardsAfrican-Americans , particularly in Northeast states. Several of the restaurants were opened as or renamed to "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.cite book
last =Jones
first =Thomas David
title =Human Rights: Group Defamation, Freedom of Expression and the Law of Nations
publisher =Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
date =1998
pages =107-117
isbn =9041102655 ] In March of 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".cite news
title= COMPANY NEWS; Sambo's to Alter Northeast Names
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2D81539F932A25750C0A967948260
publisher=The New York Times
date=1981-03-11
accessdate=2008-01-03 ] By November of 1981, the company filed for bankruptcy.cite news
title=CHAPTER 11 PETITION IS FILED BY SAMBO'S
publisher=The New York Times
date=1981-11-28 ] Neither the name change nor bankrupty protection reversed the downward trend, and in 1982 all but the original Sambo's at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard inSanta Barbara, California , closed their doors. [http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/across.htm]In its last days as a chain, Sambo's was sued by
Dr Pepper for plagiarizing the latter's populartelevision commercial in a spot Sambo's ran to promote its newsenior citizen discount program. Sambo's was also sued by non-white employees and applicants who were allegingdiscrimination in hiring and advancementFact|date=February 2007.Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining Sambo's. He expresses a desire to revive the chain.
There is a "Lil' Sambo's" restaurant in
Lincoln City, Oregon , but it was never part of the Sambo's chain. [ [http://www.lilsambos.com/aboutus.html About Lil' Sambo's] , lilsambos.com. Retrieved March 7, 2007.]Battistone is also the original owner of the New Orleans Jazz in the
NBA . [http://hornetsreport.com/HRClassic/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=231] He later moved the team toUtah and sold it.References
External links
* [http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/ The Original Sambo's Restaurant]
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