Joe Monroe

Mark…you are NOT completely nuts…well, you are right about RAX. It was a fast food company that had small roast beef sandwiches and milk shakes as their most popular items. Alligator sippy cups must not have been able to save the chain. The concept went belly up. I remember that there were 5 or 6 in and around the Columbia, SC area in the mid-80′s.

Nickd

Rax blew. Shit the bed and tracked it everywhere. You know what was good though? Rally’s. They both start with an ‘Ra” so I felt it appropriate to bring up.

Greg

The cups were Uncle Ally cups from the Uncle Alligator Kids Meals. Yea, pretty sad, I know.

Josh

im at work and i have to pee really bad. getting ready to go home… but i had almost the exact same thoughts about Rax mayself, and i found this blog! that place ruled, and those cups were the bomb. they’re all i remembered too. good times, 80′s

Holly

I was just talking to my husband about this restaurant about a week ago. My grandparents used to take us to Rax every weekend for a gator meal. The reason I thought of it the other day though was because he said the word, “dickens” and it reminded me of a series of gator meal toys they had for awhile that I’m pretty sure were called “Dickens.” I vaguely remember that one was a rooster sort of thing…..

Brittany

http://www.raxroastbeef.com Uncle Alligator Cups !

Kammi

Rax…I miss them! That was my 1st job in MN. I worked there for years as well as my mom. The uncle Al cups were not fun to fill and top. The salad bar rocked and I really miss the BBC!

beth Minnich

There is a Rax in Bellefontaine, Ohio- The sign on the freeway says Arbys but it is a Rax. No alligator sippy cups though;( Fries were disgusting. The BBC was nice.

Brandon

Rax was awesome! We went there most often (to the Irwin, PA location) on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I was a child. One day we pulled in the parking lot and discovered that the location had closed for business.

Years went by with no sign of Rax anywhere close to us. Then one opened in Jeannette, PA about 15 minutes away from where the one in Irwin was located. The owners of the Jeannette store also opened one about 15 minutes down the road inside the food court of Greengate Mall located in Greensburg, PA. Around that same time, another location opened on Route 119 in Greensburg.

The one in Irwin was an original location and has been a Taco Bell for at least ten years. The one in Jeannette closed in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. However, it was probably the late 1990s. It is now called Diamond Auto World. It may have been a car dealership between the time it was a Rax and Diamond Auto World. I do remember that it was a deli style restaurant before it was a Rax. The one inside of Greengate Mall became something else. I forget what though. It closed down sometime around the same time the one in Jeannette did. Although they had the same owners, I don’t remember if they closed their doors the same exact date or not. This Rax inside of Greengate Mall was an Arby’s immediately prior to becoming a Rax. Now Greengate Mall has been torn down. It is a shopping center with a WalMart, several other stores, and some restaurants. The location on Route 119 in Greensburg became a combination restaurant with a Subway sandwich shop. The Rax portion closed somewhere at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009. I remember that this location on Route 119 was some sort of restaurant called “Belly Busters” immediately prior to becoming a Rax.

I remember eating at a Rax on one of the corners of the four way intersection of Routes 22 and 981 in New Alexandria, PA. I only ate there once. I think it is now a location for a bank. This Rax closed maybe between 2002-2004. It could have been before then. I really liked this one even though we only ate there once. The bbq beefs that I got were excellent. They reminded me of the ones from the Irwin location.

The only other Rax I remember eating at was on Fifth Avenue in Mckeesport, PA. It is now a reposession business of some sort for motor vehicles. This location went out of business in the 1990s.

We drove past a Rax in Johnstown, PA one time and I wanted to go but we didn’t bring enough money. We did not know that it was there before we planned our day. Maybe we would have stopped if we had brought enough money. This was back in the Spring of 2002. After researching information, I discovered that this was one of the original locations. It closed down probably by 2005.

One of my friends and I were talking about Rax yesterday. He frequented the location on Rodi Road in Penn Hills, PA with his family when he was a child. This location closed in the late 1980′s to early 1990′s and became a Long John Silvers. It was probably in the early 1990s since that is when many other locations closed. I ate there a handful of times after it became LJS, but not when it was a Rax. I think this location is still a LJS.

My grandfather and I were driving around downtown Pittsburgh, PA once and I remember seeing a sign that said Rax on one of the buildings. This was not a stand alone building. It was in a plaza of some sort. I don’t know if it was open at the time or not. This was years ago.

I spoke with a man by the name of Stan Sanford probably around 2005. At the time, he owned the Rax name. He informed me that Rax was going to begin opening more combo stores with other restaurant chains. The only one that I am aware of is the one in Greensburg with the Subway. As I mentioned, the Rax half closed. I think the Subway is still open. At the time the website for Rax was http://www.raxonline.com. I offered to work for the company doing web design. He declined by providing the name of a woman who was employed in that position. I later discovered that she left the company sometime after I spoke with Stan.

The current owner of the Rax name is Rich Donohue. His company’s name is “From Rax to Rich’s”. The current website is http://www.raxroastbeef.com. The copyright at the bottom of the website is 2010 so it is very current. All stores are independently owned and are listed on the Website. Rax also has a television commercial currently being aired in certain neighborhoods in Ohio. I found this commercial online. However, it is not on the website. This commercial references the locations of three stores, one of them being in the Ashland Town Center Mall. This location opened recently. The website says that one in Wheelersburg, OH will be opening. I also believe that the only store left in Illinois, in the city of Joliet, is one of the original locations.

I am interested in learning more about this company. Please email me at brandon.serfozo@yahoo.com with any information you may have discovered since your inquiry. Thank you very much.

Brandon

Stephanie:

How many do you have of each variety?

Which others are there besides the snowman and rabbit?

Also, how many of each variety would you be willing to sell?

Jenny

There is still a RAX in my hometown!! I eat there at least once a week. They no longer have the uncle Al sippy cup, but I remember it like it was yesterday!