Jack in the Box restaurant in Port Jeff (Babylon, Albany: school, live)

[Kemba]

There was a jack in the box fast food place, I believe on route 112 in Port Jefferson or Port Jeff Station. It later changed its name to Jack's. Can anybody tell me if it is still there. Anybody know why Jack in the Box pulled out of that area?

[OhBeeHave]

Sorry, it is long gone.

While the chain still exists, I can only speculate that it was driven off of LI by the competition.

[XLIGuy]

Around 1976, one opened at the corner of Sunrise Hwy and New Highway in N. Lindenhurst, within walking distance from my grandparents' house. Well, it closed up within a year or so. I remember we tried their food and my grandfather calling it "s**t in the box". They may have closed due to competition but the food was lousy to boot. Funny, they are here in Austin, TX. I have not gone to one though!

[Rachael84]

I never knew Jack in the Box was on Long Island. I know they're out west. When did they close down on LI? I'm 23 so it might have been before I could remember.

[jfkIII]

Got my first job at age 16 in The Jack-in-the-Box in North Babylon, back in the mid-70's. There was one in West Babylon, too, that I worked at briefly. Never really took off on LI, except on Friday & Saturday nites, when no other place was open. JIB was the only 24/7 fast food place back then. I served Tiny Tim and his crew after he played at the bar next door.

Anyway, one reason that they never thrived on LI is that when they first arrived (from the west coast) they put mustard on their burgers and the Jack sauce (sounds naughty!) contained a strong mustard presence. LI has never been a mustard on your burger locale, and JIB initially refused to change (but did so later on), so it caught a bad initial reputation. Back then, the chain was also owned by Ralston-Purina (yep, the dog food company,) which didn't help the rep. The last straw was when the JIB chain was found to have used Kangaroo meat mixed in their burger patties.

[GCGuy]

Um, Roo meat? Went to school in Albany and all the places had mustard on teh burgers...grew to love it. Ketchup and mustard make for a tasty burger...

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Got my first job at age 16 in The Jack-in-the-Box in North Babylon, back in the mid-70's. There was one in West Babylon, too, that I worked at briefly. Never really took off on LI, except on Friday & Saturday nites, when no other place was open. JIB was the only 24/7 fast food place back then. I served Tiny Tim and his crew after he played at the bar next door.

Anyway, one reason that they never thrived on LI is that when they first arrived (from the west coast) they put mustard on their burgers and the Jack sauce (sounds naughty!) contained a strong mustard presence. LI has never been a mustard on your burger locale, and JIB initially refused to change (but did so later on), so it caught a bad initial reputation. Back then, the chain was also owned by Ralston-Purina (yep, the dog food company,) which didn't help the rep. The last straw was when the JIB chain was found to have used Kangaroo meat mixed in their burger patties.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by GCGuy

Um, Roo meat? Went to school in Albany and all the places had mustard on teh burgers...grew to love it. Ketchup and mustard make for a tasty burger...

yep....people were hopping mad! They complained it made them feel jumpy.

[nancy thereader]

I absolutely remember Jack in the Box right on the corner of Route 112 in Port Jeff Station. It was on the corner of that little shopping center with the bowling lanes and Woolworth's. Before I got my car, my son and I used to spend all of our time there because we lived within walking distance. (this was around 1974 or so). As soon as Taco
Bell came to LI , that was the end of all of the Jack's.

[RoastBeefJackson]

Those SUPER TACOS were great !!!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by GCGuy

Um, Roo meat? Went to school in Albany and all the places had mustard on teh burgers...grew to love it. Ketchup and mustard make for a tasty burger...

I spent some time at SUNYA and remember having my first burger with mustard up there. Oh, and the cheese fries at Sutters Mill were really good, too!