Frisch's Big Boy downtown (Louisville, Dayton: hotel, live, shops)

[Charrell]

Can someone please tell me where Frisch's Big Boy was located downtown in the 60's and early 70's? I think it was either Fourth St. or Third St. Thank you for any info

[missmc66]

I'm not originally from Louisville but, have lived here 14 years. I asked a friend who was born and raised here and they said....there was one on 3rd and Southland Blvd. There is a Walgreens there now right across from Iroquois Manor. Also he believed one to be on Broadway or near Market St .

[Charrell]

Thank you so much for the reply missmc66! This would have been on Third or Fourth north of Broadway. Again, I thank you for taking the time to respond.

[veggienut]

Originally Posted by Charrell

Can someone please tell me where Frisch's Big Boy was located downtown in the 60's and early 70's? I think it was either Fourth St. or Third St. Thank you for any info

If my memory has it correct, Frisch's was located on Fourth Street where it was once called "River City Mall". It was located on the first block I think near Broadway.

[missmc66]

I think River City Mall was also changed to the Galleria which is now Fourth Street Live.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by missmc66

I think River City Mall was also changed to the Galleria which is now Fourth Street Live.

Hmmm. Not really. I believe River City "Mall" was actually the term given to the blocks, south of the Seelbach, that are now dubbed "Sofo." That 3 blocks to broadway, in the 70s, was blocked to vehicular traffic and made a "pedestrian mall." This was an attempt to save a retailvarea that was once the center of the city, but well into great decline by the 1970s. By the 1980s, things became desolate. There were many tear downs. At that point the Galleria was called for and opened i think in the mid 80s to try to save the Kauffman-Strauss building. By the late 1990s to early 2000s, the only major retailer downtown was Rodes, which split for the Glenview/Holiday Manor area about a 15 years ago.

Lately, in the last year, this once great retail area has seen a renaissance. I think around 10 new businesses have opened there, mostly small boutiques, gift shops, a bar (Meta) and around 50 aoartment units. There is also 2 new hotel developments (Embassy Suites in the old Stewart's) and Hilton Garden in on the parking lot at 4th and Chestnut ( I am guessing there was a grand building there decades ago).

Daytonsux, who grew up in Louisville, is actually very knowledgable on this history. Hopefully he drops by here to help us out.

[Billyhill]

Big Boy is the greatest sammich ever