Favorite restaurants from the past

Today I was driving down Central Ave., and I passed by the old Pannekucken (sp?) building which, in recent years, has been occupied by various Indian restaurants with little to no success. Anyway, I remember my parents taking me to this Pannekucken when I was a kid, and I started to think about all of the restaurants that I enjoyed that are no longer around.

Here's my list in no certain order:

1. Shakey's Pizza. Enough Said.

2. Skippers (The AYCE fried fish was a steal back in it's day)

3. The fast food Chinese restaurant on Hennepin in Uptown (I think it was called Chinese Express). It's heyday was in the 90's, when you could actually order your food so spicy, you'd break a sweat. It was housed in an old Rax building and after it closed became a Thai restaurant. The broccoli with crispy garlic in brown sauce almost turned me into a vegetarian.

4. Rocky Rococco's pizza in Dinkytown. That was some good pizza (There is still a location open in Brooklyn Park, but the pizza is not the same as it was back in 1992).

5. The old Rainbow Cafe in Uptown. Best turtle cheesecake ever.

6. Benjamins (Roseville location). I swear they had the thickest cut onion rings you have ever seen. There would be like one whole large onion per order. The neon orange dipping sauce that came with them looked nasty, but it was delicious.

7. Mother Tuckers (Roseville location). Because when you are 16, that name is just funny. Although they did make a mean patty melt, and if I am not mistaken, they were one of the first restaurants in town to offer Buffalo Wings (circa 1987).