"In 1957, Southern Californians Sam Battistone, Sr., and Newhall "Bo" Bohnett opened a diner in Santa Barbara, California, that offered a bottomless cup of coffee for a dime and a full breakfast for a little more than a dollar. When trying to dream up a name for their restaurant, they wound up combining their names to create Sambo's Pancake House (often just called Sambo's)."
"From the beginning, they all wanted Sambo's to be a cozy place for families to enjoy breakfast and lunch - and the homey atmosphere and good, cheap eats helped Sambo's flourish. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Sambo's opened hundreds of restaurants across the U.S. in 47 states, eventually burgeoning to over 1,100 locations. Part of Sambo's success was its unique "fraction-of-the-action" program that gave 20% of profits to each restaurant manager."
Sambo's began in 1957 in Santa Barbara with a bottomless cup of coffee for a dime and affordable full breakfasts. The name combined founders Sam Battistone and Newhall "Bo" Bohnett. A family-operated kitchen and homey atmosphere helped rapid growth through the 1960s and 1970s to over 1,100 locations in 47 states. A "fraction-of-the-action" program awarded 20% of profits to managers and allowed them to buy additional shares, fostering entrepreneurship. The SEC forced discontinuation of the program in 1977, managers departed, profits plunged, and Sambo's filed for bankruptcy in 1981. The chain's name and murals tied it to racist stereotypes.
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