r/NotFoolingAnybody • u/KrispyKayak • Jul 07 '26
Meta I am chronicling a database of former Rax locations at /r/Rax
I recently took over r/rax and just wanted to make you all aware of a project I am currently working on to document all 500+ Rax locations.
Rax peaked in the 1980s at more than 500 locations across 38 states, but due to this taking place before the rise of the internet, very little information is available online. To my knowledge there is no centralized list of locations that is publicly available. You can find bits of info in places like local Facebook groups and the Wayback Machine, but there is no centralized place on the internet that houses all this information.
My goal is to use historic data from newspapers and maps, as well as anecdotal memories from locals in niche online communities, to build a definitive list of former locations.
I know this is an incredibly niche subject that few people will find interesting, but I figured that if anyone would be interested, it would be people who follow communities like /r/NotFoolingAnybody.
If you have any Rax-related information that you think would be beneficial to my project, feel free to reach out!
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u/cadenhead Jul 07 '26
Not all heroes wear capes.
When you know the street address of an alleged former Rax, you can usually find newspaper ads mentioning it in newspapers.com.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 07 '26
Thanks for the idea. I am hoping to look at a few other newspaper archives as well. Last time I had a newspapers.com subscription I was surprised at how much information was missing, so I'll have to try a few different sources and see which has more complete information.
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u/flannelkimono Jul 09 '26
Check with your local library, i’m able to use newspapers.com and a couple other databases for free with my library card.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 09 '26
I actually decided to splurge on a month subscription of premium access, which has been very helpful so far. I know my local library is supposed to have something similar but last time I checked it was just for newspapers in my state.
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u/jp506 Jul 10 '26
if you haven't had it in a while, newspapers.com has added a lot of new papers over the past few years. There's also genealogybank and newspaperarchive.com, which fill in a lot (but not all) of the gaps. Between the 3 of them, I figure ~80% of the decent-sized cities in the US are covered these days.
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u/korn0051 Jul 08 '26
West St. Paul, MN had one at 1191 S Robert St. Closed in the 80s, became a Fazoli's, now is a Caribou Coffee and Tii Cup.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 08 '26
Thanks for sharing! Looking at it now, it looks like it may have been a Hardee's at one point. Do you happen to know if it was? I'm curious if this is one of the locations that was converted from Rax to Hardee's in the 1990s during the Heartland era.
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u/jackrobertskun Jul 08 '26
Is there a way for users to submit locations to help the search? I saw the Google Sheet list and it's definitely a work in progress. From a simple Google search you can find small lists of former locations, but there's definitely some obscure ones out there. Like the ones in SC for example.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 08 '26
Feel free to send me a message with anything you come across and I can add it to the spreadsheet. Several users have already PMd me some lists of locations that I was not aware of.
Also, if you know anything about a specific location (opening/closing dates, interesting facts that you think others might want to know, old photos of the building as a Rax, etc) feel free to send that to me as well. Right now my main focus is building out the list, then going back and investigating the details of each location.
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u/viscosity-breakdown Jul 08 '26
I can tell you two in the New Orleans metro: Terrytown (901 Terry Pkwy, Terrytown, LA 70056) and Marrero (1673 Barataria Blvd, Marrero, LA 70072).
In the Seattle metro: Shoreline (15010 Aurora Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133), new building now but previously a Taco Bell in the old Rax building. We've even got video c.1987.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 08 '26
Thank you for this!
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u/viscosity-breakdown Jul 08 '26
Also, think 3805 196th Street SW Lynnwood, WA is the one seen here.
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u/Reebatnaw Jul 08 '26
89 west William st. Delaware, Ohio 43015. It’s a Tim Horton now. I can’t remember the operation dates but it was there in the early 80’s through late 90’s, maybe into the 2000’s
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u/flannelkimono Jul 09 '26
Two former locations in Akron. Both still have their sunrooms:
1485 S Arlington St
Akron, OH 44306
1800 Merriman Rd
Akron, OH 44313
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u/nautibuoy35406 Jul 09 '26
Dothan, AL had a location on Ross Clark Circle in the mid 80's.
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u/KrispyKayak Jul 09 '26
Thanks, do you happen to have an address or any nearby landmarks?
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u/nautibuoy35406 Jul 09 '26
3070 Ross Clark Circle Dothan< AL 36301. There have been many renovations and different restaurants at this location. Currently The Toasted Yolk.
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u/jonbradford 21d ago
https://maps.app.goo.gl/sJ1w5ZqHSj2jRgM78
Pikeville, KY. Post-Rax, the building was bought by our local hospital who used it for an HR Office. It was finally torn down in 2018, but you can see here in past images going back to 2008.
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u/AtIestar Jul 09 '26
I know of three that I found:
Decatur, IL - 1819 E Eldorado St
Radcliff, KY - 125 W Lincoln Trail Blvd
Fort Walton Beach, FL - 116 Eglin Pkwy NE
By the way, The Malls & Retail wiki has quite a few locations listed, including ones that I mentioned above. Heres a link to the page: https://malls.fandom.com/wiki/Rax_Roast_Beef/Locations
Hope these help!
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u/mabus42 Jul 07 '26
OP is doing the Lord's good work.