Well, sometimes it doesn’t pay to actually do research, because your delightful blog-fancies turn out to have no basis in, you know, fact.

For years I’ve sort of had this impression that Chicago was covered with a huge variety and selection of Golden [XXXX] pancake/dinery places, with dozens of values for [XXXX]. Last night I had a dinner-meeting at the Golden Apple (Wellington and Lincoln) and I thought I should check the white pages and see just how many Golden Whatevers there really were. Just six. Angel, Apple, Heart, House, Nugget (times seven — the 600 lb. gorilla of the Golden world!), and Waffle. I always thought there was a Golden Horseshoe, too, but I’m probably mixing up the Golden Nugget’s logo and Las Vegas casinos.

Some related notions:

• Campbell McGrath’s Spring Comes to Chicago contains the poem “The Golden Angel Pancake House,” which is one of my favorite poems.
• This American Life spent 24 hours at the Golden Apple
• Several Chicago Burger Kings become “Burger Delights“
• Slightly farther afield, knockoffs of KFC knockoffs in NYC