A few weeks ago on my podcast The Mason Minute I was reminiscing about one of my favorite childhood restaurants Shakey’s Pizza.

Growing up I used to love going to Shakey’s to watch them make the pizza (both tossing it and baking it), listen to the Dixieland and Ragtime band, and take home one of those fake straw hats to wear.  Plus, did I mention that the pizza was real good too?!  I think you could consider Shakey’s the 1960’s and 1970’s version of Chuck E. Cheese before there was such a thing.

But by the late 80’s and early 90’s the restaurant world had changed greatly and Shakey’s were closing throughout the U.S.  The last one I remembered seeing (and eating at) was in Bloomington, IL when I lived there in the early 90’s…. that was until a few weeks ago!!!


While I was doing some research about Shakey’s for my podcast, I noticed that their Wikipedia page indicated that there were still some Shakey’s open in America…. and that one of them was just a few hours away in Auburn, AL.  So I grabbed my wife and did what any red blooded pizza loving guy (without kids) would do.  I hopped in the car and took a road trip to Alabama.

And as you can tell from the pictures above, we had a great time; and best of all the pizza tasted just like I remember it did!  The modern Shakey’s did a  great job of displaying the brand’s history by using some of the old wall signs pictured above, and they also had display cases filled with mementos from years gone by.

I chatted with the store manager and he told me that this location had been open for a few years, and he didn’t know if there were plans to expand into more states.  Right now there are nearly 60 locations in the U.S., and roughly 50 of those are in California, so finding a Shakey’s near you could be rough.

I mentioned to him that I had eaten at Shakey’s many times throughout the years (and literally from coast to coast). When I mentioned that most of the American Shakey’s had disappeared for a decade or two, he was shocked. I guess some days it pays to be an old-timer!

I don’t know if we’ll get back Auburn anytime soon, but if you find yourself near one of their new locations make sure you stop in for lunch or dinner. You’ll be glad you did!

If you’re an old time Shakey’s Pizza lover like me, I’m sure you’ll love the picture we found from back in the day…