Knowlwood is chain of hamburger joints that started in Orange County. I remember visiting the one in Santa Ana, on 17th Street, near Tustin Ave. They had the slogan, "World's Best Hamburgers". Everyone seems to want to put an "s" at the end of the name, but it's actually singular.
As far as the burgers went, they were pretty good. They seemed to have too much bun. Not the best I've had, but better than average.
Knowlwood started in 1957, by Roy and Fay Knowlton and a partner, Gene Wood. It was named, "Knowl-Wood". Their first location was in present day Anaheim Hills, in what was then known as Orangewood Ranch, along Imperial Highway. In 1998 the Knowlwood chain was purchased by Thanh D. Nguyen, who still owns it today.
They have five locations today, the original in Anaheim Hills, Laguna Niguel, Santa Ana, Irvine, and Fullerton.
We've received some memories (or brief mentions) from others about Knowlwood, and decided to create this blog post to give them a central place to organize them all. Feel free to post your comments about Knowlwood. Maybe some of you can share some history of the company...
Remember the old Santa Ana Canyon Road before the freeway? Remember the old Cafe on the right side as you headed out towards Corona, and the original Knowlwoods Hamburger stand, and that shed with the rocket sticking out of the roof?
- Butch Page, Apr 17, 2002
Wow I just enjoy reading all these memories. I grew up in Anaheim and have so many vivid memories. I went to Palm Lane elementary and Ball Jr High. My family and I moved to Chino in 1979 so I missed getting to go to Loara High. One place I was wondering what happened to was a hamburger joint I think was in Placentia called Knowlwoods? I remember it seemed to be surrounded by fields, in fact I remember getting a halloween pumpkin right next to there. My parents used to call that hamburger place the fly farm because it seemed like there were millions of flies around.
- Mike, Sep 25, 2007
Gosh, reading all these posts bring back so many memories for me living in So cal. I grew up in Anaheim and went to Clara Barton elementary, Trident jr high and Loara high. I remember Knollwoods, there was one in Anaheim. Anyone remember these places: Bob's Big Boy, Heinz restaurant (they had the best chili dogs), Roy Rogers restaurant, Alpha Beta, or the A & W drive in! I remember my mom taking me to the TG & Y for halloween costumes! I dont live down south anymore but I sure think about these places and growing up down there, a lot.
- Anonymous, Oct 2, 2007
Not only do I remember Knowlwoods, aka Worlds Best Hamburgers, I worked there. So much fun! Went to Valencia H.S. and graduated from Esperanza. First graduating class. Growing up there was the best!
- Anonymous, Nov 12, 2007
I'm a blogger and internet marketer, motorcycle rider, and craft beer lover.
12 comments:
There used to be one in Orange on Tustin Ave back in the 70's/early 80's....this location eventually moved to the present location on 17th street at Tustin Ave........
There is an old urban legend out there that President Nixon and Bebe Rebozo used to sneak away from Secret Service and go get a burger at the one in Anaheim Hills, has anyone else ever heard that story?
I have often wondered how true it is.
I have lived in the Santa Ana Canyon since 68. I do remember the truck stop cafe. The 91 freeway was not built yet it was still a very wide flowing river, used to go white water rafting. Allorange and avacado groves with roaming cattle. The north side of the Santa Ana Canyon was all chicken ranches. We even found some barns that were being used as illegal gambling houses. Hell they had just finished digging the Anaheim Hills resevoir in 68. Could look out my parents house and see a beautiful buck deer with his mate. Then in the early 70's we started waking up to the sound of chain saws cutting down all the trees to make room for the tens of thousands of people that would come over the next 4 decades.
The area was not yet called Anaheim Hills just known as the Canyon.
The first commercial business was the Bank of America at the corner of Imperial and Canyon road which was a little trailer with two people working inside.
PKS
I remember the original Knowlwood when it first opened. From 1951-1958, I lived on my family's ranch in the Canyon, right next door to the Canyon Cafe. I thought their burgers were great back then. The Santa Ana Canyon Highway (Rte. 18) was the main drag. The 91 freeway was still far into the future.
Vince
I used to work at Knowlwood from 74 through 82. That was the best place to work and have fun. Fay, Roy, Phil and Al were great bosses and the crew that we had was non-stop fun. It would be great to have a re-union of all the ex-employees.
Knowlwood resturants...my refuge!
For both my brother and I, the Knowlwoods were safe havens for years. For him, it was the original one, for me, it was the one on 17th St in Santa Ana. I did get a chance to go to one or two of the others, but it was the interior decor of the 17th Street one that I really loved, with its motif of the quieter days of OC. I had a fave booth, back around to the left side of the 'shack' that was the order counter, and would retreat there when life got too tense for me. An hour or two there, with the old music, a book, a basket of fries and a large coke, and I was ready to face life again for another week or so.
Has anyone ever seen photos taken of the inside of that resturant? I would so love to be able to show my kids this place, that I've told them about so often.
There was one in Trabuco Plaza in Mission Viejo (off Marguerite/Santa Margarita) when I went to high school at Trabuco Hills High School (94-98). I'm not sure when it closed.
My friends and I usually didn't have too much money, so we would just go there and play pool with whoever already had the table. Sometimes we'd have enough to get an order of Irish Nachos (yum!!!)
We had a friend named Glen who worked there. Never was very crowded.
Oh How I Loved That Restaurant, Back in the early 70's my Ex Husband Bob used to work there. I used to walk there, with my Brand new Twins. I lived in Anaheim most of my life. from the 50's -the late 70's. How I miss Roy & Fay knowlton. Such nice People. Is Philip still Around? Knowlton Worlds Famous Restaurant off La Palma. Linda Piper (Cox)12-3-08
The "Worlds Best Hamburger"! I can almost smell and taste them from the original store. I seem to remember that one of the owners was Roy, but I could be wrong. I remember when they first decided to open for breakfast! They had the best bacon in the world too! All the folks from Autonetics used to crowed the place back in the early 60's. I remember that big dirt parking lot always being full. It just wasn't the same when I stopped by last year. I couldn't orient myself to the way I remembered it in the 60's. I actually drove past it twice before I saw it back behind a new shopping mall.
Actually, the restaurant was sold in 1989...not 1998 as per the article.
Ah yes. The Knollwood hamburger stand. I can remember that place along the Santa Ana Canyon Road. It seemed to be a wooden shack in the middle of a big field. Had a dirt parking lot and outside there were picnic tables here and there. The hamburgers were great. Could not get enough.
These days (it's now Sept. 8, 2010) there are four Knolwood restaurants that I know of anyway; Fullerton at Harbor and Commonwealth, Santa Ana on 17th Street, Irvine at Sand Canyon and the I-5 freeway and finally the original out there in Santa Ana Canyon. We still frequent all four.
i usta go to the original one when it was the only thing in the huge dirt parking lot. i was a kid of maybe 5-6 years old. it was our familys weekend eats. it was a one level place with a couter window for ordering with only large wooden picnic tables. the place was completly open with only screens on the windows. in the summer it was very, very hot with an enormous ammount of flys. we usta call it "the fly farm". in the winter it was bitter cold, but, at least there were no flys. if you ate there in the winter, you had to bundle up, for sure. such a cool spot. such great memories.
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