Forgive me, this week, if my memory is a bit off base when it comes to another old-school flashback to a restaurant, or rather a portion of a restaurant, which is no longer in service locally or across the nation.

 

What I am not certain of is whether or not it was in Bridgeport. I am certain it was in Clarksburg, and fairly certain about the Bridgeport branch, but not 100 percent. Regardless, this week I will be talking about a restaurant essentially inside a restaurant that had a run all too brief.

 

It was back in the late 1980s. It was at the time yours truly was in college, working minimum wage, and living alone. Good buys on the food front where portions were plentiful, and prices were low were a prerequisite for nearly every meal.

 

By this time, my friends and I were already regulars at the all-you-can-eat sections at Ponderosa and Bonanza. We had already become planted at the old Ming Garden and Peking Chinese buffets. And the lunch buffet at Pizza Hut in Bridgeport (which is back by the way), was also part of the rotation.

 

Out of nowhere in those early years of college that were equal parts fun and misery came a food surprise. And it came to your neighborhood Wendy’s.

 

Does anyone else remember SuperBar?

 

If the commercial posted below from YouTube is correct, it came out in 1988. The end date, well, I am not so sure about. I can tell you this, my friends and I had absolutely nothing to do with it being a failed concept at the burger chain still thriving decades later.

 

In 1988, I was already a regular at Wendy’s. The local Kroger’s across the way on West Pike Street in Clarksburg used to have “buy one, get one free” coupons taped to bags of chips for the Wendy’s Big Classic sandwich (anyone remember that?). Some of the coupons would go on the floor and others, well, would just pull off.

 

It was just part of the effort to allow for a whole lot of food at as low a cost as possible. The double Big Classic purchase met the requirements.

 

Perhaps I was in Wendy’s one day in Clarksburg (and I am still almost certain I made the stop in Bridgeport for it as well), getting a pair of Big Classics when I was offered the “Super Bar.” The cost? It came out of the gates at $2.99 for lunch, which is when I generally ate due to lower prices ($3.49 for dinner) and eventually hovered around the $4 mark until its demise.

 

While not close in scale, or even quality, of offerings at Ponderosa, Bonanza or the various Chinese buffets, the price was dollars less in some cases. And, you essentially had three sections.

 

There was an Italian section, a Mexican section, and a salad bar. The salad bar was called “The Garden Spot,” and I believe it was in place prior to the addition of the Mexican and Italian portions that made it a “SuperBar.” I believe that because I would often get a large order of French fries and proceed there to get a huge side of ranch or blue cheese for my fries long before the SuperBar arrived.

 

I digress.

 

As far as quality, the salad bar was actually fairly good if you were looking for a simple salad. It had the staples you needed for a quality salad and although the dressings were not homemade, they were more than adequate with the $2.99 price tag attached.

 

Probably the best portion of the SuperBar was the Mexican fare. There were refried beans covered in cheese, soft and hard taco shells, soft tortilla shells, along with every topping you could think of – including various cheeses.

 

The best part to me is that I soon realized the ground beef being used on the Mexican bar was actually ground up Wendy’s hamburger. From my first time eating at a Wendy’s burger in Lewis County decades ago until today, I have always been a fan of their hamburgers so having it as a staple to put on the Mexican food was a huge bonus.

 

As for the pasta, it met the same fate that most pastas have in an all-you-can-eat genre. It just was not all that good. Don’t get me wrong, it was not bad. It just was not close to a standard for pasta in an area where homemade pastas were – and still are – on par with anything nationwide. They had rotini, rotini with vegetables, or fettuccine that could be topped with marinara, meat sauce, or alfredo.

 

Again, the redeeming feature was that if you like meat sauce over your pasta, it was loaded – and loaded with ground up Wendy’s hamburger meat. The white sauce, in fairness, was not too bad and was usually the choice I went with if eating any pasta.

 

There was also garlic bread. Nothing fancy, just hamburger buns cut up and grilled. High end? Nope. Did it get the job done? Certainly.

 

Here is the one thing I found while writing this. Apparently, in the early 1990s, the SuperBar had pizza. If so, I do not recall it, or it was so bad my mind erased it from my memory.

 

Typically, my personal consumption was about 80 percent Mexican, 10 percent salad, and 10 percent Italian. Of the 80 percent Mexican, it almost always consisted of a massive plate of nachos smothered in cheese (shredded cheese that would melt from the salad bar), meat, sour cream, and jalapeno peppers. At times, I would turn it into a taco salad with the addition of lettuce and some salsa.

 

There was also at least one large stuffed homemade burrito included as well. Generally, I washed it down with the few desserts available, which were primarily chocolate or vanilla pudding. Although they had plenty of fresh fruit available, I always opted for the unhealthiest thing available.

 

I ate at the SuperBar for years. How long is that? According to Google, it ended in 1998 – so, roughly a decade.

 

Do you know what? I miss it. I miss the price. I miss the quick fix to any hunger with items covered in Wendy’s hamburger meat.

 

While it may not have been high end dining, the SuperBar was one thing for yours truly. It was as its name – super.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows a look at the SuperBar followed, in order, by some Mexican offerings, a salad, pasta, and dessert. Food photos are screen shots from the video commercial below, which is from the 1990s and nearing the end of the SuperBar.