Sambo's

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The first (and only remaining) Sambo's Restaurant in Santa Barbara, California (August 2005)

Sambo's is the name of a former American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo. Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy and tigers.

By 1979, Sambo's had 1,200 outlets in 47 U.S. states, but two years later the company went bankrupt. Shortly before going out of business, some locations changed their name to "No Place Like Sam's," apparently in response to complaints about the name "Sambo's" from African-American organizations^{[citation needed]}. Neither the name change nor bankrupty protection reversed the downward trend, and in 1982 all but the original Sambo's in Santa Barbara, California closed their doors. [1]

In its last days of existence Sambo's was sued by Dr Pepper for allegedly plagiarizing the latter's popular television commercial in a spot Sambo's ran to promote its newly-established senior citizen discount program. Sambo's was also sued by non-white employees and applicants who were alleging discrimination in hiring and advancement decisions^{[citation needed]}.

Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining Sambo's in its original location in Santa Barbara. He expresses a desire to revive the chain.

There is a "Lil' Sambo's" restaurant in Lincoln City, Oregon, but it was never part of the Sambo's chain.^[1]

Battistone is also known as the original owner of the New Orleans Jazz in the NBA.[2] He later moved the team to Utah and sold the team.