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Sambo'sSambo's is the name of a former American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone (who later became the owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association) 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 then sought to capitalize on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy and tigers; once critics began voicing objections, the use of the boy's image was eliminated but the tigers remained. By 1979, Sambo's had 1,200 outlets in 47 U.S. states, but two years later the company went bankrupt, having changed the name of some of the outlets shortly before going out of business to "No Place Like Sam's," apparently in response to complaints about the name "Sambo's" from African-American organizations. Today, only the chain's flagship restaurant in Santa Barbara, California still exists. 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 — and even more interestingly, was also sued by non-white employees and applicants who were alleging discrimination in hiring and advancement decisions. Battistone's grandson, Chad Stevens, expressed a desire to revive the chain at various times in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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