The original Pioneer Chicken location in Echo Park closed recently after four or five decades in business, according to the Eastsider LA blog (via LA Observed). The fried chicken stand took its name from the Pioneer Market that originally stood next door.

There are said to be a few lingering Pioneer Chicken restaurants, including one in Silver Lake, but most were sold off to Popeyes in the 1980s after the chain slipped into bankruptcy, Eastsider says.

The above-pictured Popeyes on the corner of East Holt and San Antonio avenues in Pomona is a former Pioneer Chicken. Dig the floor to ceiling glass — very mod. (Photo shot from my car window Thursday after lunch at a better chicken stand, Donahoo’s.)

These images may bring back memories: a photo of a Pioneer stand and the chuckwagon logo.

Anyone want to share memories of Pioneer?