Don DeFore's Barbeque Restaurant

Back in the early days of Disneyland, actor Don DeFore operated a chicken restaurant with his brother Vern for five years. It was called The Silver Banjo Barbecue and was located in Frontierland right next to Aunt Jemima's Pancake House. After enjoying a rollickin' good time watching the Golden Horseshow Revue, Disneyland guests could mosey to the Silver Banjo to have the DeFore brothers serve up a heaping of their famous barbeque chicken dinners for $1.70 a plate. 

Don and his brother Vern DeFore pictured outside the restaurant in July 1959

During the 1950s, Disneyland offered five-year leases to a number of restaurants. Frito-Lay, who had previously occupied the space with Casa de Fritos, had requested a better location closer to the front of Frontierland, so Don DeFore - who had met Disney through their mutual participation on the Board of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - was asked if he wanted to open up a restaurant within the park. 

The Silver Banjo Barbecue opened its doors in the summer of 1957 and remained until its contract expired in March 1962. Barbeque chicken dinners were the specialty of the house and they included baked beans, french fries, cole slaw, and rolls and butter. Other options offered were spare ribs and Fish and Chips for $1.50.  

Aunt Jemima's Pancake House wanted to expand so the lease for The Silver Banjo Barbeque was not renewed in 1962. Instead, Vern took over as a manager of several other ventures within Disneyland while Don DeFore returned to acting starring as George "Mr. B" Baxter in the television series Hazel. 

This post is a part of our latest series entitled "Did You Know?".....sometimes we just feel like sharing interesting fragments of television and movie history and now we have a place to do just that. If you have a hot tip that you would like us to share on Silver Scenes, drop us a line!