We went out to dinner once a year. Local restaurant called Bishops. They put a basket of bread on the table and you could put real butter on it and eat all you wanted!
How I felt?
How I felt?
Where middle class families may have eaten out at before TGIFs, Applebees, etc
- Thread starter GON
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I was a youngster in the 50's and 60's. My family didn't dine out very often except when we were on a rare road trip. Chain joints essentially didn't exist, so when we dined it was local family restaurants, luncheonettes and diners. These were nearly everywhere, now nearly all gone. Small town and country hotels also served better quality food at reasonable prices. If you had a party of at least 4 or 5, you could do a "family style" package price meal with platters and bowls of food. You self-served. Dozens of those places have closed or reinvented themselves in the past 25 years. They were done in partially by chain restaurants, where people waited long for seating and replicator food and also by a lack of available labor.
Not family dining, but in the early 60's my kid friends and I had a Mecca for any available quarters that we managed to come by. An independent ice cream and burger joint with a large, covered dance patio, juke box and pinball machines. A 50-cent piece got one a burger, a hotdog, fries and soda with a nickel or so left for pinball play. At night, the older teens and young adults held court. It was great entertainment to spy on that place and its parking lot at night.
Not family dining, but in the early 60's my kid friends and I had a Mecca for any available quarters that we managed to come by. An independent ice cream and burger joint with a large, covered dance patio, juke box and pinball machines. A 50-cent piece got one a burger, a hotdog, fries and soda with a nickel or so left for pinball play. At night, the older teens and young adults held court. It was great entertainment to spy on that place and its parking lot at night.
Wasn't Howard Johnson's the biggest American chain restaurant of the 50s and 60s?
There are very few franchise eateries in southern Vermont. the closest ones are 25 miles from my home.
The town I grew up in had a large Greek population and they were all from the same region in Greece and began immigrating many years before in the 1920's (don't ask me which region) This was before chain, "quick-serve" restaurants. Greek families ran all the restaurants worth eating in, they made fabulous pizza, Italian food, hotdog stands, burger joints, diners, coffee shops and the higher end restaurants. They even owned the BBQ stands, which should have been heresy but their product was good. My first date was in one of their Italian restaurants, it was like the scene in "Fast Times"
Your experience wasnt as unusual as it sounds today. Thats part of our problem now…everyone is poor and still wants takeout food delivered.
I was a waiter at the Steak and Ale in Cherry Hill, NJ during the 80s.
I didn't think of HoJo. The only ones I had experienced were at rest areas on the Pa. turnpike and similar highways. Not so available in residential areas. I suppose there were also all the dime store chains with day time lunch areas. Many long-gone burger chains as well. For going out to eat with the family it was nearly all independent establishments.
Northern VT checking in; same here, keep ‘em faaaaaaaar away from me! The chain stores and restaurants, that is.
Closest thing we have is a small family grocery store that carries some Hannaford store brand items. They’re in the distribution network but not a Hannaford “yet”.
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Looking back at the sit down Pizza Hut experience. That pan pizza served on the table in the same pan it was cooked in I think changes the taste from todays pizza hut that the pizza goes from the cooking pan to the box, The pizza needs time to finish cooking and get that texture on the bottom only a eat in Pizza Hut experience can replicate!
According to Wikipedia, it was the largest with over 1000 locations, and the locations I recall were all attached to motels. The last restaurant was located in Lake George NY and closed in 2022. The hotels still exist under the Howard Johnson's name but they are owned by Wyndham.
My understnding is that at the peak, maybe half the restaurants were attached to motor lodges. But the company itself started out as freestanding ice cream shops before expanding into restaurants and lodging.
We'd go to Kings in Council Bluffs, and Pizza Hut. Once in a while we'd all pile into the 69 Dodge Polaris wagon and take a ride to Stuckeys out in the middle of nowhere Iowa. We ate out less as I got older, but we'd got to nicer places like Cascio's Steakhouse in Omaha. This would be late 60s to early 70s. I occasionally travel to Omaha on business and it's still there.
Some of the deals that casual dining restaurants have now are pretty good. Chili's with 3 for Me and other places with assorted specials. And not just limited to happy hours. I was a little bit disappointed when I actually went to a local Applebee's hoping maybe to order the special while I watched a game and was told they didn't have it. It's a national special, but I later looked around and didn't see it available anywhere in my area. As much as I wouldn't recommend at steak at Applebee's, their burgers are actually quite good. I ended up ordering nachos, but I would have rather had a burger and fries with a drink. Especially when the fries and drink have free refills.
https://www.applebees.com/en/specials/meal-deal
I did have a really good burger for $10 (was $9 last year) recently at a place called Fogo de Chão. The price is only dine-in at the bar, so I'm not sure if this is something suitable for large parties or ordering for kids. I looked up their takeout prices, and it's $13 to go. But it's really good. Claimed to be made with picanha, along with crispy polenta fries and a chimichurri aoli. I took this photo myself, and hesitated taking my first bite because it looked so perfect. The white stuff on the board wasn't salt, but Parmesan.
https://www.applebees.com/en/specials/meal-deal
I did have a really good burger for $10 (was $9 last year) recently at a place called Fogo de Chão. The price is only dine-in at the bar, so I'm not sure if this is something suitable for large parties or ordering for kids. I looked up their takeout prices, and it's $13 to go. But it's really good. Claimed to be made with picanha, along with crispy polenta fries and a chimichurri aoli. I took this photo myself, and hesitated taking my first bite because it looked so perfect. The white stuff on the board wasn't salt, but Parmesan.
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I've lost interest in Applebees because the one here in town has such horrible service, but I've always liked their food, especially burgers. Chili's chicken crispers are excellent. I was in St Paul on business for 3 weeks and that was my treat at least once a week. I always hand bread my own chicken strips at home and the chicken crispers were the one thing that filled that craving. The only weird thing about Chilis is their buy one get one beer deals. Two 10 oz mugs. I'd rather just have a 20oz beer at a time instead of bringing me two 10oz beers, but apparently there's some legal implications in some states of giving deals on alcohol that they adopted this everywhere.
Owen Lucas
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You forgot your wallet on your first date?
I go to a local mom and pop when eating out. I doubt anyone has health insurance from the owner but you can probably say that about Chili's or Applebees as well and most of retail probably too. Most of the workers in these types of restaurants are in it for the tips IMHO. I wouldn't be surprised if the hours are structured in a way it's not possible to get health insurance at a local chain anyway.
Cafeterias.
I'm hoping for a Chi-Chi's Mexican comeback.
In the 1990s/early 2000s, when my wife & I were in CT, I remember my favorite entree - the Buffalo Chicken Fajitas. It was so good, with the crusted chicken sliced-up just right, drizzled with sour cream (iirc), on top of the sizzling peppers & onions.
In the 1990s/early 2000s, when my wife & I were in CT, I remember my favorite entree - the Buffalo Chicken Fajitas. It was so good, with the crusted chicken sliced-up just right, drizzled with sour cream (iirc), on top of the sizzling peppers & onions.
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