Fast-food restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King experienced a staggering increase in demand for their burgers and fries, while family-style joint establishments such as Bobs Big Boy and Dennys also saw high levels of popularity. When I read the line about Phyllis Richman in Washington DC it reminded me of when I worked as the Chef Tournant in the Westin Hotel in George Town in the mid-80s. A photo of Red's Giant Hamburg circa the late 1970s to early 1980s. The explanation for a rise in eating out in the bad economy of the 1970s is that working women were adding to the household income. It was unique thanks to its square hamburger patties and the introduction of a salad bar in 1979. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Charleston Garden, Mary Elizabeth Tea Room, and out here both the Bullocks Tearooms, Wilshire and Pasadena, tears coming right now. The fast-food chainwhich offered the "Big Barney" and "Barnbuster" burgers and a self-serve salad baroriginated in Ohio in the '60s. Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Caf - October 1, 1971 This one surprised me, as it just seemed newer to me. At the same time Chinese restaurants were prospering. Though not unknown in earlier decades, the restaurant-as-entertainment-venue came into full flourish with the proliferation of theme restaurants with unbearably cute names such as Orville Beans Flying Machine & Fixit Shop. P51d007/Wikimedia Commons Located along US Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, the burger joint operated for 47 years before it was closed in 1984. . Once languishing behind luxurious decor, impeccable service, and famous patrons, food took center stage in deluxe restaurants as they purged Beef Wellington from their repertoire and took up the call for culinary creativity and authenticity. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. At first the focus was on public buildings, but it soon expanded to include commercial sites such as restaurants. New York is the fattest volume. Well, at least now, you have the provenance! Jacques passed in 2016, in Reno, Nevada. Originally part of the Pillsbury Corp., the restaurant was founded in 1976. Wouldnt miss Denver and dinner with you for the world! Who in the 1970s could have foreseen how powerfully miniature food artfully arranged on a king-size plate could signify a $$$$ restaurant? Fraunces Tavern 1. Between courses: mysteryfood Ode to franchises ofyesteryear Chuck wagon-ing Taste of a decade: 1940srestaurants Just cause it looks bad doesnt mean itsgood The other Delmonicos Between courses: Beard at LuckyPierres Basic fare: spaghetti Famous in its day: TheMaramor Between courses: wheres mybutter? Flautas, burritos and enchiladas were go-to menu items at the Kalamazoo-area establishment. In 1948 the Colony in New York City served Crepes Colony with a seafood filling. Jack in the Box will soon be coming to Florida with 14 new locations in the Orlando area. Maybe 1972. Diners sometimes suspected that the parsley on their plate had been recycled from a previous customer. Never mind, because the story was about the Harvest Cream Soup he makes out of the pumpkins insides. Wendys settled out of court and agreed to remove or widen zigzag lanes at their counters. Along with the chains and a shortage of (cheap) kitchen help, came an upsurge in restaurants use of convenience foods and microwaves. That's what Bennigan's, an Irish-themed bar and grill, offered in the 1980s. A restaurant reviewer in 1986 dismissed crepes as forgotten food served only in conservative restaurant markets. Soon New York maitre ds became friendlier and even the citys rich began to complain about costs. . In Oklahoma City, the states capitol, only one of the 20 restaurants surveyed at that point could accommodate a wheelchair user. The Viorsts singled out five D.C. restaurants as great finds. They were: the Calvert Caf, an Arabic place worthy of shahs and empresses; Don Pedro, Mexican, with a marvelous mushroom appetizer called hongos; the Cuban El Caribe, featuring raw Peruvian-style fish cubes in lemon-onion sauce (95); Gaylord, an Indo Pakistani restaurant with delicious samosas; and Warababa, a West-African place run by a Ghanaian couple with exquisite dishes such as peanut butter soup and Joloff rice flavored with bits of beef and vegetables. Right? For quite a while I believed there could be no Mister Chicken. It predates the 1970s but seemed to come to fruition then. Fancy desserts are undoubtedly higher-profit items than many entrees, but I suspect that another major factor favoring the rise of ultra-chocolate desserts was the culture of consumer indulgence that increased restaurant patronage in the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond. The McDonald brothers opened their first restaurant, called McDonald's Bar-B-Q restaurant, in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Crepes enjoyed a mystique, offering a link to European culture and a break from the meat and potatoes that dominated most restaurant menus in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Im more interested in the Misters that are not named for actual humans. In the case of Shillitos department store in Cincinnati, a 1947 menu offered quite a few chocolate treats. Broken potato chips couldnt fill a void, he noted. Banana Cream Pie 20 Pineapple or Orange Sherbet 15 Although Mr. Steak in 1970 offered its most expensive meal Steak & Lobster with salad, toast and potatoes for $3.99, it didnt make the cut, though strangely enough a few other chain restaurants did win recommendations including a McDonalds in D.C. and a Burger King in New Orleans. On the whole salad bars went over well with the public and still do but by the late 1970s professional restaurant critics were finding it hard to hide their disdain. The first McDonald's restaurant was actually a barbecue joint that opened in 1940 by brothers Dick and Maurice (Mac) McDonald along Route 66 in San Bernardino, California. In the late 1970s, . The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. He owned a steakhouse and a pizza parlor in Manhattan circa 1970. Plain cheesecake could be found at most bakeries, with flavors ranging from raspberry or strawberry swirl to graham cracker crisp. Is he trying to compensate for being nothing but bread? He didnt have many competitors for fast-food tacos, and there were 325 Taco Bell restaurants by 1970. 1971 In Berkeley CA Alice Waters and friends found Chez Panisse, marking the movement of college and graduate students into the restaurant field, a career choice which is beginning to have cachet. Children of the '90s probably remember Chi-Chi's for its chimichangas and fried ice cream. Thanks for posting it! 1974 A Chicago food writer throws cold water on arguments about which restaurant has the best lasagne, asserting that the debaters might have found that same lasagne in restaurants all over the country courtesy of Invisible Chef, Armour, or Campbells. This era also brought newfound freedom of expression to U.S. restaurant life. In the 1970s the restaurant industry and the custom of eating in restaurants grew rapidly. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. In-N-Out Burgers first location was opened near Los Angeles in 1948, making it the first drive-thru hamburger stand in California. And increased travel abroad was widening the publics interest in unfamiliar foods and ways of cooking. In response, municipalities across the country enacted ordinances to protect consumers against false claims on menus, many of them centering on misuse of the words fresh and home-made.. 1978 A reviewer in Columbia MO complains, A brick floor and pillars, old photos, Tiffany lamps, stained-glass windows and trim on the tops of the booths as well as revolving single-bladed, old-fashioned fans [is] a familiar type of decoration these days and Im getting a little weary of the sameness of so many restaurants., 1979 As the year ends restaurant reviewer Phyllis Richman observes that more people are eating out than ever before, transforming once-lackluster Washington D.C. into what is known as a Restaurant Town., Read about other decades: 1800 to 1810; 1810 to 1820; 1820 to 1830; 1860 to 1870; 1890 to 1900; 1900 to 1910; 1920 to 1930; 1930 to 1940; 1940 to 1950; 1950 to 1960; 1960 to 1970; 1980 to 1990, Filed under alternative restaurants, chain restaurants, food, patrons, Tagged as 1970s, Alice Waters, convenience foods, fast food chains, funky decor, hippie restaurants, natural food restaurants, theme restaurants, truth in menu laws. Despite a common (and illogical) attitude held by numerous restaurant owners that there was no need to make their restaurants accessible since disabled people did not frequent them, there were a few owners who voluntarily removed barriers before the ADA passed. It had a separate grill for quick service. Tagged as 1960s, 1970s, Americans with Disabilities Act, barriers to wheelchairs, restaurant accessibility, The salad bar most likely developed from the Americanized version of the smorgasbord which, by the 1950s, had shed its Swedish overtones and turned into an all-you-can-eat buffet. In 1959, after learning the Top Hat name was already taken, the name was changed to Sonic. Magic Pans were closing all over, and by the time the 20-year old Magic Pan on Bostons Newbury Street folded in 1993, very few, if any, remained. Like Cherries Jubilee, Crepes Suzette usually only appeared on high-priced menus, such as the Hotel Astor [1908 quotation]. Among them were Bouilabaisse Marseillaise, Rack of Lamb Persillades, Ris de Veau Grenobloise, and Pears Cardinal. Dont want a footlong? Believe it or not, Taco Bell started as a hot dog stand! They offered light meals, desserts, and chocolate as a drink or as candy, and other desserts. But the Aware Inn in Los Angeles pointed more forcefully at dessert trends to come with its 1970s dangerous Chocolate Cream Supreme costing $2 and described as somewhere between chocolate mousse and fudge., Adjectives such as dangerous continued the sinful metaphor conveyed earlier by devils food. Soon special chocolate desserts were named for immoral inclinations (decadence) or perhaps fatal pleasures (death by chocolate, killer cake). Passage of the ADA was a big step forward, but it didnt work miracles. Ninos Mister Drumstick in Sandusky OH looks more athletic than Atlantas, but of course he has the advantage of legs. Chef Preuss was also featured on the show Great Chefs of New Orleans. During the pilot program, the scenic Sea Lion Restaurant in Malibu is caught selling the same fish under five different names with five different prices. A few restaurants went so far as to remove tops from ketchup bottles to discourage patrons from carting off their ketchup. These are the two essentials that provide the customer with excitement and satisfaction. [partial book cover shown above, 1969]. . . Hi Jan, Fascinating and fun, as usual. Between courses: mysteryfood Ode to franchises ofyesteryear Chuck wagon-ing Taste of a decade: 1940srestaurants Just cause it looks bad doesnt mean itsgood The other Delmonicos Between courses: Beard at LuckyPierres Basic fare: spaghetti Famous in its day: TheMaramor Between courses: wheres mybutter? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Creamy soups were very popular in the '70s, with cream of mushroom soup being a classic favorite. At least Im hoping that there is no real-life Mister Beef, Bun, Burger, Chicken, Drumstick, Fifteen, Hambone, Hamwich, Hofbrau, Pancake, Quick, Sandwich, Sirloin, Softee, Steak, Swiss, or Taco. This downtown Lebanese restaurant opened in the mid-1970s, at a time when dishes like baba ghanouj, hummus and falafel were unusual. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. How Do You Make Poppadoms in The Microwave? Vanilla Ice Cream with Nesselrode Sauce 25 Phyllis Richman came in and wrote a review on the hotels fine dining restaurant The Colonnade Restaurant when the hotel first opened. A mix of traditional American fare and foreign cuisines came together in the marketplace, giving diners more choices than ever before. In cheaper eating places, there was no fruit or nuts and dessert came closer to what we mean today, which is how I will use it for the rest of this post referring to sweet dishes that come toward the end of the meal and are rarely nuts and usually other than simple fruit. Burgeoning interest in nutrition made salad bars popular. I especially like the logos that attempt to humanize food, particularly unlikely items such as hambones. Although it was never as big as McDonald's or Burger King, Red Barn is estimated to have 400 restaurants in 22 states at its peak. Una's recipes are inspired by her travels across Mexico, Portugal, India, Thailand, Australia and China. By contrast, greater Boston had only one Burger King and one McDonalds in 1970. Mob restaurants As the restaurant world turned, July17 Dining in summer Dining by gaslight Anatomy of a restaurateur: CharlesSarris Womens restaurants Restaurant history day Charge it! Angela, thats wild! The new owner declared he would rid the chain of its old-lady image, i.e., attract more male customers. Hmmm about to go to a conference where I certainly cannot afford to dine out, ergo I will do so frequenting especially those places aimed at a decent-enough-meal experience that is affordable-enough-for-conference-attendees.! See how Subway became the worlds most popular chain. [Des Moines, 1974]. It paid off right away, when in 1989 Pizza Hut delivered pizzas to the White House for a pizza party hosted by First Lady Barbara Bush. As far as I know, last Lums were in Plattsburgh and Rutland in the 1990s sad shadows of the great Lums I frequented in Ithaca and Vestal in the 60swith their great atmosphere, reasonable prices, icy schooners of beer, and terrific shaved roast beef sandwiches. Eons ago in the 1970s restaurant-goers feasted on steak and hamburgers with a side of disco music. Really enjoy your Blog, keep up the good work!! That Dessert Cart!!! Shillitos Special Fudge Cake 20 The rise of fast food chains in the decade saw burgers and fries become increasingly popular as well. Sadly, Jerome Snyder died during the publication of the book. Mister Softee with his natty bow tie, born in New Jersey, was mainly peddled out of ice cream trucks, but there were also restaurants of the same name that served hamburgers, steaks, hot dogs, fish, etc., along with the creamy guy. A visitor to a National Restaurant Association convention that year reported that crepes were pass and restaurants were looking instead for new low-cost dishes using minimal amounts of meat or fish. Elsewhere, doggie bags soared in popularity and some customers began packing away anything edible on the table. He advised that Mounds are better than blobs, rolls better than slices, shingled layers better than piles, and that vegetables should be portioned in odd numbers. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Although few Americans had ever eaten Crepes Suzette, its likely that the fame of this prized dish helped pave the way for the creperie craze, with restaurants primarily featuring crepes. Dining underground on LongIsland My blogging anniversary Underground dining Odors and aromas Digging for dinner Restaurant as communitycenter The Mister chains Celebrity restaurants: HeresJohnnys Pizza by any othername Womens lunch clubs The long life of ElFenix Pausing to reflect Sugar on thetable Famous in its day: LePavillon Native American restaurants Restaurant ware An early French restaurantchain Biblical restaurants Thanksgiving dinner at ahotel Dinner and amovie Restaurant murals Dining at theCentennial Restaurant-ing in 1966 Romanian restaurants Nans Kitchens Fish & chips & alligatorsteaks Appetizer: words, concepts,contents French fried onionrings Hash house lingo The golden age ofsandwiches Black Tulsas restaurants They delivered Americas finest restaurant,revisited Tableside theater Bicycling to lunch anddinner Anatomy of a chef: JohnDingle Sunny side up? Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by two brothers, and within a year the chain already had six locations. Early vegetarian restaurants Famous in its day:Blancos Blue plate specials Basic fare: clubsandwiches Gossip feeds restaurants Image gallery: businesscards Restaurant row At the sign of the . Popular entres included stroganoff, Chinese spare ribs, Chicken Kiev and Veal Parmesan. At a time when America was seen as the world leader in modern ways of living including industrially efficient food production Europe was imagined as a romantically quaint Old World where traditional ways were preserved and many things were still handmade. Don't want a footlong? And still the restaurant industry experienced heavy, some said booming, business even though patrons were eating more hamburgers than steaks. The operator of a booth selling crepes at Illinois county fairs reported that hardly anyone bought them and that some fairgoers referred to them as creeps or craps. Greeks are truly the masters of food. Bean sprouts, zucchini, and more fish showed up on menus. Growth was especially strong in the Midwest which was targeted as a region susceptible to their appeal. Menus were expanded to include heartier meat and pasta dishes. Many customers are drawn to their hamburger buns, which are rumored to be sweeter and eggier than normal buns. In 1962 the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults (NSCCA, an organization that had added Adults to its name during WWII) joined with the Presidents Committee on Employment of the Handicapped (established in 1947) to launch a nationwide movement to change architectural standards and building codes so as to remove barriers affecting people with mobility limitations. The three given the highest ratings for excellent food were the Italian Caffe da Alfredo, and two Greek restaurants, Alexander the Great and Syntagma Square. Desserts of the 1970s nostalgia had a distinctly American flair. There you could get potato crisps (three flavours only - potato, plain or salted - until Golden . Digesting the MadonnaInn Halloween soup Restaurant-ing with JohnMargolies True confessions Basic fare: pancakes Black waiters in whiterestaurants Catering to airlines What were theythinking? They included the No Name restaurant on Fish Pier no name, no sign, no lights, no decor where a seafood chowder (50) served as the house special and was so incredibly rich and so brimming with hunks of fresh fish that a cupful could be a meal in itself. But the popular Jack and Marions in Brookline, known for its giant menu and huge portions, ranked merely as one of the areas better delicatessens.. Blanc Mange, Oranges, Almonds, Raisins, Strawberries, Ice Cream. Printing houses could barely keep up reprinting menus as prices went up, up, up. At the time of this story, 1976, Gunter Preuss and his wife Evelyn were owner-operators of the Versailles Restaurant in New Orleans. MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images/Getty Images. All this led at least one journalist to protest against the unsubtle marketing of chocolate desserts in the 1980s. In 2012,. Hot Fudge Sundae 25 However crazy and mixed up the foodscape, America had become the land of restaurants for every taste and pocketbook. Good eaters: AndyWarhol Birth of the themerestaurant Restaurant-ing with royalty Righting civil wrongs inrestaurants Theme restaurants: barns Men only Taste of a decade: restaurants,1900-1910 Celebrating restaurant cuisine Decor: glass ceilings Between courses: dont sniff thefood In the kitchen with Mme Early: black women inrestaurants Burger bloat On the menu for2010 Christmas feasting Todays specials: books onrestaurants With haute cuisine for all:Longchamps Restaurant-ing on Thanksgiving High-volume restaurants: Smith &McNells Anatomy of a restaurateur: DarioToffenetti Between courses: rate thismenu You want cheese withthat? The first Wendy's closed its doors in 2007, and the building has since been torn down. Others were wistful, such as the forbearing reviewer in Columbia, Missouri, who confessed, It would be a nice change to get something besides a tossed make-it-yourself salad, and to have it brought to the table. The trend at the Missouri college towns restaurants, however, was in the opposite direction. 4. See how Subway became the world's most popular chain. In the 1980s it became a fairly common practice for restaurant reviewers to note whether an eating place was accessible or, more likely, not. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Although it didn't hold up against Chili's, TGI Fridays, and Applebee's, there was a time when it was fairly ubiquitous throughout the states. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The Versailles received a glowing review in Richard Collins Underground Gourmet column in 1978 although it was definitely not a restaurant for the price-conscious diner. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Wilbur Hardee opened the first Hardees in 1960. But Churchs Chicken does, along with other popular sides. Why use so much of what nobody wanted? It does not store any personal data. The stagflation of the 1970s was still to come, with inflation accompanying a stagnating economy a situation similar to what some economists see looming today. McDonald's, the largest fast-food chain in the world, has been around for over 60 years. Boston put a U.S. District Attorney on the job to investigate prices at the citys popular restaurants, including The Puritan and The Pilgrim. Originally called Petes Super Submarines, the sandwich shop was renamed Subway in 1968. African-American tea rooms Romantic dinners Flaming swords Theme restaurants: castles Know thy customer Menue [sic] mistakes Waiter, telephone please! Conference-ing Top posts in2010 Variations on the wordrestaurant Famous in its day: BuschsGrove Between courses: a Thanksgivingtoast Basic fare: Frenchfries Linens and things partII Linens and things partI Menu art Dining in shadows Spotlight on NYCrestaurants Laddition: on tipping Taste of a decade: 1870srestaurants He-man menus That glass ofwater Famous in its day: TonyFausts Theme restaurants: prisons Laddition: French on the menu, dratit Anatomy of a restaurateur: RomanyMarie Between courses: onlyone? Good eaters: AndyWarhol Birth of the themerestaurant Restaurant-ing with royalty Righting civil wrongs inrestaurants Theme restaurants: barns Men only Taste of a decade: restaurants,1900-1910 Celebrating restaurant cuisine Decor: glass ceilings Between courses: dont sniff thefood In the kitchen with Mme Early: black women inrestaurants Burger bloat On the menu for2010 Christmas feasting Todays specials: books onrestaurants With haute cuisine for all:Longchamps Restaurant-ing on Thanksgiving High-volume restaurants: Smith &McNells Anatomy of a restaurateur: DarioToffenetti Between courses: rate thismenu You want cheese withthat? So far Ive found four Mister Drumsticks in Atlanta and a few in Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Many businesses across the country adopted Mister or Mr. as part of their names, and this seems to have been particularly true of restaurant chains. New York exemplified the problems faced by restaurants in troubled inner cities. It has shared the role of plate greenery with lettuce, especially after WWII when lettuce become readily available, and to a lesser extent with watercress. San Franciscos Magic Pan Creperie led the trend and, after being acquired by Quaker Oats in 1969, spread to cities across the country, with the chain eventually totaling about 112. Quaker sold the Magic Pans in 1982 after years of declining profits. Swingin at MaxwellsPlum Happy holidays, eatwell Department store restaurants: MarshallFields Anatomy of a restaurateur: DonDickerman Taste of a decade: 1860srestaurants The saga of Alicesrestaurants The brotherhood of the beefsteakdungeon Famous in its day:Maillards Lets do brunch ornot? Mamma Leones showed up in the book even though it met the price criterion only for its Buffet Italiano Luncheon where for $4.25 it spread out 25 feet of salami, mortadella, meatballs, celery, olives, green bean salad, and more. Although a version of it had made its appearance in commercial restaurants in the early 20th century with the growth of cafeterias, many restaurants served food buffet style into the 1950s and 1960s without using any kind of barrier. Mister Drumstick, born in Atlanta, offered the Worlds Best Fried Chicken. Its part of the cost of putting an item on the table. It was and is probably true that an ungarnished plate such as shown here looked unattractive to most Americans. In 1963 the NSCCA began sponsoring surveys of public and private buildings which included restaurants. This marked a new attitude acknowledging that handicapped people wanted to do more things and go more places but were blocked by the built environment. adding eye appeal to foods, author Bruce H. Axler noted, The dramatic four-color, full-spread photos of food appearing in magazines have set visual standards for the restaurateur. Perhaps he was thinking of Gourmet magazine in particular. Does anyone remember The Cosmos Restaurant near Ithaca College NY in 1971-1972? In the 1980s Faddenhappis and Katy Station ramped up competition by offering premium salad makings such as almonds and broccoli while Western Sizzlin Steaks pioneered a potato bar. career choice which is beginning to have cachet, Knights Inn and Arborgate Inn: the definitive history Hotels Past, Restaurant Design Trends Of The 1970s F&L Painting, https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2012/03/11/reubens-celebrities-and-sandwiches/, Restaurant Design Trends Of The 1970s - Fuhrmann Construction, Restaurant Design Trends Of The 1960s | Fuhrmann Construction. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Books recommending inexpensive restaurants did well. The well-known finger lickin good slogan came about by accident, though. Other iconic 60s eateries included Howard Johnsons which served family favourites like fried clams and 99 flavors of ice cream alongside its 28 varieties of breakfast cereal; Taco Bell which became noted for its Mexican-inspired dishes; Roy Rogers which was then known for its roast beef sandwiches; KFC (originally Kentucky Fried Chicken) which sold its famous fried chicken in buckets; Boston Market aka Boston Chicken that sold roast chicken accompanied with side dishes like mashed potatoes and macaroni cheese; Red Lobster serving fresh seafood dishes that satisfied many hungry stomachs up and down the US coastlines; plus Bennigans Bar & Grill that was known for its burgers steaks salads liquor wine beer cocktails desserts martinis and other American favorites that still exist today!