Question of the Day | 09/06/2009 5:00 am

Trader Vic's, Horn & Hardart, Schrafft's … What now-extinct food establishment still tugs at your memory?

Originally published July 2009

Joan Ganz Cooney | 07/29/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Ganz Cooney Bids Adieu to Stork Club and Other Fun Restaurants

I miss going to Toots Shor’s with people the owner considered important because the restaurant was fun and he was a character, and also the Stork Club. Billingsley liked young people and celebrities and I was in the former category.

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Candice Bergen | 07/29/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen Relives the Flavors of Wil Wright's Ice Cream Parlor

A much-missed food establishment would be appreciated only by Marlo as an old Beverly Hills girl: Wil Wright’s Ice Cream Parlor, which was perfect. There were two in Beverly Hills but one south of Wilshire, which was my fave, and it had dark red walls, little cartoons of angels with wings and halos in tiny white lights on the walls. Gilt wire ice cream chairs. And white marble tables. They had an espresso ice cream that was coffee with coffee grounds in it, and they served all orders with mini-macaroons in crisp, translucent envelopes. It became the template for a spot of nostalgic comfort and ice cream.

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Marlo Thomas | 07/29/2009 11:00 pm

Marlo Thomas Can Still Smell Trader Vic's

Ohhh, Trader Vic’s. I can still smell it. It was the best — rum drinks with gardenias, yummy spareribs, great atmosphere. I didn’t realize how much I miss it.

7 Comments

Judith Martin | 07/29/2009 11:00 pm

Judith Martin Reflects on Her Experiences at Drugstores With Soda Fountains

Drugstores with soda fountains. Because my father specialized in what were then called Underdeveloped Countries (up from Backward Countries, but not yet up to Emerging Nations), we were always having to be immunized against hideous diseases. He believed in one-stop shots, so my brother and I would be hauled down to get four shots at once — in each arm and each leg. But it was worth it, because afterward he took us across the street to the drugstore and bought us ice cream sodas.

2 Comments

Jane Wagner | 07/29/2009 11:00 pm

Jane Wagner Misses the People Just as Much as the Places Themselves

You just mentioned the very ones I would have thought of. Here in Los Angeles, there was also the drive-in Tiny Naylor’s, which I really miss, too. Now I’m thinking of all of them: the old Tick Tock in Hollywood, The Thistle Inn in Glendale. And, as much as the places themselves, the people you’d see there.

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Wiley’s Ice Cream Parlor in Washington, D.C. He had old Victorian ice cream molds and could do buildings. The Empire State Building. The Lincoln Memorial. And pastel colored whipped cream. This restaurant near the theatres in D.C., and I can’t remember it’s name, but it had tiny white and black tiles on the floor, was near the FBI and they ate there, were famous for their beef dip sandwiches. It reeked of the 1920’s. The Blue Mirror Grill. I saw Eva Gabor there once. She was gorgeous. Any of the old drug stores where you sat at the counter and had fountain Cokes with lots of fizz. In Washington, we had an equivalent of Toots Shors in Duke Zeiberts, and he liked young people in his place as well and always fussed over us. Just any of those old fashioned places still lingering around with wooden booths and stools, waitresses that had been there forever, and really homey hot chocolately appeal. The Velatis Candy shop. Reeves. Maison des Crepes. Pied au Cochon.

By Washington Cube on 07/30/2009 2:49 am

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Speaking of DC, I liked Gary’s—gimlets, power lunch. I miss power lunch. It never contained ramen. I also remember those clam sandwiches at HoJo’s.

By Star Lawrence on 07/30/2009 10:30 am

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And don’t forget Nathan’s which which closed.

By Baby Snooks on 07/30/2009 10:16 pm

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I wasn’t a regular there, but I knew people who were. I do miss a lot of DC bars—I loved having a bar to go to if I felt like it. Tassos was our mainstay in the 1960s and 70s. Then we went to the Admiral Benbow for awhile. Then Timberlake’s and Childe Harold. Then I moved several times, ended up on Conn Ave and went to Poor Roberts (part of the Roma) for yrs. Ah, good times.

By Star Lawrence on 07/31/2009 8:53 am

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I was in the Roma on it’s last night. A friend of mine was making a documentary about it. At the end, and I’m not sure this was in the final film, another friend ran home a block away to get sheet music, and they all stood around the pinao in the corner singing "Volare," and "That’s Amore." I saw the Ramones premiere at Childe Harold, as well as Bruce Springsteen. Hard to believe, I know. It gets harder and harder to find neighborhood spots. Perry’s on U Street is one…a true neighborhood bar. Most people I know are going to these newer trendier cocktail bars where a drink is $25.

By Washington Cube on 07/31/2009 3:01 pm

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Whoa—$25 for a drink? I left DC 13 yrs ago and miss it like FIRE!!! I know, tho, that my DC is not frozenin amber, not there waiting for me. Was Bobby at the Roma the last night? He was a weird guy. I spent many hrs at the Childe…not upstairs, tho… We had what we called the Dupont Circle Mafia in the 1980s—a bunch of us, Rick Hart, the artist (now gone on), his wife, several architects, Ray Brown (cameraman with his own business, now lives in the Bahamas)—we all sat together… I miss those days.

By Star Lawrence on 07/31/2009 4:53 pm

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I remember all of those. Reeves was for little sandwiches and tiny chocolates with my great grandmother and/or great aunts. Wiley’s was unbelievable: I was mesmerized once by seeing a table full of guests served what must have been fifty or more scoops of every flavor in a humongous galvanized washtub. I swear! It was on the menu!

By MaryPage Drake on 07/31/2009 9:02 am

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Mary: Reeves is still there. It doesn’t have quite the same aura, but very close. As for Wiley’s Ice Cream, I remember that tub of 50 or more scoops. Large groups of people would go there, just to order those big displays like the tub, or the Lincoln Memorial, which I think fed 25. I was sorry when it closed, but it seems to me that once Mr. Wiley died, his children had no interest in carrying on; as is so often the case. If it still existed, it would be the most perfect thing of it’s era with all of those pastel pink fixtures and swirling line drawings. I’ve never read of anyone in this day and age, who tints their whipped green pastel pink, yellow or green. For a child, it was magical.

By Washington Cube on 07/31/2009 3:10 pm

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I miss a lot of the old mom and pop places that we used to stop at growing up. They were largely displaced by McDonald’s and Burger Kings or chain restaurants like Bennigan’s (I believe that chain just closed) or steak house chains.

There was and still is something satisfying about owner owned restaurants where locals often gather. The stmosphere is more relaxed and nobody is trying to hurry your meal moving you out so your table can be reused immediately.

By Chris Glass` on 07/30/2009 4:35 am

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I liked Horn & Hardart. It was like a huge cafeteria. They had these large encased cupboards with tiny doors displaying rows and rows of sandwiches, drinks, fruit and deserts. You selected your food and removed your food. They also served hot meals. They were delicious.

There were always people seated around having a meal, reading and engaging in conversations. When I got older I would come sometimes to have a cup of coffee and relax.This was a big deal. This homey and warm environment was replaced by greasy, unhealthy loud and dirty fast food chains.

I also miss the mom and pop grocery stores and other shops from my childhood. We knew all the names of the various merchants. If we were short on cash, it wasn’t a problem. We got our groceries or individual items and paid on payday. You never shopped and left the store. This was an opportunity to talk with neighbors for what seemed like hours.

I was with my brother several years ago and he took me to a mom and pop store. I was transported back to my childhood. It was a lovely experience.

By L. C. on 07/30/2009 5:22 am

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Rabaska’s at the corner of Old Malone Hwy and the 207. Every now and then I crave their pizza, nobody can duplicate it or even come close. They closed after a fire and never reopened about eight years ago. It was the cornerstone of my hometown. My uncle ate breakfast everyday ordering porridge, toast and coffee and overhearing the daily news and gossip much to his enjoyment and to all the other patrons. It was once said people who dined in where only there for gossip. I rarely dined in usually ordered take out or delivery, avoiding the round-table discussions, lol, or the curious glances. Or worse, being drawn into conversation with some of the most inquisitive people in my hometown. Some things are best left unsaid, lol. Even now I would brave the traffic to order a pizza if they were open.

By Laurie Deer on 07/30/2009 6:57 am

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Sanders ice cream shops in the Detroit area. I used to get bittersweet chocolate ice cream sundaes. Also in the same area, Daly’s drive in’s. The place to be as a teen. If you were lucky, you got a spot to park at the drive in, ordered from the waitress who came to your car and then the food was perched on a little tray on your window. You blinked your lights when you were done and wanted the tray removed. All the other kids who didn’t get the coveted spots drove through in a continuing loop, seeing who was there. Burgers, fries, milk shakes and all the people watching you could want.

By Barbara on 07/30/2009 7:38 am

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Have been to any of the Sanders parlors open now? I know they’re trying to re-open more but I don’t know if they’re trying to recapture the atmosphere. http://sanderscandy.com/

Hot fudge or a banana split for me, a turtle for my brother, and a cream puff for my mom.

By Karen R on 07/30/2009 8:55 am

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No I haven’t been to one of the reopened Sanders parlors, although I, too, have heard about them. It would be great to be able to recapture that soda fountain ambience.

By Barbara on 07/30/2009 3:08 pm

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I do not believe this! Sanders was on the tips of my fingers when I saw your’ posts! What a place! Hello Detroiters, I have the recipe for the Hot Fudge sauce - if you want it, I’ll post it. Had it since 1962! ;0))

How’s the weather, now? I’m already hallucinating, at this time of year, in anticipation of the ripening apple orchards, and dreams of trips to the cider mills. WAAA WAAAA

By C jay on 09/10/2009 10:45 pm