# Do you still have an old fashioned Drugstore with Lunch Counter in your Town? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479 "2010-12-09T00:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/21 "2010-12-09T15:22:33Z")
San Antonio has a “Bharmacy” as well, it’s no longer a pharmacy but they kept the old lunch counter look and feel. ---
**Author:** ![brix11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@brix11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brix11)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/22 "2010-12-09T18:51:05Z")
I am fortunate enough to live a few towns away from a pharmacy lunch counter in central Pennsylvania. [Hinkle’s Pharmacy](http://www.hinklespharmacy.com/restaurant.htm) in Columbia has been serving food for over a hundred years. I’ve eaten here a few times and would more often if my wife shared my love of greasy diner food. The pharmacy itself is great too…reminds me of an old five and dime. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/23 "2010-12-09T21:54:55Z")
I didn’t realize how few drug stores and 5 & Dime were left with lunch counters. That’s pretty amazing when you consider in the 1960’s and even in the early 70’s they were still everywhere. We had 5 drug stores with lunch counters in my small hometown of 35,000. They were packed every morning for breakfast and lunch from 11:15 through 1:30. We also had the mom & pop hamburger stands. The franchise places like McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendys opened around 1972. By the 1980’s they had pretty much destroyed all the mom & pop places and the lunch counters. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/24 "2010-12-09T22:48:12Z")
The town I live in now, I don’t think so. If we consider the city I live just outside of (Nashville), then probably but I don’t know for sure. I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, though, and there was a lunch counter/general store right downtown. I was just a kid and never ate there, although I picked up lunch there for my mom once. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/25 "2010-12-09T23:20:54Z")
I live in Atlanta. No lunch counters near me these days. **Little 5 Points Pharmacy** had a lunch counter until fairly recently, but then they remodeled and did away with it. It was sort of mediocre anyway. Before that, **Fleeman’s Pharmacy** on North Highland Avenue had a great lunch counter. I used to eat there all the time (and I would occasionally run into Braves general manager John Schuerholtz grabbing a sandwich there). But that place closed in 1995 when its owner [Jack Fleeman](http://www.ajc.com/news/jack-fleeman-86-owner-117848.html) reached retirement age. The space is now occupied by [Belly General Store](http://www.bellystore.com/BELLYSTORE/history.htm). I really miss Fleeman’s. Great sandwiches, wonderful malts, and friendly service. It was a treasure. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/26 "2010-12-09T23:43:12Z")
There’s a really old K-Mart here that has, waaay in the back, some kind of eating area. It used to be a lunch counter in the 60’s, but I would wager it sells popcorn, soda, and pre-made snacks now, like at Target. It’s the only K-Mart left that still has a place to sit and eat. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/27 "2010-12-10T02:23:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Haven’t seen one like that for decades. Back in the 60s, my father bought the drug store next door to his (the store had been out of business of years) and they still had their lunch counter and equipment. He had it for several years until it was remodeled. > > But that was the most recent one I can remember. A Woolworth’s near where I live had a lunch counter until it was closed about 20 years ago. Woolworth’s was the last one I remember and that was 40 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/28 "2010-12-10T02:40:27Z")
I loved eating at Huerbinger’s. They had a couple of booths, but there was nothing like sitting at the counter and swiveling on the stool until my mother had to tell me to stop. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/29 "2010-12-11T02:39:22Z")
Moreland & Devitt’s in Rushville, IL. Dr. Dohner used to give coupons for a free ice cream cone from the lunch counter to children when you got a shot. I’m 29 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/30 "2010-12-11T03:08:35Z")
It’s an old drug store with some basic retail space like a dime store used to have. At one time it had the largest granite counter in the USA or maybe only Wisconsin. I don’t remember the trivia like I used to. With the trend to use granite in counters everywhere I would be surprised if other places don’t have larger ones by now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/31 "2010-12-14T02:31:34Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > There’s a really old K-Mart here that has, waaay in the back, some kind of eating area. It used to be a lunch counter in the 60’s, but I would wager it sells popcorn, soda, and pre-made snacks now, like at Target. It’s the only K-Mart left that still has a place to sit and eat. On the off-chance that you were being literal with that last sentence, the local K-Mart hereabouts technically has a pharmacy as sure as there’s a place to sit and eat right over by the soda fountains if you feel like ordering a bite to eat – and from the location you list, we’re not even in the same state. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/32 "2010-12-14T04:00:48Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I believe that the last time I saw such a thing was in the 70s. I’m pretty sure that this was the last time I saw a diner/restaurant in a department store, too. All the stores were closing the standalone stores and huddling together in malls, for protection. > > A Subway or McDonald’s franchise inside a Target or WalMart isn’t the same thing. It’s a similar concept, the store is doing it partly to make sure customers can eat inside the store (or feed their spawn) and then shop some more. But the diner isn’t really part of the store, it’s just located inside the store. Lynn, you’re forgetting the [Highland Park Pharmacy](http://www.yelp.com/biz/highland-park-pharmacy-dallas) on Knox, just a couple blocks west of Central. They’ve been around since John Neely Bryan built the log cabin, and their lunch counter serves some awesome stuff. I’ll be happy to meet you there for lunch sometime if you want – just say the word! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/33 "2010-12-14T04:27:52Z")
I’ve only seen such things in pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/34 "2010-12-14T14:52:05Z")
When I went to the University of Illinois (1977-83), they had one of these right in the heart of campustown, at the southwest corner of Green and Wright Streets. They served a mean phosphate. Despite the great location not a lot of people knew about it, much less cared. But one of my friends had grown up in Arkansas and it reminded him of home, so we would meet and eat there and say things like, “Did you find a boss babe to take to the sock hop?” Oh yeah, we were funny. It closed down some time in the mid-1980’s. Campustown has never been the same. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/35 "2010-12-15T00:15:07Z")
My hometown had a drugstrore with a soda fountain. I remmeber it well-because the “soda jerk” (isn’t that a nice term) mixed your cokes in a paper cone cup (chrome metal holder). I guess they disappeared when canned soda dispensing machines became common. Anyway, I still remember the name of the manufacturer (of the soda fountain)-it was “Bastian & Blessing”-Chicago-I wonder if they are still in business? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/36 "2010-12-15T04:03:10Z")
I remember eating lunches at various Woolworth’s a few decades ago. Last time I recall eating at one was in Greensburg, PA in the late '70s. Haven’t seen any real lunch counters in years. Houston may have a few, but I haven’t stumbled across any. True, this thread makes me realize just how fucking sick and tired I am of chain fast food joints. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/37 "2010-12-15T04:14:34Z")
I’ve lived in Austin for twenty five years, and I’ve never eaten at [Naus Enfield Drug](http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Ou18h60bGEviaxWys_ZVeQ?select=Q5mJqG55ENOxtjF9TiowEA). Maybe tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/38 "2010-12-15T05:04:26Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I live in Atlanta. No lunch counters near me these days. > > **Little 5 Points Pharmacy** had a lunch counter until fairly recently, but then they remodeled and did away with it. It was sort of mediocre anyway. > > Before that, **Fleeman’s Pharmacy** on North Highland Avenue had a great lunch counter. I used to eat there all the time (and I would occasionally run into Braves general manager John Schuerholtz grabbing a sandwich there). But that place closed in 1995 when its owner [Jack Fleeman](http://www.ajc.com/news/jack-fleeman-86-owner-117848.html) reached retirement age. The space is now occupied by [Belly General Store](http://www.bellystore.com/BELLYSTORE/history.htm). > > I really miss Fleeman’s. Great sandwiches, wonderful malts, and friendly service. It was a treasure. When I was a kid growing up in Decatur, GA, we would ride our bikes out to Stone Mountain. At the time there was a great soda fountain there. I’m not sure what’s become of it. Even back then it had prices that we’re pretty fantastic, like nickel ice cream and 25 cent malts and shakes. This was in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/39 "2010-12-15T14:43:11Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > On the off-chance that you were being literal with that last sentence, the local K-Mart hereabouts technically has a pharmacy as sure as there’s a place to sit and eat right over by the soda fountains if you feel like ordering a bite to eat – and from the location you list, we’re not even in the same state. Huh? I don’t understand a word of this. I’m in NYS. There are, way in the back of an older K-Mart, a few booths, in front of a counter, with signs on the wall back of the counter. Once upon a time they sold a modest amount of lunch-counter food. Though I haven’t walked back there and checked, I’m pretty sure the signs on the wall list popcorn, nachos, big soft pretzels, soda, Mrs. Fields cookies, and the like. The exact same thing they have in Target and Walmart here. No actual food any more, just soda and junk food. (Another Target has a Starbucks inside, which is a whole other thing.) ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479/40 "2010-12-15T15:33:45Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > When I went to the University of Illinois (1977-83), they had one of these right in the heart of campustown, at the southwest corner of Green and Wright Streets. They served a mean phosphate. It was a Rexall. I visited the campus last fall, but cannot remember what is there now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-an-old-fashioned-drugstore-with-lunch-counter-in-your-town/563479.md?page=3)