# Have you eaten at a store lunch counter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773 "2014-05-19T21:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/21 "2014-05-19T22:28:17Z")
Back in the 70’s I ate at a drugstore lunch counter. Food was plain, basic, cheap. Grilled sandwiches, soup, fries, with maybe cake or icecream as a dessert. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/22 "2014-05-19T22:35:11Z")
In Madison , Wisconsin , we had Rennebohms that had lunch counters and restaurants. Breakfast was cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/23 "2014-05-19T22:37:24Z")
At Woolworth’s and a pharmacy called Huerbingers. When I spent the night with my grandmother, we would take a cab to downtown Glenview and get something at Huerbingers. I haven’t thought about that in years. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/24 "2014-05-19T22:48:19Z")
Frequently ate at the counter at Montgomery Ward and Walgreen’s. It was basic stuff like meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I remember that if you ordered a burger it was accompanied by potato chips, not fries. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/25 "2014-05-19T22:49:56Z")
At least twice last year. Once at Wholefoods and once at Selfridge’s in London. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/26 "2014-05-19T22:53:38Z")
My Kmart growing up in Great Falls Montana had a cafeteria inside of it with a counter. It was always really special to get to eat there. I was sad when it was eventually removed. I believe Bakersfield has an old Woolworths that is now an antique mall. The lunch counter is still in operation. I ate there once. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/27 "2014-05-19T23:06:41Z")
KDW in Berlin has a whole floor with counters and then a whole floor with a cafeteria. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/28 "2014-05-19T23:06:54Z")
Our local K-Mart in the 70’s-80’s had their own restaurant with counter, and it was actually decent for a while, but went downhill. The now defunct Famous-Barr (now Macy’s) had several outlets locally, and one had a small “cafe” deli-type restaurant (no counter, though) with good soups and sandwiches. I had my first Reuben there, and they always had an awesome French Onion Soup (served in an insanely hot crockery bowl with cheese on top), in addition to the soup of the day. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/29 "2014-05-19T23:13:40Z")
I remember eating at about six different ones- Ward’s, J. C. Penney, Woolworth’s, Arlan’s, K-Mart, Ayre-Way (if you know the last one, you know where I grew up). ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/30 "2014-05-19T23:37:01Z")
The big old department stores downtown had lunch rooms or tea rooms, serving very good food by waitresses who had worked there forever. i remember I ordered broiled fish and mashed potatoes, the fish was cooked to a fare-thee-well and I didn’t eat it. So I got a bit of heat from the waitress for that!..Later, there was an excellent deli doing booming business at lunch time, in Sibley’s - you could get a pretty big container of ordinary lettuce salad for 50 cents, and order hard rolls, lunch meat, or cooked chicken pieces. … now, at what is now K-Mart, it is within living memory that I recall a luncheon nook where they served popcorn, ornge drink, hot dogs, and mysterious sandwiches prepared elsewhere and brought in…“egg salad”, “ham and cheese”…the kind of thing you would get at a thruway restaurant, or out of a vending machine in the basement of a used car parts store. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/31 "2014-05-19T23:54:37Z")
We recently grabbed a bite to eat at one of those old-timey drugstore lunch counters where you can get a soda-fountain egg cream while waiting for your tuna melt. Turns out that egg creams taste awful. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/32 "2014-05-19T23:56:35Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Turns out that egg creams taste awful. You don’t no nuffin! And you drink at horrible sodee fountains! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/33 "2014-05-20T00:01:37Z")
Once or twice I ate at a Woolworth’s when I was a kid. Probably had a hamburger. The local drug store had a counter; I probably got a sundae or two there. Later, my father bought the building; I loved going behind the counter and seeing the equipment – the seltzer spigot, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/34 "2014-05-20T00:04:44Z")
Yes, also a Kresge’s ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/35 "2014-05-20T00:57:24Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I’ve eaten at a few. The Woolworths were the only place I ever knew to serve [phosphate sodas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate_soda). > > The Rexall drug store used to have a counter too. The one in Plymouth, WI charcoal grilled their burgers and served them on a hard roll. Outstanding! 🙂 The diner in my hometown served phosphates - cherry and lime. Yum. I actually acquired some acid phosphate recently so I can make my own, since the diner finally closed about 10 years ago. We ate at the Woolworth lunch counter all the time. My mom worked at the store and my aunt worked at the restaurant, so we’d go in when she was working and sit in her section. I’d always order a tomato juice and if my mom had enough money a plate of bacon. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/36 "2014-05-20T01:10:15Z")
I remember I my Mom took me to the restaurant at Hudson’s Department store in Detroit, in the late 60s/early 70s. There was a kid’s meal of some kind, that had a picture of, I think, an elephant to color, and came with a banana for dessert. I think the main meal was probably a hotdog. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/37 "2014-05-20T01:16:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Higbee’s, in Cleveland, used to have some sort of birthday special, and so Mom would take my sister and I on all of our birthdays. They gave out a toy stove made of folded cardboard. [They’ve been brought back!](http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cleveland/2014/04/28/silver-grille-cardboard-ovens-are-back/8404223/) 🙂 (sorry, the link goes to an article preceded by an auto-play news clip video) Oh, as for me, I’ve eaten at the KMart cafeteria at least once, maybe more before my memory. I don’t remember anything about the food. KMart moved out a long time ago, and the cafeteria was gone before that. The store is now a Burlington Coat Factory. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/38 "2014-05-20T02:05:30Z")
One year in college in Madison, WI (early 80’s) I had a very early morning class and then nothing for the rest of the day. On the way home after class, I would stop by the Rennebohm’s pharmacy on the Capitol Square and get two eggs, toast, bacon, and hashbrowns for $1.99, then I’d go home and go back to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/39 "2014-05-20T02:12:00Z")
The Woolworth lunch counter was a series of U-shaped indentations to get the most usage out of the space. That was a lot more fun to sit at than the Neisner’s across the street, which had an ordinary, if very long, straight counter on the main floor. However, the Neisner’s had a cafeteria in the basement which set out zillions of foods and allowed you to assemble your own trayful. That was by far my favorite as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/40 "2014-05-20T02:13:11Z")
Woolworth’s or W.T. Grants. Not sure if Grants had a lunch counter. They were both in the same shopping center. At the time there was only 1 small chain restaurant in my area before McDonalds came in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773.md?page=3)