# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/61 "2014-05-20T11:14:12Z")
Lots of times, mostly back in the 50s. Sometimes my mother would take me shopping downtown (there were no departments stores in the 'burbs then). We’d often have lunch at either a department store luncheonette or a Woolworth lunch counter (great BLTs). And also, there was a Walgreens across from the dentist’s office, so after my appointment we’d have lunch at the counter. My favorite thing was Cherry Coke . . . REAL Coke with REAL cherry syrup. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/62 "2014-05-20T13:19:28Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Yes, also a Kresge’s Worked at one in Detroit , they made me fill in at the counter once. It was always busy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/63 "2014-05-20T14:19:20Z")
Woolworth’s in Anchorage, AK in the 60s. We also had a Rexall Drugs with a lunch counter. We used to go in there after school and order a “Zombie”, which was a shot of every flavoring syrup they had, plus soda water. We felt very macho and grown up, and assured each other that it didn’t really taste like shit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/64 "2014-05-20T14:19:46Z")
W.T. Grants, right smack dab in the middle of dahntahn Pittsburgh. Awesome hot dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/65 "2014-05-20T14:31:42Z")
We have a local pharmacy that has a soda fountain. The place makes the best ice cream EVAR! They are much better know for thier ice cream than for being a pharmacy. We also had a pretty famous Tea Room in the flagship Yonkers department store downtown. The place was a local landmark. It closed when the department store downsized, because the building was so old and falling out of code while the shopping in town had long ago moved to the malls. It was in the process of being renovated and was going to reopen when the entire build burned down a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/66 "2014-05-20T14:31:51Z")
Woolworth’s, downtown Chicago, back in the 70’s (shopping with Mom and Grandma). I most likely had a grilled cheese or a hot dog. I don’t remember. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/67 "2014-05-20T15:16:51Z")
The U of I Corner Store, corner of Green and Wright, Champaign, Illinois circa 1980. Even then it seemed like a relic from a different age. Hot turkey sandwiches and phosphates–good stuff! Funny things stick in your mind. One day I asked what was the weird TV channel they were watching that showed news _all the time_. That was how I learned of the existence of CNN. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/68 "2014-05-20T16:28:36Z")
Quite a few different dime stores and department stores in the 60s to mid 70s. And a lot of independent drug stores. Some of the food was terrific; among the best I remember. The “Greene’s” in McKeesport had a fried chicken that is still my benchmark for everyone else’s. And Cook’s Drugs (Kingston PA) could make a burger so good that none of the regular fast food franchises made it into the Wyoming Valley until well after Agnes. What surprises me in looking back is how extensive/large some of their menus were considering the tiny size of the seating and kitchen ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/69 "2014-05-20T17:03:08Z")
My small hometown in Ohio had a drugstore with a lunch counter that was totally packed with high school students every day back in the early 60’s. We almost wore a path out the front of the high school, run across the middle of the street, cross a parking lot, enter the lower floor of the dimestore, up the stairs to the first level and out the door, run across another street and try to find standing room. One of the favorites was the cheeseburger with doubleburger sauce. Or a local tradition – breaded pork tenderloin that was usually quite a bit bigger than the bun on which it was served. And a cherry coke that could be had for a nickel or a dime. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![fuchsiagroan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de0a6/32.png) [@fuchsiagroan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuchsiagroan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/70 "2014-05-20T18:15:55Z")
When visiting in New Jersey I got a meal from Wegman’s and ate it in their dining floor. They had a few options (sandwiches, pizza). I think I saw a Publix some years ago with tables and chairs to have your deli meals. I didn’t eat anything there, but a mall in Berlin had a floor devoted to restaurants and food products. I just bought the Mozart candy. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/71 "2014-05-20T19:51:00Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The U of I Corner Store, corner of Green and Wright, Champaign, Illinois circa 1980. Even then it seemed like a relic from a different age. Hot turkey sandwiches and phosphates–good stuff! Back in the dark ages when I was the U of I (not that much before your time), that was a Rexall’s. I think I ate there once, and whenever someone mentions “drugstore with a lunch counter” I think of Rexall’s at Green and Wright. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/72 "2014-05-20T20:11:45Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > Back in the dark ages when I was the U of I (not that much before your time), that was a Rexall’s. I think I ate there once, and whenever someone mentions “drugstore with a lunch counter” I think of Rexall’s at Green and Wright. Yeah, the Rexall brand pretty much fell off a cliff in the 1970’s, and by the time I got there in 1977 the Corner Store had gone independent. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/73 "2014-05-20T20:42:05Z")
Fast forward to current, my local Sam’s Club has a food court of sorts. A row of soda/pop dispensers with free refills, and one can get pretzels, pizza, hot dogs, nachos, and other nibblers, mostly fresh-ish. At least it’s heated up before your eyes. Several tables and chairs. Just beyond the check out stands. Not a McD in the store, like Walmart does, this is branded as Sam’s. Really cheap, too. A 32oz drink and a pretzel are something like $1.79 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/74 "2014-05-20T21:39:00Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Yeah, the Rexall brand pretty much fell off a cliff in the 1970’s, and by the time I got there in 1977 the Corner Store had gone independent. One of my sisters started pre-med at U of I around the same time. I remember visting her apartment for a few days and we may have eaten at the Corner Store. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/75 "2014-05-20T22:08:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Woolworth’s in Anchorage, AK in the 60s. We also had a Rexall Drugs with a lunch counter. We used to go in there after school and order a “Zombie”, which was a shot of every flavoring syrup they had, plus soda water. We felt very macho and grown up, and assured each other that it didn’t really taste like shit. 😃 Back in 1970’s Sandy Eggo, we called that drink a ‘suicide’ and all the flavors basically ran together. I think it was more about the sugar rush than the flavor anyway. I vaguely recall an Newberrys (sp?) and a Woolworth’s in the mall on the hill. [Or maybe the former got bought & renamed by the latter, but it seemed to me they carried the same stuff.] They (both?) had an area with a counter and a few tables & chairs that was kind of like a mini diner. I didn’t understand why my mother wouldn’t let us sit at the counter. BLT’s or Grilled Cheese with potato chips and a shake. * * * It seems worth noting that the fountain/counters at the pharmacies preceded the dinettes in the department stores (Woolworth’s was a department store? Seems like a thrift store now-a-days) weren’t. The pharmacies/drug stores/corner we-carry-everything stores had the soda fountains because the coca, sasparilla, pepsi, and other syrups-added-to-sodas were considered medicinal. When the sale of soda-and-syrup concoctions was banned (during Prohibition?) on the Sabbath, the pharmacies turned to selling iced-cream-and-syrup as an alternative – the Sunday special. Eventually, there was protest against commercializing the treat and the holy day, so the name was respelled: sundae. Some companies even dropped the store/pharmacy/diner portion and just became ice cream parlors – Farrell’s, Swenson’s, Dairy Queen, and Foster’s [Freeze] come to mind – with grills to serve food with the fun stuff. –G! ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/76 "2014-05-21T00:49:40Z")
As a kid in the 1980s, I’d often dine with my great-grandmother at the K-Mart cafeteria. I don’t remember a thing about the food, but I thought the whole idea was neat. These days, I love nothing better than to grab Swedish meatballs and apple pie at Ikea. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/77 "2014-05-21T02:01:55Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The Woolworths on 5th & Morrison had a soda fountain on the north wall, a lunch counter on the east wall and a cafe on the south side, I must have eaten there at least once. ISTR eating in the cafe on the tenth floor of Meier & Frank kitty-corner from there. I have seen people eating in the Deli area next to Grocery at the Fred’s near here, and I have bought food there, but only to eat elsewhere. Several grocery stores around here have tables for eating deli in-store. But most recent, my mother and I had lunch at the place inside Nordstroms last time I was in Portland – a little fancier than a true lunch counter, though. Yes, Nordstrom still has restaurants in addition to coffee stands/counters. I think it isn’t much fancier than the restaurants at department stores back in the day when compared with places like fast food, but I guess it’s not exactly a lunch counter. I just consider it a modern version of the lunch counter since most people don’t want to eat at a counter. Ikea and Target also currently have the modern version of lunch counters in their stores, at least around here they do. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/78 "2014-05-21T02:43:31Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Back in 1970’s Sandy Eggo, we called that drink a ‘suicide’ and all the flavors basically ran together. I think it was more about the sugar rush than the flavor anyway. That’s also what we called them at the skating rink snack bar (late 70s-early 80s.) ---
**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 21, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/79 "2014-05-21T03:21:06Z")
A true lunch counter either had a long line of [stools](http://trudel1.s3.amazonaws.com/trudel/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/1930s-Walgreens-Lunch-Counter.jpeg)or else little [half chairs perched on stalks](http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/Emilysowner/NewberryLunchCounter1941_zpsc62b38ee.jpg). The latter seems to be more common from the pictures I can find. Smaller places, like drugstores, may have had more stools. Here’s a picture of the [u-shaped](http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%202/kresgejpg3.jpg) counter I mentioned. That really packs them in. Nothing today has the look or feel of those old shots, except for a few retro diners and those are way too small to get the sense of the endless scope and number of bodies. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773/80 "2014-05-21T03:25:38Z")
Wow, I’ve never eaten at one so big. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-eaten-at-a-store-lunch-counter/688773.md?page=5)