Dining out in the old days (burgers, frozen, diner, meals)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Do you remember ash trays on every table, real glasses, baskets of assorted crackers, salads with iceberg lettuce (no such thing as romaine or butterleaf back then) smothered in Thousand Island dressing (no such thing as balsamic vinegar in those days), and vinyl upholstery?

[Nodpete]

And kids that had manners and nobody sat there with a baseball cap on backwards !

[jim9251]

And no one was yapping on a cell phone. I remember being at dinner once and the waiter brought the house phone to another table. Seems the guy was a Doctor and had an important call. After he hung up, the Doctor apologized for the "disturbance". Can you imagine anyone apologizing today?

[Nanny Goat]

Vinyl upholstery. Ha, funny one. I guess at the local diner I do. Good food and not crazy prices, too.

[fibonacci]

Yup. Dining is much better these days--more variety of foods and flavors can be found and many chefs are much more creative these days with modern American cuisine.

[Dirt Grinder]

I remember folks smoking after they had finished their meals - ruining the experience for those of us who had to endure the acrid stench while we ate. I remember a woman at the table next to us holding her lit cigarette away from those seated with her and inches from my child's head. Yep - those were the good old days days...

[124c41]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

I remember folks smoking after they had finished their meals - ruining the experience for those of us who had to endure the acrid stench while we ate. I remember a woman at the table next to us holding her lit cigarette away from those seated with her and inches from my child's head. Yep - those were the good old days days...

I hear ya. My Dad was very vocal about the smoking thing. He never hesitated making his displeasure known to the offending patron, either. Aside from that problem, occasionally, I still remember the smells of some of the places we would eat at. Good, familiar smells like what came from our kitchen. Our favorite for many years was The Log Cabin. A real, family owned restaurant, north of Houston, on Hwy. 59. The very best fried chicken, with all the vegetables grown in their garden. Sadly, it burned down, many years ago I was told.

[chiroptera]

I gotta say overall I prefer a more modern dining experience.

But there is one iconic diner we go to sometimes here, very original 1960s with everything but the ashtrays. Very inexpensive, gum-chewing waitresses with big hair, giant greasy burgers, monster amounts of food mostly for under $5.00 and whip-fast, friendly service, vinyl, chrome and formica. I love that place.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

...giant greasy burgers...

I do miss those. The best burgers I have ever eaten were at a local bowling alley. They tossed frozen patties, the size of hubcaps, on the griddle and cooked them with a bunch of onions. The burgers came to you with plenty of whatever you wanted on them and the buns were always soft, steamy, and shiny from the beef fat. And then there were those incredible fries cooked in beef fat...

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

I do miss those. The best burgers I have ever eaten were at a local bowling alley. They tossed frozen patties, the size of hubcaps, on the griddle and cooked them with a bunch of onions. The burgers came to you with plenty of whatever you wanted on them and the buns were always soft, steamy, and shiny from the beef fat. And then there were those incredible fries cooked in beef fat...

Weirdly enough, while I love the diner vibe I'm not a big fan of diner food so my default meal is pretty much always the same: cheese omelette, home fries with onions, a lot of hot sauce.

But my dining companions usually have fattier fare so I'll have a slice of greasy burger, a fried wing or three, a fistful of fries.