Remembering Restaurants of the Past

[KennethT]

Staff note: This post and the reponses to it have been moved from the Lunch 2023 dicussion, to maintain topic focus.

 

 

On 5/24/2023 at 5:39 AM, Kim Shook said:

Last Thursday, Jessica and I went to Shoney’s for what could be our last meal there.  For those that don’t know Shoney’s, it was a big chain restaurant similar to Howard Johnsons or Hot Shoppes; a family place with table service, basic, solid filling food.  Across the river from us on the other side of the city is the last one open in Richmond and more are closing all the time.  They aren’t great, but they are part of my culinary history and so a trek was in order.  I got something to take home and the buffet (they have surprisingly good fried chicken and collards):

 

Looking at what I ate, this was certainly a “cheat day” – two kinds of potatoes and collards.  We shared onion rings:

 

Jessica had the chicken fried steak and a baked potato:

 

And then the REAL reason we drove all the way across the river:

Their hot fudge ice cream cake is a family tradition.  My grandmother and my mother loved it.  As a little girl Jessica would request it deconstructed – she liked to add the hot fudge herself little bit by little bit.  And I love it.  When Momma was living with us. she and I would go for “lunch” to the Shoney’s that was near us.  In order to eat the enormous (they’ve started making them smaller) hot fudge cakes, we’d get a large order of onion rings and dessert and that would be lunch. 

 

Friday:

Some of Mr. Kim’s chili from the freezer and slaw.

 

Saturday I pulled the last of the mini ET bagels from the freezer.  One got smoked salmon cream cheese and the other just got toasted and buttered:

Is Howard Johnson's still around?

[weinoo]

25 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Is Howard Johnson's still around?

 

None of the restaurants remain.  There was a great one on the Asbury Park boardwalk...http://www.highwayhost.org/NewJersey/Restaurants/AsburyPark/asbury1.html

[lindag]

22 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

None of the restaurants remain.  There was a great one on the Asbury Park boardwalk...http://www.highwayhost.org/NewJersey/Restaurants/AsburyPark/asbury1.html

What was the restaurant/motel in an early episode of "Mad Men"? Was it a Howard Johnson? or a different older chain restaurant?

[weinoo]

3 minutes ago, lindag said:

What was the restaurant/motel in an early episode of "Mad Men"? Was it a Howard Johnson? or a different older chain restaurant?

 

I wonder - was it a Horn & Hardardt?

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

None of the restaurants remain.  There was a great one on the Asbury Park boardwalk...http://www.highwayhost.org/NewJersey/Restaurants/AsburyPark/asbury1.html

When I was a kid, I had godparents who lived in a suburb of Boston.  We visited them usually twice a year and always stayed at the HoJo's motel in the area, and had breakfast (and sometimes lunch) in the restaurant.  Being a picky kid, I usually got the hot dog for lunch, but I remember my father always getting the clam strips.

[lindag]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

I wonder - was it a Horn & Hardardt?

it was, in fact, a Howard Johnson's but see  what is really was 

here.

 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

What was the restaurant/motel in an early episode of "Mad Men"? Was it a Howard Johnson? or a different older chain restaurant?

'Mad Men' did feature Don Draper visiting the Ho Jo's in my hometown, Plattsburgh, NY, as noted here.  The episode was filmed in CA but recreated that P'burgh location. 
We always stopped at Ho Jo's for lunch on family road trips. I got the clam roll and, if allowed, ice cream or sherbet served with a little cream cone-shaped cookie in those icy cold metal dishes they used. 
At the time that episode aired, there were still 3 restaurant locations but the last one, in Lake George, NY, closed last year.