Many of you seem to like these old menus, so I thought I’d post more. This is the entire menu from The Quay on the Columbia, ca. 1951. It is now the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver, at the Quay – pronounced “key”.
I love the drink specials – Irish Coffee, “Pink Squirrel” (sounds awful), Black Russian, and “The Chinook” -.90 cents seems to be the going price. A bottle of Beaulieu Cabernet would run you $3.25, or if it was a price was no object, the upscale Lancer’s (Portugal import!), was $6.00.
Onion Rings were an outrageous .50, and among the meat offerings, you could find Broiled Chicken Livers and Mushrooms “Broiled to a tender perfection” for $2.95, or a New York Steak for $4.95.
Desserts were about fifty cents, and being a fancy place, “Battle Ground Cheddar Cheese” was an option. Never heard of that before.
Click on an image to see the menus.
Steve Nelson says
The Quay didn’t exist in 1951. There was a lumber mill on the site owned by A.B. Carlson. Maybe that was a typo and you meant 1961. I am sure a phone call to the Red Lion would help you get the date right. Look forward to your response.
PDX Food Dude says
The menu archive listed it at 1948, which I know is incorrect. I based the year by comparing prices to other menus for the same time period, and from the date on the wine list – 1949. I doubt the wine was 11 years old when it was served, though you never know.
Stacy McKenna says
The hotel actually linked this page on their Facebook page in June 2014 (http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=785001514865071&id=111713985527164) but didn’t contribute any clarification on dates.
PDX Food Dude says
Thanks!
Jehnee says
These are so awesome! “Rose’ wines” is quite cute of course for mere typeset issues, but hold on, the fruit salad has marshmallow dressing! Dressing! And the description of the Swordfish steak I’m sure sounded exotic at the time, but now sounds totally scary: the texture and flavor is interesting and pleasant. It sounds like a bad translation. I don’t trust interesting and pleasant, especially with fish.
Good find, FD!