Portland Food and Drink

Restaurant News and Information For Portland Oregon Area Restaurants and Bars

You’re Old If… Vanished Restaurant Traditions

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Question MarkI was having dinner with friends a few nights ago when we started talking about things we remembered from restaurants when we were growing up. I thought it might be a fun topic of conversation.

I’ll start:

You’re old if…

  • You remember when you had to wear a jacket (and sometimes a tie) to many upscale restaurants. Most of them kept a few really “loud” sport-coats and ties in the coat-check, so everyone knew you hadn’t brought one. I remember being forced to wear a yellow checkered plaid coat one time at Scandia in Los Angeles.
  • You remember when frog legs were on many menus, French restaurant or not.
  • You remember when London Broil was a pretty fancy dish.
  • You remember Sanka Coffee
  • You remember when only the “man” of the table received a menu with prices printed on it.
  • You remember when people actually dressed up to go out, something that has sadly been forgotten.
  • You remember the wine bottles with the straw wrapped around the outside. Extra points if you remember the candles that melted in multi-colors and ran down the sides.

What do you remember?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andy says

    I remember when there was no such thing as a “Childrens’ Menu”

    I remember when eating at a restaurant was a special treat

    I remember when the waiter would plate slices of pizza tableside

    I remember when waitresses didn’t call you “Hon”

  2. glainie says

    – You remember dining in a restaurant with virtually no female employees
    – You remember an ashtray and matches as part of a table setting
    – You remember using a Diners Club card to pay your bill
    – You remember when pasta was not the word used to describe different types of noodles.
    – You remember Chinese restaurants that featured an “American” side of the menu.
    – You remember waiters or waitresses, but not “servers”.
    – You remember ordering Neapolitan ice cream for dessert
    – You remember your waitress encouraging you to keep eating until you can see the clown face on the plate.
    – You remember when Macdonald’s french fries were actually good.

    • Food Dude says

      Diners Club was my first credit card! Neapolitan ice cream was everywhere.

      I always wonder if it is more pc to say server or waitress/waiter. I don’t like either one.

      • simple diner says

        Any idea if they will hit the NW again? Too many memories of post-dancing school trips to Farrells. The zoo, the bells, the brain freeze from eating too fast…. Good times

      • Kim Price says

        Supposedly. You should check out their facebook page, where there are some links to news stories. There was some big weird legal thing that just got settled, allowing them to get going. I believe the plan is to expand and Portland (where they originally started) was mentioned, but I am sure it is dependent on how they do with the places they just opened.

    • schrammalama says

      We used to go to Farrell’s for everyone’s birthday. I always wanted The Zoo, but never got it. At least I got a jawbreaker the size of my head.

    • newyorkmark50 says

      Or a “Zoo”, complete with sirens, whistles, bells, and wait staff running through the restaurant carrying the huge silver wine cooler bowl in a “stretcher”. In addition to two scoops of each kind of ice cream, with syrup, there were little plastic circus performers and animals scattered about. And we LIKED it! Yikes.

      Mark

  5. Jill-O says

    I’m only 43 but y’all are making me feel old! ;o)

    -ice cream cake roll with chocolate sauce for dessert

    -escargot served in shells with that little metal holder to clamp on the shell and hold it while you pried that tasty little slug out

    -two words, “relish tray”

    -fancy swizzle sticks and cocktail stirrers and picks with logos and fun designs (to go with those matches and ashtrays!)

    -washroom attendants (and their host of products lined up on the counter)

    -maitre d’s (had to look up the plural of that one…) who pull out a chair to seat female guests

    • Food Dude says

      I still collect swizzle sticks… mostly from airline drinks, but have some cool ones from way back. I always loved the escargot tongs.

      • Jill-O says

        Rarely even see escargot anymore (or is that a Portland thing again? Folks can’t imagine eating slugs here? ;o) Loved the version I had at Metrovino last week…whole meal was great.

      • hsawtelle says

        Just had them at Brasserie Montmartre last night – they were outstanding. Although I could do without the loud jazz band or whatever it was.

  6. tapioca_pearl says

    I remember when you were asked if you wanted to sit in the smoking section or non.

    I remember when all tickets were hand written; none of that computer crap.

    I remember when a cup of coffee was 49 cents.

  7. Matt Davis says

    Gotta say, that thing about the jacket? There’s still plenty of formal places in New Orleans that require it.

  9. pdx_yogi says

    -waiter/host pulling out the napkin and placing it on my lap…eeewwww
    -Postum…wtf?
    -spumoni…ick
    -people actually dressing up to go out as if it were a special event…[sigh]…miss that

    Glainie: Is it possible your memory of how great MacD’s fries were is an over-idealization? Getting better with time?

    • glainie says

      Yogi,

      Actually, no. They were quite good. There was a time when the fries were cooked in animal fat (lard), which gave them an entirely different flavor and texture. They also frequently had small pieces of skin that remained after peeling. Additionally, the fries were cut considerably longer, which made them more fun to eat. Bottom line: An completely different product than what is offered today.

  10. dieselboi says

    Love this.

    What about cocktails? Are there names and types of cocktails that have gone by the wayside? Everything now is somethingTINI.

  11. Humble Pie says

    – belgian endive garnishing the iceberg salad was super-fancy.
    – bartender id’s you only if they saw you drink from the stirring straw.
    – leftovers went in a “doggy-bag.”

  12. glainie says

    Ok, I remember a few more (yes, very old, but this is fun):

    – You remember “finger bowls” being offered after a course you ate with yours hands.
    – You remember the straw stuck to the side of your soda or milkshake glass from the condensation.
    – You remember when many restaurants had their own “seasoning salt” blend featured in the condiment caddy.
    – You remember ordering off a place mat that also served as your menu.
    – You remember ordering dishes that ended with the following words: Cordon Bleu, Oscar, Fricassee, Cutlet.
    – You remember hamburgers listed as a “hamburger sandwich”
    – You remember a waitress proudly reciting every freshly baked pie on the menu (often a staggering number)
    – You remember toothpick dispensers at the cashier stand.
    – You remember requesting a doggie bag (as opposed to a to-go container)

  13. Joe Dixon says

    I feel like the no jacket required and/or not dressing up for dinner thing is particular to the NW. There are plenty of places in other cities that require “gentlemen” to wear jackets. And not just out of touch old school places… For example, Alinea and North Pond in Chicago come immediately to mind.

    • JDG says

      I go to NYC every couple of years but recently made my first (adult) visit to Chicago, and was surprised how much more common a dress code was in Chicago than NYC.

      On another note, we recently gave Poor Richard’s a try for the first time after living less than a mile away for over a decade. And ya know what? It wasn’t bad! It was definitely like time travel eating there, and brought me back to my childhood and the Friday night steak tradition my grandfather had, with the steaks oven-broiled right on steel steak platters, which imparts a very particular taste/aroma that I hadn’t experienced since. It’s definitely a place someone in their 40’s/50’s can go if you want to feel young. :)

      • justacook says

        The very high end places in NYC like Per Se and Daniel have a dress code. Even at the places that dont have one such as cafe boloud or wd-50 ect., if you dont dress up you feel weird cause most everyone else is, its just not required.

  14. aroyo says

    I remember when there was no such thing as “field greens” and a salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, some shredded carrots and a red raddish.

  15. L'epicier says

    I remember when Henry Thiele’s was the place to meet and eat and the BonnyLyn was the great drive in. Also the old Crab Bowl was famous – but it was just all well fried fish.

  16. homer's son says

    – You remember bacon bits as an exotic garnish
    – You remember Pizza Parlors
    – You remember a large tip was ten percent
    – You remember waitresses that wore aprons
    – You remember the time your father made the family leave the restaurant after sitting down and drinking the water because the prices were “too damn high” (oops, that was for my therapist …)

  17. Pam says

    Shirley Temples.
    Sitting at a lunch counter and ordering cherry cokes and grilled cheese. On white bread, of course!
    The particular ‘thunk’ of the metal door on the top of the ice cream freezer shutting.
    Said ice cream cost $.05 a cone.
    There was a ‘cents’ icon on a typewriter;-)
    Matches at the cash register, along with Peppermint Pattys.
    yes! Pizza parlors! With silent movies playing all night, and a player piano.

  18. polloelastico says

    When there was a “diet” plate that consisted of a hamburger patty with indiscriminate brown sauce, paired with cottage cheese and canned peaches in light syrup.

  19. kelly says

    The “carousel of condiments” for your baked potato that the waiter/waitress brought to your table with a flourish. The chives were so exotic! And everything Glainie says is spot on.

  20. Jill-O says

    I agree, this is a fun topic, FD, thanks…

    It’s true though, that some of this is because we are in Portland. For example, you can still find that “diet” plate on every NYC menu. Of course, if you can remember someone ever ordering it, that would count for this topic. ;o)

  21. knucklehead says

    I was very young and used to be taken to the famous Ernie’s in San Francisco by my employer, and they always had a coat for me to wear and it was definitely not loud. The waiter came over and told us the chef would prepare something. He did, we ate, and then left without paying. The next day a bill arrived at the office in the mail.

    I used to sign the check and walk out of Vanessi’s in North Beach too, no cash needed, bill sent to the office. My employer said we were in our “salad days” back then. I had nationally syndicated columnist Stan Delaplane’s old phone number – the calls I got! Hilarious.

    We had food rules: Never eat on top of a building you pay for the view not the food; never eat in a place with a pepper grinder longer than your forearm; etc.

    • mczlaw says

      Ernie’s was my very first fancy restaurant experience. Folks took me and my brother. I was probably 10–chicken with white grapes. Yikes. Pressed duck @ Empress of China on the same trip.

      The building top rule is also known as the “law of heights”–quality of the food is inversely proportional to the quality of the view. Mostly still true.

      –mcz

  22. Guignol says

    Howz about the old shirley temple or roy rogers, as kids we thought this was making us grown up. Also the ceremony of opening a bottle of martinellis apple cider and getting to drink it out of champagne glasses.

    • garden girl says

      My children still ask for Shirley Temples or Roy Rogers or Root Beer floats when out with Granny at the Heathman.
      They also drink Martinellis in champagne glasses (not the flutes, the flat ones or coupes) for New Years Eve.

  24. Cuisine Bonne Femme says

    Going to a (now defunct) department store to their top floor restaurant for lunch, and it was actually considered to be classy, elegant and cutting edge with well prepared, quality gourmet food rather than dusty, Sysco product filled chaffing dishes surrounded by nothing but Octogenarian ladies who lunch.

  25. skamama says

    I was a singer (sometimes underaged) in the ’60s and ’70s in many a sophisticated place while in bands that appeared across the country. There are some things I would prefer to forget, including a week’s stay in a hotel on the Mississippi River that was actually a de facto whorehouse. What I do remember:
    The club owner would try to (impress or seduce) me by introducing me to a ‘sophisticated’ drink, such as a Black or White Russian. I settled on Pernod with a soda/lime back as a way to keep the pipes lubricated.
    Some of the places I sang were tablecloth joints and others were hippie hangouts. They all had menus, and men were often required to wear ‘jackets,’ often loosely interpreted. I remember being fired less than midway through a two-week gig in (West Virginia?) because the trumpet player (now a respected member of the Portland jazz establishment) wouldn’t remove his hat onstage. I am glad to see that Genoa is back. In the early days when I was in a popular Portland band in the mid-1970s, we used to drop by after our gig to see if there were any leftover desserts.
    When I was feeling peckish in San Francisco, several times a Sicilian musician friend took me to a famous North Beach place and ordered the chef to prepare a giant plate of spinach with olive oil and garlic, which was good for what ailed me.

  27. Jenifer says

    I remember being left home with a babysitter on Friday nights while my parents hung out with their friends at Vat and Tonsure.

  28. Flask Mama says

    Aww! The Vat and Tonsure!
    -eating dim sum in San Francisco as a fancy meal out.
    -all French food was considered fancy.
    -being poured a tiny bit of wine and then having water added to it in my glass for me to drink.
    -Gordon’s Fish Sticks for me and the babysitter when my parents went to a friend’s house to get trashed. Now I just get trashed in front of my kids, no sitter required!
    -a little piece of curly parsley on the plate was a high class garnish.

      • mzwong says

        Yes, because she and Michael had not been married for two years before his death, she was not allowed to stay. It’s a travesty and I really hope that one of the appeals holds and she is allowed to come back to her home of many decades. I can’t imagine kicking someone out of a country because the love of their life has passed away and even though they’ve been together for 20 years, they haven’t been married for at least two. Horrible.

      • Food Gems says

        V & T was awesome – quintessential old school Portland. No matter what you ordered you got a Cornish Game Hen and a side of steamed broccoli. All the waiters were philosophy majors from Reed.

        The owner was a wonderful lady – hard working and generous. She was caught by a terrible law that can deport people in certain circumstances. When her husband died she was forced back to Canada even though she was married to a US citizen. They had been together for decades but married for a short period before his death.

        She was a great asset to Portland and it was sad to see her forced out. Congress is actively working to amend the law that forced her out.

  30. DinahDavis says

    Let’s see;

    I remember–

    all the waiters being young men dressed in white jackets and black bow ties. Seriously.
    Shirley Temples, of course.
    Every restaurant gave out matchbooks. I still have some somewhere.
    Stealing ashtrays from our favorite restaurants.
    Every section of the restaurant was a smoking section.
    All salads were iceberg lettuce, except for the very fanciest places–then they had some mysterious item called a “Caesar salad”.
    On the rare occasions we were allowed to go out to eat, we kids shut the hell up and behaved ourselves. Otherwise we would get spanked and not be allowed to go out again for a long, long time. Yes, I miss those days.

  31. Bertha says

    The Automat in Brooklyn. I remember the that I loved the franks and beans in a crock…and just watching the food going round and deciding what you wanted. It was such a treat.
    Jello with fruit cocktail

  33. joolz says

    i remember no cell phones in a restaurant
    no kids slouched over gameboys never joining the table or dining experience
    not wine but grasshoppers and strawberry dacquiri WITH your dinner
    VIPS at truck stops and vip’s bunny menus you could wear as a mask after or during
    the little pickled red crab apple as a garnish at a steak house
    that farrel’s made your parents go through the jawbreaker store to pay so you could spend the end of the dining experience crying over unpurchased sugar treasures…remember the curled carrot they put on their plates?

  34. mzwong says

    You remember ladies who lunched at Sweet Tibbie Dunbar’s, a “fancy” night out at Trader Vics or Henry Ford’s, fries with gravy at Yaw’s… or thinking that being served by women in flowered sarongs and tiny tops at the Rusty Pelican was fancy!
    Breakfast with Santa Christmas morning at Meier & Frank downtown rates as well.

  35. devilchef says

    How about the bread basket, that contained a variety of cellophane-wrapped crackers and bread sticks?

    I miss the bread sticks. . .

  36. Food Dude says

    Chicken Chow Mein.
    TV Dinners – the metal trays covered with foil (back in the days before microwaves), that you actually had to WAIT(!!) to eat (but we didn’t know better in those days). Mine were usually fried chicken, beans, and some kind of horrible dessert. People actually ate them in front of the TV on a “TV tray”.

  37. Food Dude says

    Remember when almost every dinner entree came with soup and salad at no extra charge? Give it ten years, and we’ll be paying extra for every item on a plate. “You want sauce on that chicken?”

    • ATrain says

      Just look at the airline industry. First they changed peanuts/party mix to purchasing a snack. Now some of them (Alaska) charge for any checked bags (not even one free).

      Speaking of airlines, remember when you used to applaud every landing?

  38. simple diner says

    The Carnival and Foothill Broiler for burgers.
    The Imperial Hotel lunch counter for pie.
    Woolworth’s downtown lunch counter
    Yaw’s Green River

  39. glainie says

    Since a few of the posts have included vintage Portland restaurants, I’ll toss in a few more, and what I remember ordering there:

    – Henry Thiele’s – The German Pancake, Beef Tips over buttered noodles, Princess Charlotte pudding.
    – The Chocolate Lounge at Lipman Wolfe – Monte Cristo, Chopped Salad, Chilled Fruit Cup
    – Nendel’s Inn and Paulson’s – Both for Fried Chicken
    – The Hill Villa – Chicken Mirabella, Steak Diane, “Angel Pie”
    – Yaws Top Notch- Hamburger with “Spanish sauce” (what they called chili), and a Green River
    – The New Republic – Pork ends with hot mustard and sesame seeds
    – Caramicos – Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic bread, Lancer’s (red wine), Blue Nun (white)
    – Hamburger Mary’s – Burgers on wheat toast with avocado and lots of sprouts (this WAS the 70’s)
    – Hillaire’s – Hot Turkey Sandwich, French Dip
    – The Carousel – Hamburgers, Milkshakes, and a cool fish pond in the back.
    – Tick Tock – Chicken Salad with pineapple
    – Trader Vics – Crab Rangoon, Bilabong Soup, Mai Tais
    – The Original Prime Rib on Sandy – The obvious (along with yorkshire pudding and creamed spinach) They also started you off with the table-side salad a la Lawry’s.

    I just noticed Simple Diner’s post – We must be roughly the same age. : )

    • pdx_yogi says

      glainie: I think it’s called “The Republic Cafe”. Unfortunately it’s still open. “New Republic” is a magazine.
      “Carousel”? Sure you don’t mean that kiddie trap the “Carnival”?
      Parents took me to Thiele’s once. All I remember is hating it.
      Such fond memories of no cell phones or kids who can’t put down the video game for a night out. Sheesh.
      Vat & Tonsure. What a pretentious dump. Surprised the board of health never shut them down. Overbearing waiter with his arms crossed, defiantly announcing to us “We don’t serve tea here.”
      Loved going to the “exotic” Kon-Tiki in the Sheraton Lloyd Center. Their outrigger canoe now hangs on the wall at Thatch Tiki Bar.
      Something I dearly miss: state health inspection with a graded certificate hanging in a prominent place. Thank you Oregon Restaurant Association for pressuring for their removal!

      • glainie says

        Yogi,

        Your are correct. It was, in fact, the Carnival, and yes, Republic, not New Republic. Thanks for the corrections.

    • CO says

      does Caramicos=Caro Amico’s on Barber Blvd? if so, tis still there and by all accounts still serving spaghetti&meatballs and garlic bread! I think we can assume the Lancer’s and Blue Nun are long gone.

    • tom says

      lighten up the yanni! i was a line cook for margaret theile and chef wally sperry. i still have the scars on my forearms from a thousand, or more of those famous german pancakes. margaret would stand at the end of the counter on a milk crate and call in every order. wally sperry was the master of the queen charlotte. i truely miss those days. a fine old european restaurant. i fondly remember serving coffee to tom mcall every morning at the hilton. after a hard night schlepping at the benson.

    • tom says

      glainie, you seem to have been around for some of pdx’s finest!and yes, we are roughly the same age. in rock years.

  40. johnny says

    When scungilli was on the menu in every Italain restaurant. I’d love to see it brought back and reinvented!

  41. tom says

    henry theiles was a great place. forgetting the forgettable food, a couple of other places that deserve a mention are roberts rod and reel,
    coons chicken, flannigans and of course, the quality pie shop. oh yeah.
    barbery coast/hoyt hotel. gerry gables…………………

  42. pdx_yogi says

    “Coon’s Chicken.” For the name alone, happy it is but a relic of bygone days. Funny how some (present company excluded) are nostalgic for the good old days when people were supposedly more genteel and polite, where such a restaurant name was considered acceptable. Same goes for “Sambos”.
    “Coon’s” is now Clyde’s Prime Rib.

  43. L'epicier says

    I remember telling my mom that there was a place named Coon Chicken and she said the kids (twenty somethings) went there all the time. I asked her why that name didn’t bother her, she said ‘we really didn’t think about it’ – institutionized racism. The great irony is that the current owner Clyde is an African American. We’ve come a long way, thankfully…

  45. L'epicier says

    London Grill Sunday brunch still rocks. It’s not quite the quality of the best restaurants in town but once a year doesn’t everyone needa huge brunch?

  47. Vicki Abbott says

    I remember super thick malted milks – really malt flavored! — sold at the neighborhood soda fountain. There was always at least a third more left in the frosty metal container after it was poured it into the soda glass, which they also gave to you. At home: Waldorf salad — celery, apples, walnuts all glued together with Best Foods mayo. The Good Humor man, tinkling his melody down the block. I’d always get a chocolate covered chocolate bar.

  48. MrDonutsu says

    A little out of the area, but I remember “fancy” dinners at the Seahorse restaurant in Mukilteo WA when it was “Buffet Night”.

    Live seahorses in the tanks (and multiple varieties of Jello Salad)!

    I’m sure there was something similar here in PDX.

  49. homer's son says

    MrDonutsu rememinded of a favorite childhood eating memory … Pixie Kitchen on the coast. For a kid from a small town in eastern Oregon it was almost Disneyland with shrimp cocktails … almost.

  50. 2horsegirl says

    I had so much fun reading these old posts! I’m an old Portland girl (b. 1970). Here’s my favs my parents took us to…

    Hill Villa
    Tebo’s
    Sweet Tibbie Dunbar’s
    Yaw’s
    Rheinlander
    Crab Broiler (seaside)
    Mazzi’s (later)
    Shoji’s (later?)

    I’ll think of 20 more when I am done but that’s a good list!