Restaurant variety in the Golden Era compared to today?

[Matt Crunk]

The variety of restaurants available today even in small town America is one area of daily life where I believe I'd have to choose the present over the Golden Era. Especially ethnic restaurants: Japanese (sushi bars in particular), Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, Greek, Indian, Polynesian, etc.

I know Chinese restaurants have been commonplace for awhile, as have Italian and maybe Mexican, but I see little evidence of other ethnic eateries in photos the Golden Era, outside of ethnic communities in larger cities. Am I wrong?

 

[LizzieMaine]

It depends. Towns settled by a particular ethnic group would feature the food of that group, but they wouldn't be "ethnic" restaurants, they'd just be "restaurants." We have a town near here that was settled by Germans which has a long tradition of German food -- there's a sauerkraut works there to this day. Same with French or Polish or Hungarian or Scandanavian towns.

Americanized Chinese food of the chop-suey-joint variety first became popular in the 1910s, and Italian food of the red-checkered tablecloth variety has been a speciality in neighborhood joints at least as far back as that. Pizza -- under the name of "Italian Tomato Pie" -- was widely popular in the Northeast by the mid-1930s, although it tended to have less cheese and other toppings than the modern version. It was widely sold in Italian grocery stores as a carry-out item. Greek food was also popular in many neighborhoods as a grocery-store take-out item, and "Greek" diners were very common in Northeastern cities. "Chili Joints" were extremely popular in the Midwest, selling an extremely Americanized version of Tex-Mex type food. And Hungarian goulash was an extremely popular dish all over America during the twenties and thirties -- possibly the most popular "ethnic" meal of its time aside from spaghetti and meatballs.

The sort of mass interest in Asian food that exists today is largely a creation of the 1980s and 1990s -- prior to that you had chop suey joints and Polynesian tiki restaurants and that was about it. The idea of eating raw fish would have sent the average American of the Era running into the bathroom with their hands clutched over their mouth.

 

[Shangas]

Most restaurant-offerings differed by place and ethnicity as Lizzie correctly says.

New York is considered one of the most cosmopolitan places in America. But that's because 12,000,000 people went through Ellis Island. That's why New York has Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, German, English and...whatever...cuisine on offer and other places don't.

Australia in the 1900s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s...lived on a BRITISH DIET. Fish and chips. Full English. Sunday Roast.

It wasn't until the 1940s and 50s that people understood there were such things as hotdogs and burgers (brought over by American troops in the War). Or Chinese food or Vietnamese food (brought over by Chinese & Viet refugees in the 1940s and 1960s, fleeing revolutionary wars).

 

[sheeplady]

There are many diners and other "non-ethnic" places around this area of Upstate (NY) that sell "ethnic" foods. I know of a diner that has Golabki on the menu, another that has Peperoni Padella on the menu, and another that has Pho. These are along with the traditional "diner" foods, but I think exist because of the owners/ cooks. I guess I never thought about it before. These places aren't advertised as anything but diners.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm looking at the Bangor, Maine phone book for January 1947 -- Bangor was a city of about 20,000 people then -- and out of about a full page of restaurants, the only one that specifically identifies itself in its name as ethnic is the "Oriental Restaurant," a downtown chop-suey parlor. The "Eastern Eating House" might also be a Chinese place.

There's no place specificially identifying itself with a stereotypical Italian name, no "Luigi's" or "Pasquale's" or anything like that, but three places with names like "Bill's Canteen," "Buddie's Sandwich Shop" and "Sloat's" announce in their listings that they feature various Italian specialties. There's an "Oscar's Restaurant" which might feature German specialities, and four places with French names that likely would serve Quebecois food. "Brountas Restaurant" was a well-known Greek place which was still in operation into the '80s.

I never saw an Indian restaurant in Maine until one moved into the storefront under my apartment in 1990, and that was an experience I never want to repeat. To this day the smell of curry makes me nauseous. Likewise there were no Thai places until the mid-90s, when suddenly there seemed to be one on every corner. That fad has since lots its luster, and now there's just one Thai place in town. The trend now seems to be back to basics -- hipster versions of old-time American comfort food are hot stuff with the tourists and others susceptible enough to pay $12 for a dish of macaroni and cheese.

 

[Shangas]

The Chinese have fled their homeland during key events in Chinese history. The Taiping Rebellion. Famine. The Boxer Rebellion.

My own grandfather fled China in the 1920s during the unrest of the Nanking Decade.

More Chinese fled in the 1930s and 40s and 50s, due to the unrest caused by the Japanese and the Civil War.

They settled in places like America, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore. Chinese fled to America in the 1850s and 60s for the Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad. That's why San Francisco has the largest Chinatown in the U.S.

In 1906 after the Great Earthquake, the city's immigration-records were destroyed. The Chinese took this as an opportunity to bring MORE of their kind over. Friends and relations, which were banned by the immigration-laws.

 

[Stanley Doble]

There were probably a lot of different types of cooking and restaurants, but localized. In New England you would find seafood restaurants featuring clam chowder ( Boston style or New York style with tomatoes, but never both in the same place) lobster and fish. In Boston there was a famous restaurant that served poached fish, boiled potatoes and fresh grape juice. There was a juice machine in the front window and piles of fresh grapes.

In the west or in Texas you would get the biggest steaks. In the south, regional dishes like grits, or hopping john. New Orleans was famous for its restaurants. San Francisco more cosmopolitan but with lots of Chinese places.

If you stayed in one place the food would get monotonous, with less variety than we are used to today. But a traveler would see a lot more variety. Even the little mom's home cooking type places were more distinctive than today's chains.

 

[Tomasso]

Back in the day, Chicago's diverse ethnic population was segregated into various neighborhoods. If you wanted their food you would go to one of the restaurants or bars in their neighborhood. A prudent person might arrange for a friend from the ethnic group whose neighborhood was being visited to accompany them for dinner. Or if you knew a cop that would work too. And you would mind your manners and not start anything by, say, trying to chat up the cute Polish girl at the bar.

 

[Gregg Axley]

There were probably a lot of different types of cooking and restaurants, but localized. In New England you would find seafood restaurants featuring clam chowder ( Boston style or New York style with tomatoes, but never both in the same place) lobster and fish. In Boston there was a famous restaurant that served poached fish, boiled potatoes and fresh grape juice. There was a juice machine in the front window and piles of fresh grapes.

In the west or in Texas you would get the biggest steaks. In the south, regional dishes like grits, or hopping john. New Orleans was famous for its restaurants. San Francisco more cosmopolitan but with lots of Chinese places.

If you stayed in one place the food would get monotonous, with less variety than we are used to today. But a traveler would see a lot more variety. Even the little mom's home cooking type places were more distinctive than today's chains.

You can still get large steaks in Texas.
Sodolaks serves their food on 12 inch plates. I'm not kidding.
This is a picture of their 36oz steak, but this might be a bit bigger. The waitress was guessing at the size.

The last time I went, I could only eat the 24oz.
But I also managed to squeeze in the fried okra.

 

[Tomasso]

But I also managed to squeeze in the fried okra.

Did you use one of these?

 

[HudsonHawk]

You can still get large steaks in Texas.
Sodolaks serves their food on 12 inch plates. I'm not kidding.
This is a picture of their 36oz steak, but this might be a bit bigger. The waitress was guessing at the size.
View attachment 12137
The last time I went, I could only eat the 24oz.
But I also managed to squeeze in the fried okra.

There is also the Big Texan in Amarillo, with their 72oz steak challenge.

 

[Matt Crunk]

When I was a kid growing up in the late '60s and '70s, I remember being limited to (very Americanized) Chinese, Italian, and Mexican restaurants in my North Alabama hometown. But really within the last 30 or so years it has gotten to the point where one could dine out every night for a month on the cuisine of a different country.

I remember the first time I dined in a German restaurant I was a bit disappointed because, instead of the new exotic meal I was expecting, it turned out to be much the same food I grew up on via my mother's and grandmother's home cooking, my family being a mixture of English, Irish, Dutch, and German. And all the time I thought I was eating just plain old American food.

 

[Gregg Axley]

There is also the Big Texan in Amarillo, with their 72oz steak challenge.

Oh I've seen those.
Sodolak's is a great restaurant. I wish they had more located throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
My guess is the food is local, which cuts down on the price.
Hello? They are in cattle country, and we pass a lot of candidates on the way to the restaurant.
Their chicken fried steak is at least 8 inches in diameter, because the same plate (12 inches) is taken up by most of it.
The rest is either fries, okra, potatoes, etc.


Matt, I know what you mean.
My grandmother (mom's mother) came from Germany, and I grew up eating a few recipes that her family had cooked when she was a child.
Sometimes it was a particular meal, and sometimes it was just the way she prepared it, which was different from my other grandmother, who grew up in the South.
So we could say that the disappointment you felt was more like sour kraut?

 

[HudsonHawk]

When I was a kid growing up in the late '60s and '70s, I remember being limited to (very Americanized) Chinese, Italian, and Mexican restaurants in my North Alabama hometown. But really within the last 30 or so years it has gotten to the point where one could dine out every night for a month on the cuisine of a different country.

I remember the first time I dined in a German restaurant I was a bit disappointed because, instead of the new exotic meal I was expecting, it turned out to be much the same food I grew up on via my mother's and grandmother's home cooking, my family being a mixture of English, Irish, Dutch, and German. And all the time I thought I was eating just plain old American food.

I am currently in Thailand, and have been feasting on Thai food. Only they just call it "food". The Thais seem to have a thing for Italian food though. If they want something trendy and exotic, it's likely to be spaghetti and meatballs. And Starbucks.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Their chicken fried steak is at least 8 inches in diameter, because the same plate (12 inches) is taken up by most of it.

In Texas, we call that the lunch portion.

 

[Tomasso]

My grandmother (mom's mother) came from Germany, and I grew up eating a few recipes that her family had cooked when she was a child.
Sometimes it was a particular meal, and sometimes it was just the way she prepared it, which was different from my other grandmother, who grew up in the South.

My mother was an Armenian who grew up in Paris and New York which made for very eclectic dining fare in our house. While she was no great shakes in the kitchen, bless her heart, she did have a real knack for hiring good cooks. Whatever culinary prowess I have is mostly a result of the hours upon hours of hanging out in the kitchen watching, and often helping, the cook prepare meals.