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I miss two things that were in NYC when I first moved here in the 1980s - the Automat and Howard Johnson (which had an enormous counter - seated several 100). They both went away in the '90s - the Automat became a GAP (that I still curse every time I pass it) and one became a Sephora (in it's most recent incarnation).
Now, the thing is all these "upscale" sandwich places where you either pick your sandwich from a refrigerated case, or they make it for you - based on a very specific board menu - and you sit in a chaotic seating area that only gets - sometimes - a perfunctory cleaning and organizing during the day.
That said, this being NYC, you can still find old diners (less and less each year though) - and I know all the ones near me. But the true simpleness of HoJo's or the Automat is gone. Growing up, my favorite was - and this was a treat - when my Mom would take me to Woolworth's for lunch at the counter.
For whatever reason - as we are now a "foodie" culture and the "upscale" sandwich shops are what people want. And I'm not talking about the hot shots in their suits, the customers are everybody from construction guys to secretaries, nurses to transit workers - i.e. Regular Joes. And in my neighborhood, the Le Pan Quotidien does a better business with the Regular Joes - at $10-$12 a sandwich (I'm not kidding) , than the old style sandwich shop I go that costs $5-$7.
Long story short. I friend of my mother is in NYC with her son and I was asked by my mother to take them to a museum on the West Side this weekend (I have told my mother I hate doing these things - and I really, really do - and she always says it is the last time, but well, it never is and I don't want to embarrass her, so I do it).
But the reason I am posting is that this friend sent me an email - an hour ago - thanking me and asking me to meet her and her son at - ready for this - Le Pan Quotidien (right near the museum) for lunch before the museum - her treat (which I won't let happen, hence, I will now be the dope paying for the $12 sandwiches - for three people mind you - at a place that I know is stupid crazy overpriced and, again, for people I don't even know).
But how funny, of all the places that there are in NYC that she chose that one on the day I had just ranted here about how overpriced that place is. :eusa_doh: