Lunch Counters

[goodeats]

Reminds me of the old days when everyone knew that at drugstore lunch counters and other similar down-scale eateries the chicken salad was made with veal.

The Hersch's comment made me wonder if the old lunch counters still exist somewhere in the DC-area?

As a semi-history geek, I remain fascinated by soda fountains and lunch counters, mainly because I never actually got to experience one (the Hyde Park Woolworth, when it still existed in the late 90's, had the lunch counter, but it was shut down already, years prior); only through pictures. Same with jerking sodas.

If not in this area, where have you seen one?

[Tweaked]

The Hersch's comment made me wonder if the old lunch counters still exist somewhere in the DC-area?

As a semi-history geek, I remain fascinated by soda fountains and lunch counters, mainly because I never actually got to experience one (the Hyde Park Woolworth, when it still existed in the late 90's, had the lunch counter, but it was shut down already, years prior); only through pictures. Same with jerking sodas.

If not in this area, where have you seen one?

Lincoln Waffle Shop across from Ford's Theater?

[ktmoomau]

Some Nordstrom's (and maybe a Lord & Taylor or two) still have cafes, but I don't think it is the vibe you are looking for. The Chocolate bar in the Bloomingdales off 5th Avenue uses the old marble counters and lunch station and is pretty cool.

[dcs]

The Hersch's comment made me wonder if the old lunch counters still exist somewhere in the DC-area?

I have never eaten there, but judging from the photo on its web page, Peter's Carry Out seems to fit the bill.

[The Hersch]

I have never eaten there, but judging from the photo on its web page, Peter's Carry Out seems to fit the bill.

I've never been there either, but while it certainly looks old-fashioned, it looks like a diner, not a lunch counter. A proper lunch counter has to be embedded within a larger establishment. Schwartz's Drugstore (now the Starbuck's at Connecticut and Q). The Georgetown Woolworth's (Urban Outfitters). The People's Drugstore at Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive (now a small-appliance and stereo store; a porn shop not long after it stopped being People's some time in the 1970s). (These were all lunch counters that I patronized--oh all right, frequented--earlier in life.) And no, I don't think there are any left in the area.

[dcs]

A proper lunch counter has to be embedded within a larger establishment.

What about this place?

[The Hersch]

What about this place?

Well shut my mouth! It looks like the Lakeside Pharmacy is not long for the world, though, so the OP might want to hurry on out to Reston to check it out. As the specialties appear to be pupusas, fried plantains, and tamales, it probably doesn't exactly represent the drugstore lunch counters of old, but apparently they also do more typical old-style lunch-counter fare, so it might be a fair approximation. I wonder if they have chicken salad made with veal. Anyone been?

[Heather]

I've never been there either, but while it certainly looks old-fashioned, it looks like a diner, not a lunch counter. A proper lunch counter has to be embedded within a larger establishment. Schwartz's Drugstore (now the Starbuck's at Connecticut and Q).

Schwartz's was the one I was going to mention. That takes me way back. There was a store with a lunch counter near GW during the late 80's & early 90's, but I can't think of the name.

[Pat]

Schwartz's was the one I was going to mention. That takes me way back. There was a store with a lunch counter near GW during the late 80's & early 90's, but I can't think of the name.

I can picture almost picture the building, but I can't remember the name either. Was it at 21st and PA Ave? On the first floor of an office building?

[ATS]

In downtown Easton, MD there is a place called Hills Drug Store with a lunch counter in the back. The food is pretty good and pretty popular. It's a good place to meet the real locals and get a handmade sandwich.

[saf]

Was it at 21st and PA Ave? On the first floor of an office building?

I remember that place. Yes, that's where it was. Both of us here remember it as being next to the Roy Rogers (GW 87 and GW 88), but can't remember the name. Sadly, that building is gone, so I can't even look at it on google street view to jog our memories.

[Heather]

I can picture almost picture the building, but I can't remember the name either. Was it at 21st and PA Ave? On the first floor of an office building?

Yes, it was right around there. I used to walk over sometimes from the Kennedy Center.

[The Hersch]

Schwartz's was the one I was going to mention. That takes me way back. There was a store with a lunch counter near GW during the late 80's & early 90's, but I can't think of the name.

Sorry if I've told this story before, but back in the day, my friend/roommate had just been to Schwartz's and related the conversation he had overheard between the crusty serving lady and the smarty-pants customer. Server: What'll ya have? Customer: A hot dog? Server: Want anything with it? Customer: Um...a bun? Server (rolling her eyes): Anything else? Customer: Some coffee? Server: Want a cup with that?

During the late 1970s, when I lived a couple of blocks from Schwartz's, I would stop in at least once a day. To pick up a newspaper, or a pack of cigarettes (I stopped that shit a long time ago, now), or maybe to pick up a newspaper and get a cup of coffee and sit down with the coffee and a cigarette and read the Evening Star, or perhaps it was the Washington Star by then. The whole neighborhood would stop in to Schwartz's during the course of a day. And into the Ben Bow in the next block, for a drink, a chat, and maybe a bit of a flirt or even a quick pick-up. Dupont Circle was really, really cool in those days. I've never loved living anywhere else nearly as much and Schwartz's was definitely part of the charm.