Historic City Memories: Roadside cafes

DINERS, GREASY SPOONS, AND ROADSIDE CAFES

A tale of the “Double Whopper Texican”

By Geoff Dobson

Several weeks ago, the writer had to be in Boca Raton for a 9:00 a.m. meeting. The meeting only took an hour, but nevertheless, it required that the writer go the night before.

At one time, hotels had coffee shops or dining rooms attached. Now days, the coffee shops have been eliminated in favor of the “free” continental breakfast consisting of donuts, bagels, packages of cold cereals, orange or apple juice coming out of a machine, and coffee.

Thus, it became necessary to leave the hotel for evening sustenance. The desk clerk advised that a block down the street was a diner at which everyone in town ate. Diners when one is by oneself are great. One may “dine” at the lunch counter and not feel strange eating at a table alone.

It turned out not to be a traditional diner. It was in a regular building. Inside, a maître d’ would show one to a seat.

Nor was the menu traditional. It was primarily Greek and Italian.

There was a dining room, but, in some type of salute to old-fashioned diners, there was a counter.

The seats, however, were not stools. Instead, they were small bancos like one would find in a booth for two, but the bancos faced the counter and were in pairs, each pair separated by a small wall similar to that which separates booths in some restaurants.

The maître d’ showed me to one of the bancos and gave me a menu which featured among other things a wine list. Thus, the writer supped on chicken “Florentine” accompanied by an imported beer.

The traditional diner, which originated in the northeast in the 1920’s, was a roadside café in a prefabricated structure designed on the outside in a fashion similar to a Pullman dining car.

The menu would be predictable, light meals, meat loaf, hamburgers, and fried foods. In a glass case would be displayed apple and cherry pies and the beverage would be coffee. The food, in other words, was similar to that which used to be served in truck stops. With truck traffic being diverted from US 1, St. Augustine’s two truck stops have been razed.

For years, the nearest traditional diner to St. Augustine was Angel’s Dining Car in Palatka. It has been a fixture since the late 1920’s. Its menu has remained the same over the years.

Until six years ago, St. Augustine did not have a diner. In that year, Mark Stanton demolished the old Greyhound bus station on Malaga Street and replaced it with a more traditional diner made of gleaming chrome and Formica — similar to the Jackson Hole Diner alongside the road in Queens; coming into Manhattan from the airport.

However, when restaurateur George Chryssaidis took over the diner on Malaga Street, the diner-type menu was transmuted into one similar to that found in the “diner” in Boca Raton.

In many instances, except for breakfast, the menus of the old diners and truck stops were similar to those of what our British cousins would call a “greasy spoon.” The American diner breakfast consisted of fried eggs, sausage or bacon, toast, and, depending upon the area of the country, hash browns or country fried potatoes.

In many instances, the coffee was such that the spoon could almost stand upright. Diners, roadside cafes, and greasy spoons have given way to franchised and fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. But even those are disappearing. In St. Augustine, both Burger Chef and Hardee’s have vanished. The closest to the old diners in most instances are the ubiquitous Waffle and Huddle Houses that dot the landscape.

In the UK, the greasy spoons have also given way to franchised and fast food restaurants. In the service plazas for most motorways, there are fast food restaurants such as Burger King. However, to pay homage to the old menus, some motorways also have a café (pronounced “caff”) which has the traditional local breakfast.

Thus, on one motorway, the writer tried the featured “traditional English breakfast.” It consisted of sausage, fried eggs, toast, broiled tomato, a factory-made pre-formed deep-fried “hash brown” potato patty, and Heinz beans.

In Cornwall, the writer had a “traditional Cornish breakfast” consisting of sausage, fried eggs, toast, broiled tomato, a factory-made pre-formed deep-fried “hash brown” potato patty, and Heinz beans.

In northern Scotland, the writer found a restaurant that had a “traditional Scottish breakfast.” The traditional breakfast was sausage, fried eggs, toast, broiled tomato, a factory-made pre-formed deep-fried “hash brown” potato patty, and Heinz beans.

The traditional Yorkshire breakfast served just past Robin Hoods Bay, was, you guessed it, sausage, fried eggs, toast, broiled tomato, a factory-made pre-formed deep-fried “hash brown” potato patty, and Heinz beans.

One may also have English bacon. “American” or “streaky bacon” is generally not available.

The only difference in the regional menus was in Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy, where as an addition to the fare, there was available “black pudding.” As the writer contemplated the black pudding, the cook shook his head “no.”

In Scotland, however, there are some regional differences. Some menus will feature the ubiquitous Scottish haggis. But even Scotland, is giving way to “fusion” menus. In one “caff,” the writer lunched on a cheddar and haggis panini.

Burger King featured a hamburger known as a “Double Whopper Texican” containing 1,238 calories, dressed with taco coated chili con carne patties, spicy jalapenos, onion, crispy lettuce and Cajun mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun. But it was tasty.

The Mexican government protested. It caused an international controversy.

On return to St. Augustine, the writer went into the Burger King (now razed and replaced by another chicken restaurant), but lo, the Double Whopper Texican was not available — perhaps a victim of political correctness, but also, perhaps a good thing.

Eating one’s way across Britain, the writer gained a 1/2 stone (seven pounds).

Geoff Dobson, a St Augustine resident for the past 33 years, is a western and Florida history writer and was former General Counsel for the Florida Department of Transportation. He is a former president of the St. Augustine Historical Society and a regular contributor of nostalgic memories to Historic City News. Before his parents moved to Florida, his father was a Black Angus cattleman. Geoff has written extensively on Wyoming history (“Wyoming Tales and Trails”). When Geoff was in high school, his family lived in the cattle country of eastern Sarasota County. The family spread, which his parents called “Wild Cat Slough,” was reachable only by a pair of ruts over the sand hills and through a snake and gator infested slough. Now, it is an area of four-lane roads, expensive subdivisions, shopping centers, and office parks. . His undergraduate degree is in history. Geoff received his post-graduate degree from the University of Florida. He may be reached at horse.creek.cowboy@gmail.com