• 3 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 724
    Does anyone have any memories of these restaurants? Eating at these places was like stepping into a time warp back to the 60's....nice old ladies with hairnets would serve up some of the best comfort foods around like salisbury steak, meatloaf, and grilled cheese sandwiches.
    I used to love going there as a treat back around 1992-1996. There was one left over in Pembroke Mall in VA Beach. I was so sad when it finally closed in '96!
    Anyone remember these great *authentically* retro diners?
    "Ease on down, Ease on down the road
    come on, Ease on down, Ease on down the road
    don't you carry nothing that might be a load come on, Ease on down Ease on down, down the road"


    --The Wiz
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      • 3 years 7 months ago
      • Posts: 845
      I think you should write an article about this restaurant. It would be interesting to see how many people remember them.
      "I've lead you down the road to Nostalgia, now it's your turn"


      "Pandamonium (PANDA!)"
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        • 3 years 7 months ago
        • Posts: 498
        I remember them I wish I had a meal at one.I bet the food was unique.
        Being ol' school may have happened in the past but it WILL ALWAYS be my present and future
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          • 3 years 7 months ago
          • Posts: 724
          The good thing about the food was that it was good, well-made American comfort foods. There wasn't anything adventurous or exotic about the diners--what made it great was the authentic retro atmosphere. I have gone to other diners built in the 90's and 2000's striving for a kitschy 'retro' look and although they've been fun, the Woolworth's diners were the real thing. It truly felt like you were back in 1962, from the decor to the old-fashioned meals. Too bad they're all gone, now!
          "Ease on down, Ease on down the road
          come on, Ease on down, Ease on down the road
          don't you carry nothing that might be a load come on, Ease on down Ease on down, down the road"


          --The Wiz
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            • 3 years 7 months ago
            • Posts: 693
            I remember there being a Woolworth's complete w/ lunch counter and old ladies in the eighties but I think the place went out of business in the mid to late nineties. I didn't ever eat there because I'd spend all of my money on baseball cards from Woolworth's
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              • 3 years 7 months ago
              • Posts: 724
              elron wrote:
              I remember there being a Woolworth's complete w/ lunch counter and old ladies in the eighties but I think the place went out of business in the mid to late nineties. I didn't ever eat there because I'd spend all of my money on baseball cards from Woolworth's



              Yup, mid-90's--that's when my local Woolworth's store and diner closed down, around 1996.
              I miss the store too. I remember it for its affordable perfume and candy bins.
              "Ease on down, Ease on down the road
              come on, Ease on down, Ease on down the road
              don't you carry nothing that might be a load come on, Ease on down Ease on down, down the road"


              --The Wiz
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                • 3 years 7 months ago
                • Posts: 136
                Pudgietheparrot wrote:
                Does anyone have any memories of these restaurants? Eating at these places was like stepping into a time warp back to the 60's....nice old ladies with hairnets would serve up some of the best comfort foods around like salisbury steak, meatloaf, and grilled cheese sandwiches.
                I used to love going there as a treat back around 1992-1996. There was one left over in Pembroke Mall in VA Beach. I was so sad when it finally closed in '96!
                Anyone remember these great *authentically* retro diners?


                I LOVED the Woolworth's & K-Mart cafeterias when I was a kid, they always had those cool juice machines that churned the juice inside of the transparent tank on top of the dispenser & every time you walked by the cafeterias, the food smelled awesome.

                I also used to like getting the red "slush puppy" things from K-Mart. :D
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                  • 3 years 7 months ago
                  • Posts: 3411
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                  I didn't really get to see these. Most of the restaurants in stores I've been in over the years have been fast food franchises. Little Caesar's, for example, was at a K-Mart a little over half-an-hour away from my house. The K-Mart became a Wal-Mart, and I forget what restaurants went in there. The Wal-Mart I work at, though, has a Subway restaurant.
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                    • 3 years 7 months ago
                    • Posts: 74809
                    Caps_2.0 wrote:
                    I didn't really get to see these. Most of the restaurants in stores I've been in over the years have been fast food franchises. Little Caesar's, for example, was at a K-Mart a little over half-an-hour away from my house. The K-Mart became a Wal-Mart, and I forget what restaurants went in there. The Wal-Mart I work at, though, has a Subway restaurant.


                    There's a Super K near me that has a cafe in it.
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                      • 3 years 7 months ago
                      • Posts: 355
                      Many stores (you'd never expect) had their own restaurants inside. JCPenney's and Sears come to mind.
                      N
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                        • 3 years 7 months ago
                        • Posts: 2882
                        DebrisStorm wrote:
                        Caps_2.0 wrote:
                        I didn't really get to see these. Most of the restaurants in stores I've been in over the years have been fast food franchises. Little Caesar's, for example, was at a K-Mart a little over half-an-hour away from my house. The K-Mart became a Wal-Mart, and I forget what restaurants went in there. The Wal-Mart I work at, though, has a Subway restaurant.


                        There's a Super K near me that has a cafe in it.


                        Is that the new name for K-Mart?
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                          • 3 years 7 months ago
                          • Posts: 504
                          Guessing it was only in US seeing as how i don't have a clue what yur talking about lol
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                            • 3 years 7 months ago
                            • Posts: 177
                            I know about one... It was the main dinner on the way to our Capital city (reykjavík) It was first opened in 1960.. but was moved to a new place in 2010. :( It was like so sad.. THE OLD HOUSE had this special warm welcome feeling to it.. the new diner has the NEW 2010s Gas Station feel to it ... nothing special -.-

                            I'll always miss you in the 20-40 times I stopped there from 2000 - 2007.

                            RIP. 1960 - 2010 (sirca) :(

                            There are two other diners I know about, both of them opened in the 1930's and are still classic, but I nearly never stopped there. 2-3 times since 2000 in each.
                            In memoriam: "A 2002"
                            1987 - 2005
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                              • 3 years 7 months ago
                              • Posts: 390
                              I remember Woolworth's diners back in the 80's. I loved Woolworth's, they had everything. The diner was cool, they sold video games and I always had to go check out the fish tanks and birds for sale. I can't remember when ours closed down.
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                                • 3 years 7 months ago
                                • Posts: 74809
                                I think one of them around Pittsburgh had the diner. Don't remember if they all did though.
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                                  • 3 years 5 months ago
                                  • Posts: 19
                                  I remember the Woolworth's snack bars/cafeterias, whatever you call them. They were awesome, and it was a real (and rare) treat when mom would let us get something there. It's sad that these types of things have become a thing of the past.

                                  The Target store in my neck of the woods has it's 'own' snack bar (meaning, not a McDonald's or Subway) and it's alright I guess, but certainly nothing like the aforementioned cafeterias, as they pretty much just serve fast food. :?
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                                    • 3 years 5 months ago
                                    • Posts: 3807
                                    I don't remember our local Woolworth's having a place to eat. Were these more common in rural areas?
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                                      • 3 years 4 months ago
                                      • Posts: 1771
                                      Pudgietheparrot wrote:
                                      the Woolworth's diners were the real thing. It truly felt like you were back in 1962, from the decor to the old-fashioned meals. Too bad they're all gone, now!
                                      Did they let black people sit at the counter, though?
                                      tangspot2 wrote:
                                      Mrs. stake you say some nasty on my threads. Dirty bitch
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                                        • 3 years 4 months ago
                                        • Posts: 724
                                        stake_n_sheak wrote:
                                        Pudgietheparrot wrote:
                                        the Woolworth's diners were the real thing. It truly felt like you were back in 1962, from the decor to the old-fashioned meals. Too bad they're all gone, now!
                                        Did they let black people sit at the counter, though?


                                        :shock:

                                        You mean in the 60's or the 90's? I know that Virginia of the 50's and 60's had Jim Crow but by the time I got to eating there 30 years later, anyone could sit and eat where they pleased. My mom is Black and we always had a great time.

                                        "Ease on down, Ease on down the road
                                        come on, Ease on down, Ease on down the road
                                        don't you carry nothing that might be a load come on, Ease on down Ease on down, down the road"


                                        --The Wiz
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                                          • 3 years 4 months ago
                                          • Posts: 724
                                          Sunriser wrote:
                                          I don't remember our local Woolworth's having a place to eat. Were these more common in rural areas?



                                          I don't think so...the one I ate at was in a pretty busy and large city, VA Beach, inside a place called Pembroke Mall.
                                          It definitely wasn't a rural town. I should google the woolworth diners and see whether they were common or not.
                                          "Ease on down, Ease on down the road
                                          come on, Ease on down, Ease on down the road
                                          don't you carry nothing that might be a load come on, Ease on down Ease on down, down the road"


                                          --The Wiz
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