Scenes of the Surreal

[cheerful_deviant]

This afternoon on my way home from a trip to Boston, I stopped at a sub shop to pick up something greasy and unhealthy for supper. The shop was one of a local chain of sub shops. Most are fairly neutral in appearance like most chain fast food resturants. Brightly lit, cream colored paint, light wood paneling with a few generic posters on the wall.

This one was an all together different animal...

Dark wood paneling, yellowed glass lights, looked more like a suburban steak house. On the left wall was a collection of sports memorabilia, balls, posters and jersys, all pretty normal. But there was also a large collection of plastic bobble head dolls of popular sports figures. Also, about a dozen Machbox cars scattered on the shelves for no apparent reason.

On the right was what looked like the decorations from a touristy Maine seafood resturant. Old nets, fishing floats, mini lobster pots and plastic lobsters.

Mixed in thru all of this was framed watercolor posters depicting what appeared to be the pre-civil war souh. Women with big hoop skirts and parisols strolling by rivers, sitting for picnics, etc.

To top it all off, the music playing in the resturant was Latin music, very loud Latin music.

Overall it was one of the more bizarre dining experiences I've had recently. But at least the sub was good.

Anyone else got a weird dining experience?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I love bizarre eateries

I used to stop at this carry-out place in a very bad neighborhood in Chicago because it was on my way home. They had a big window of bullet-proof pexiglass that you ordered from, and they would slide your order out to you on a bullet-proof carousel.

They served two kinds of food: Italian and Chinese, and you could see right into the kitchen. On one side was the Italian chef, a guy with a big moustache with a cigarette in his mouth leaning over all these pots of marinara sauce and pasts, and across from him was the Chinese guy with all his woks and sliced vegetables and little jars of oyster sauce and stuff. It was fun to watch themboth cooking at the same time, the difference in tempo and rhythm and gesture. They never talked to each other.

I also stopped once at a hotdog stand that was under seige. There were two kids who'd got up on the roof somehow and were uncrewing lightbulbs from the sign and throwing them in the street, and the very haried woman inside was trying to fill orders and call the police at the same time. I never did find out what that was about. Fairly decent dog, though.

---dr.M.

 

[herecomestherain]

For some reason we too are drawn to semi-surreal dining experiences. For a long time Sunday evening sees us, my husband and two small children dining at a Vietnamese place in the next suburb. The food is great but Sunday night isn't so busy for the family who run the place. It's possibly the decor that makes it so interesting. It's pretty restrained as far as Viet. eateries, simple reasonably modern tables and chairs but it has the brightest lighting, stacks and stacks of fluoro lights, so the shop stands out like a beacon. Often with the windows all steamed up on a cold winter night. They have a vast wattage of illumination. You could conduct surgery under those lights.

Once inside the effect is amplified by the fact that one whole side of the shop is mirrored so not only do you have the lighting reflected but the whole shop is duplicated in very unsettling way. The light is less than flattering to the complexion I might add! Beyond all that it's a great place to eat, they love our kids and always send them home with something snack on in the car!

 

[Colleen Thomas]

On I-10, after you leave Mississippi, but before you get to the ponchatrain bridge, there used to be a little place with a giant crawdad on the roof. It looked like a shotgunshack, ready to collapse at any moment. From the parking lot (cravel of course) you could see the guy doing up the crawdads in a 55 galon drum over a fire.

Inside, the floor was covered in peanut hulls and there was a basket of peanuts on every table. The walls were full of strange things like Geaux Tigers signs, street signs stolen from the quarter, paintings of the mississippi, and all kindasa steamship stuff like bells.

I don't eat crawfish and the steak was just fair, but the pies were to die for. Especially the chocolate & lemon ice box. I used to make them stop everytime we went down just so I could get a piece of pie. Sadly, it was closed the last time I came through.

-Colly

 

[McKenna]

There is a chain of restaurants in Holland called "Febo." They are more like fast-food places, except they don't offer you places to sit down. Essentially, it's a vending machine for warm, fast food. You put in your guilders (Euros, nowadays,) and pull out your food. There are many glass compartments on a wall about ten or fifteen feet across. Most often you see them facing sidewalks where folks can stop for a quick snack. The food was bascially fried and unhealthy, but mighty tasty. What I wouldn't do for a kroket right about now. Mmm...

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

After nearly fifty years of use, a church in my hometown burned down. For a brief time the congregation was split between two other churches, while new property was found and a basement was constructed.

About that time, a falling-out took place between various members of the congregation. Those who remained could not afford to complete the construction of their church. So, they built a roof over the basement and finished the interior as one big room for their new church — as an interim solution to their financial problem. After eleven years, the congregation finally moved into a new building.

The old church (roofed basement) stood empty for several years until finally it was purchased and put to use as a restaurant. Long before the new owner had thought to buy a special sign, his clientele had named the restaurant The Dugout.

Since it was situated between a local college and the main drag, The Dugout quickly became a hangout for college students, truck drivers, motorcycle gangs, and other iconoclasts, who could appreciate the atmosphere of an always dimly-lit café.

Entering The Dugout required a few moments pause while one’s eyes adjusted to the gloom. Exiting during the day one likewise spent a few moments blinking in the bright light of the real world.

This was my first teen hangout, and the main reason why I got to ride a Harley pillion long before my fifteenth birthday.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

There is a chain of restaurants in Holland called "Febo." They are more like fast-food places, except they don't offer you places to sit down. Essentially, it's a vending machine for warm, fast food. You put in your guilders (Euros, nowadays,) and pull out your food. There are many glass compartments on a wall about ten or fifteen feet across. Most often you see them facing sidewalks where folks can stop for a quick snack. The food was bascially fried and unhealthy, but mighty tasty. What I wouldn't do for a kroket right about now. Mmm...

Sounds like the Automats that we used to have in the states from (someone check me here) 1920 to the 50's?

Anyone know if there are still any around?

 

[ABSTRUSE]

If it's eclectic and eccentric, you know the food must be good. Not everyone can cook and decorate, or we'd all be in jail with Martha.

 

[Edward Teach]

If it's eclectic and eccentric, you know the food must be good. Not everyone can cook and decorate, or we'd all be in jail with Martha.

In jail with Martha....
Talk about your double hits

wouldn't that qulify as cruel and unusual?



Ed

 

[minsue]

Sounds like the Automats that we used to have in the states from (someone check me here) 1920 to the 50's?

Anyone know if there are still any around?

Nope, there aren't.

In the 1970s Horn & Hardart replaced its dying restaurants with Burger King franchises. The generation that ate at these new fast-food outlets didn’t miss the charm of Automats’ fancy fixtures and diverse menu. Upscale power lunchers had no use for Automats’ simple fare.

The last Automat closed in New York City in 1991, lamented by those who remembered what the chain had stood for: quality, service and cleanliness.

From Smithsonian's Meet Me at the Automat

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Nope, there aren't.



From Smithsonian's Meet Me at the Automat

Great article Min, thanks.

It's always sad when something like that disappears. But as is typical, people only want to go there after it's gone. No one went there when it was still open apparently.

 

[Guest]

When I first went to NYC in the mid-60s I had three primary goals: to see Picasso's "Guernica", go to the main library, and eat at an automat. I'm glad I made it in time for the food. The library was like a church for me, and I'll never forget the power of the painting either.

Perdita

 

[SensualCealy]

Last year we travelled to Ocean City Maryland for our anniversary and to show the kids where we went on our honeymoon. On the main drag about 3/4 of the way down to the point before the smaller bridge is a diner car type restraunt. My husband in his wisdom looked up places to eat while we were there, and this was one of them, obviously there wasnt a picture on the site!

We drive by it three times before we actually find that "IT" is the place we were looking for. Slimmy from the outside, a hang out for locals, and inside, well Ive seen bathrooms cleaner!

Now for the food- Totally awesome! Fresh seafood, great fries and nice cold beer.

So if you are ever down that way and driving south, on your left hand side around the new city center is the little diner car Im talking about.

Cealy