Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-03-15
FRANCISCO LETTER.
Irnox our REGULAR ooRnEsroxDxSr.]
THE RESTAURANTS OF SAN
FRANCISCO.
FERMENTATION NO. 8.

xAhA0hhot q AN Va 49,
there is none so we'll known
rs that Of the What Cheer House. The
fame of the hotel, and the restaurant
with 1t, has penetrated from one end
of the coast to the other. The Califor-
nia-bound passenger hears of it at
Panama, and the overland traveller at
Chicago. 1t has accompanied the pros
pector in his explorations, and the i'm
migrant in his search for n new home.
The "honest miner" has sung Its
praises in every mining camp in the
Pacific States and Territories, and
there is not q settlement from Alaska
to Arizona but at some time or other
has unfavorably compared the "grub"
Of its Pioneer Hotel with What Cheer
House fare. The What Cheer House
of to-day is very different from what
it was three years ago. If it's glory
has not altogether departed, it has
been eclipsed by other and cheaper
hotels, SO that compared with what 1t
once was. 1t seems to have fallen into
q sere and yellow leaf, like n hotel that
has almost outlived its usefulness. The
restaurant connected with the house
has in n Measure shared its fortunes.
True, at meal times every table Is oc-
cupicd, and the nimble walters have
rs much as they can doto attend to the
wants of the hungry Eruption, but the
"rush" Is soon over, and until the next
regular meal hour there Is only a
sprinkling of customers. Formerly
about four thousand meals q day were
served, at an average price Of twenty
cents per head, but three thousand Is
now a busy day, though the average
price continues the same.
Nosn ~ the What Cheer.
To see the What Cheer restaurant as
1t ought to be seen, the curious visitor
should 90 there q little after noon.
Then all of Its four hundred chairs are
occupied, and many, unable to get
seats, are waiting for q vacancy. The
clatter of knives, forks, spoons and
dishes, as four hundred pair Of hands
shovel soup, meat and pie down four
Hundred threats, the shouting and
bawling Of five and twenty walters as
they demand from the seven cooks the
provisions ordered by the hungry four
hundred, the pyramidal piles of prov
ender-laden crockery that are borne
ont of the kitchen, and the pyramidal
piles of greasy, dirty crockery that are
borne into the kitchen; the aroma,
indescribable, all-pervading and to-be-
tasted, that alike enwraps diners and
servers; and the staid, specialized clerk
who sits behind tho counter to receive
the rill of small silver flowing into his
Golfer; the hustle, the rattle, the Or
derly confusion ; and the odor Of all
this can be so much better imagined
than told, that to the imagination Is
left the task Of filling up the picture.
In twenty minutes-from ten minutes
past twelve to half past-onc hog, dis
guised rs roast pork, salt pork, bacon
and ham,, two sheep I'm tho shape of
| boiled mutton, roast mutton and NUT
ton chopsL the greater part Of q bull
lock. Converted Into corncd beef, roast
beef and becfsteaksl together with n
few bushels Of potatoes, seventy loayes
Of bread, twenty pounds of butter,
and soup, pudding and vegetables in
quantities unknown; arc brought out
from the kitthcn, placed OH the tables
and sent on another stage of their eter-
nal rolnd-grass, mutton, man; man,
grass, BULLOCK.
A Candid Bill OF Fare.
The What Cheer bill of fare recog-
nizes the fact that most of the patrons
Of the house have the slimmest purses.
1t says plainly-though MOTH words
I'VE have reduced our prices within
one Shade of the actual cost Of the food
we furnish; therefore we can throw in
no extras. 10 give celery, Ice, heets
and pickles free, or to provide the
morning and evening papers, is more
than We can afford. If you want these
you must go elsewhere" Butter
free with two ten-cent Dishes" and
"Molasses free with hot cakes" Is all
that the What Cheer gives away.
Everything else must be paid for. This
restaurant was the first place in San
Francisco that put t~iye-cent pieces In
circulation, and if the times continue
rs dull rs they have been for n year or
two longer, It will probably DO tho
first to introduce the nickel coinage.
The What Cheer House Kitchen
has n aeservedly high reputation for
cleanliness. 1t Is not pleasant to have
to eat ones allotted peck of dirt all Mt
once. There are few but would prefer
to have it spread over a lifetime, and
to all such this kitchen must commend
Itself. 1t is opon for inspection at any
time, and the chief cook, If he Is not
very busy, takes a pride in showing
people round. Everything that water,
soap, paint and hard work can do to
keep the place fresh aud sweet isdone.
The copper pans shine like FURNISHED
gold, the tables are snowy white, the
| floor Is rs clean rs tine floor Of a skating
rink, aud the ventilation Is perfect.
There Is mo c%rowding. The seven
cooks and five dishwashers never get
in each others way. Each has a range
to himself, and sticks closely to 1t.
One does nothing all day but make
hot cakes; a second nothing but broll
steaks and chops a third attends to
the soups and Joints; a fourth to the
vegetables; and the others to the
baking, frying and small dishes. The
mutton and pork come from the pro.
prietor's ranch In Sonoma county, and
are of the very best quality. The beef
Is purchased by the carcass, and the
flour, sugar, ten and coffee from first
hands, sometimes by the cargo. The
refuse from the tables is sent out to
Woodward's Gardens every morning,
where it assists in making lion and
tiger. The average weekly consump-
ton of the principal articles OF food Is
as follows : Flour, 5000 pounds; NUT
ton, $500 pounds; beef, 400 pounds;
pork. GOO pounds; coffee, 700 pounds;
tea, 400 pounds; sugar, 1900 pounds;
f