The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-08-19

A Glance at Restaurants and Features
Dividing Them Into Good and Bad.
Tie Eating-HOuss Cryer and What Walters
Have to Do When the Tables Are Crowded
with Ravenously Hungry Customers.

cussion an evening or two since, when a traveller
remarked that he often went to theafers to
study human nature as shown in the audiences.
But I can derive almost as much pleasure from
taking a secluded seat in some restaurant" he
con tinued. ''and from my unsupported position
observe without being seen. You have no idea
of the queer things that happen and of the
amusing incidents that the walters have to con-
tend with. Your city Is one that is wonderfully
rich in restaurants and dining-halls for its size.
and. what is more. they are almost invariably Of
o good order. OF course ono expects to meet
with the sharper who calls ont in . loud voice
that . good square meal can be had 10 the house
for Is cents. Such men can be found in every
large city. Blu. although their places are called
restaurants it is q misnomer. And still they do
not reach here the low rank that o good many
similar eating houses do 10 . number Of cities /
could name"
Extremes are met with in every branch OF
work and business. A saloon, for example, is
either what ia termed tony. or il is far below any
conception of indecsncy. So with everything.
either the aristocratic or the disreputable pre-
walls. The public dinine-houses are certainly no
exception, for none completely swindle. while
the majority are willing to meet the demands Of
their customers If such are promptly paid for.
The dividing line between the better class and
the more humble restaurants is the employment
Of O runner" whose presence always knocks
of half the value of a meal In the
mind Of the incre9ulous, and whose
absence is a warrant for fair treatment.
The trade Of the 'runnerless' restaurant, then,
Is the better trade. Its customers are regular
and transient, but here the system of holding
permanent chairs exists, which often leads to
. marked partiality on the part of the walters.
Some OF these houses are finely furnished. Con-
spicuous in the furnishings are the large mirrors
on the side and end walls. They are the cause
of many amusing incidents 81 have seen the
most shrewd men. and women. too" said a
cashier, recently, "cCme in and. with q start,
ure pass by. They always look as if they would
submit to almost any harsh treatment
when they see the figure move as
they move. The mirrors will fool the
wisest IL they are not accustomed to
their deceptions-" The popularity of a restau-
rant depends upon its decorations far more than
zone would think. The bill OF fare reads far
moro in sitingly if overhead are ~orpamented
chandeliers and everywhere adornments OF a
delicate and inviting beauty. A furnished cas-
TOR. pewter spoon or q cracked plate are triies
when compared to . ravaging hunger, but new
ertheless q meal served without these gentle re-
miuders of carelessness and poverty is far more
palatable.
In the second class Of eating-houses one meets
with q most varied and perchsnce q more inter-
esting class of customers. Here the question Of
furniture. of wall decoration o. of any orna-
mental accessories, Is quite forgotten as the de-
mands for the satisfaction Of the inner man grow
more and more imperative. Eating is distinct
lively the function OF such establishments.
Here are found the runner" who announces
that 'there is fried chicken. soup. vegetables,
fruffa and IN fart n pond gnnara maal with all
the latest market products included, and all for
three nickles. q dime AND q half A peculiar
skill Is always attached to the way In
which these runners handle their words.
Il gives an attractive sound to the adroitly
arranged sentence. and makes his v ictory over
the unsuspecting passer-by quite often an
easy one. However. his looks would seldom en-
courage any well-thinking individual 20 couple
with them an overdose OF conscientious scruple.
Not that he is of villainous visage, but there 10
an uncouthness. q coarse roughness that is the
badge OF his Office, and which, despite the half
exposed shirt front, the dszzliug paste solitaire
and the heavy watch fob, is not entirely obliter-
ated by artificial means. His sole object is to
fill his employers tables, and this he generally
does. Before the old Union Depot was removed,
Louisiana street was always q great restaurant
thorouehtare. Passing along its walks, the
traveller either In reaching Meridian or Illinois
street would be compelled to run the gauntlet
Of clsmoring hackmen on the one hand and am
bilious caterers on the other. But the building
of the new station has ended the
thriving career of these economists. and
as . result, they were driven elsewhere in
the city for location. Illinois street on the
north and the entire neiRhborhood south OF the
Union station is the center for such anti-a.isto-
cratic restaurants, forming a complete sur
rounding siege upon the wary traveller. The
country trade is one upon which they depend to
o great extent,sfc the sun-broiled farmer from
the harvest field, who has been accustomed TO
plain food and an abundance Of ii, is very well
AetaGA " E4aA aUtDn 4nn aA~e 80
enough of the 'substantials" out of one Of their
famous square meals TO satiate his hunger until
he reaches home.
Almost gil of the restaurants Of indianapolis
employ young women for walters claiming that
they are not only heater and more attractive,
but that they are more active and moro endur-
ing than are any men that can be induced 10 fill
their places, 1t is remarkable how agile some
of them are. You would hardly believe it said
q young woman waiter recently. as she spread out
an inviting meal before the reporter, ''but I
have had as many as twenty orders in the
kitchen at one time. II wouldn't pay US. you
see, to take q mans order and then walt for it
to be filed. We must keen on the go all the
time, aud as soon as We have given in one order
TO the cook. We must zone back to the dining
room and receive others. 1t keeps US busy on
days when we have a rush to remember just
what each man has ordered, but | have not
known Of q mistake here for weeks" And so il
is, q man sends in o special order perhaps. and
while IL Is being prepared the waiter has re-
ceived, say, q half dozen other orders. In this
way each trip she makes to and from the
kitchen is accompanied with q heavy load of
dishes either empty or steaming with q tempt
log dinner. The walters receive no more than
50 a week and oftener less.
From Z o'clock in the morning until 6 at night,
with q few spare hours in the afternoon. they
are kept busy administering to the wants of
their customers. As high as twelve hundred
people are fed in that space of time at some
popular restaurants, on days when trade is the
liveliest. and where six girls are employed it eau
be readily seen that q fair share of the work Is
liable TO become tiresome 20 one person. The
great daily importing Of the delegations who
come to pay respectful tribute to the Nations
next President has already brought many
thousand dollars to the city, so it is claimed,
and of this a large portion has gone TO the hotels
and eating-houses- State-fair week is another
rich harvest time for restaurant men, when
still more is their rural trade increased.
Saloons and restaurants combined are not as
numerous here as compared with other places.
They form an excellent screen behind which the
Sunday liquor law Gao be evaded, but the lat
ters stric. enforcement by the city police makes
a violation too venturesome to be practical. The
free lunches" of course. prevail They are as
popular here as elsewhere, although perhaps
not 80 generously spread. drawing for their GUS
toners mostly the individual who is too hard MP
to buy . meal, but who has a spare nickle for
beer. Sach places are distinctively popular
with that class. There is one amusing feature
about O restaurant that is particularly noticea-
Bile during these Gays OF ~crowding visitors. 1t
is the utter ignorance on the part of many of
tie laws and customs regulating a dining