The sun., 1897-07-18
LUNCHES FOR EVERYBODY.
NO END OF VARIETY TO SUIT
TASTE AND POCKET IN THIS CITY.
Yon May ST and Eat for Doiiars stand ana
Eat for Dtniee, nnd You May Have Your
Choice or All the style. eT Cooking that the
Civilized world AnOFds.

Choice OF All the style. er Cooking Thnt the |
CiyiIiSed world AHOrds. |
Along one side Of marble-lined lunch room |
downtown thcre stretches counter, and It's ap- |
pearance at few minutes before noon changes
very little from day to day. 1t is spread with |
bowls OF salad and plates of cold meat with piles
Of sandwiches between them. Whlte-jacketed
walters, on demand, produce from my mysterious
compartments behind this counter dishes of
more varied character. At L. o'clock daily tho
inviting stretch Of marble would groan under the
ropast II the traditional groan had not been al
lotted by history TO the mahogany only. Mar
BILE has no precedent for expressing itself in
this way, 80 the coun,er keeps still. Two hours
later 1t is empty. The dishes are gone; the ac-
cidental sandwich that may have been over
looked In the onslaught just concluded seems
dosolate. Tho walters find no more to do than
to clear away few odds and ends which they
collect pathetically, In view of the contrast of
the scene Of two hours before But the army of
lunchers has passed and left behind its daily
track Of desolation.
few steps across q hallway Is another bat
tleheld Of tho lunching army; but here no such
contrasts mark the beginning and close OF tho
daily engagement. White tables are scat
tered over q marble floor, and thoy are adorned
with heavy silver and thin china. Here tho
short time is not to be seen. Skilled walters
move with tho haste which conceals haste. Here
IN neither hustle nor noise. The men who como
here need not hurry away. Cigars and liquors
are likely to follow the luncheon, and tho groups
about the tables linger. At o'clock one room
Is deserted, while the walters contemplate In
solitude the havoc Of the raid; but . o'clock In
tho other room finds groups still arriving.
These are two scenes that represent an av-
erage in the lunching experience of most busi-
ness men downtown. Both these restaurants
are places Of tho most expensive class. Ono OF
them is fair example Of the place in which
well to-do-man whose time is limited will take
luncheon; the other is the place that nobody will
DO likely to go to unless he has tho time to eat at
his leisure and tho money to pay a high price
for what he gets. Quito apart from these
amples is another species Of lunch room, which
forms the antithesis TO the class in which tho
two places just described are included. This
Is the quick lunch," which in spite Of abuse
and criticism has grown and prospcred mar.
vellously and is spreading itself around the city
| every day. Doctors may contend that diges-
tions are ruined and what they say may be
| true, but the quick lunch" could never have
reached its present proportions unless it was
| founded upon some deep-scated trait in tho
American character. For the last four years it
has gained steadily in popularity and one Of its
| downtown places must be included In q consd-
GRAFTON Of the lunching question
| From 10 o'clock until 1l:3O a long, rather
narrow room supplied with tables and chairs
| and capable of seating $40 persons is filed
| rather sparingly. Two three men may be
| found at one table and one or Two at another,
but the chief industry at this time is prepara-
| tion for the great wave of business that Is to
break over the place at midday. 1t comes ike
o., can
so casual arrivals as early as II o'clock indi-
cate that the storm il coming AS the rain
drops rapidly multiply the number OF arrivals
grows larger and larger until every one OF the
$40 seats in that place is occupied, and quar-
ter Of them may have men waiting behind "a
take the paces OF occupants. Hero the wait
ers are women bringing the food with remarka.
BILE Quickness, keeping the orders separated with
astonishing facility, and marking the checks
with an exactness that is rarely at fault. The
confusion Of the scene Is OF course, appalling
The noise is dreadful. Along each side OF the
narrow tables men sit SO closely together that
their elbows almost touch The men opposi,,
arc not more than two feet away. Along the
tables are liberal plates OF butter and every
ooaid demand Evepyhing % IS ani smpe @
and clean. For three hours every day-from / 30
unclaimed for a minute. The average numbe,
Of men and women who pass daily by the cash
iers desk, put down their tickets punched by
the waitress at the figures that their Mncheont
have cost, and pay the amounts, reaches almost
5000. The average chccS which every man ol
woman pays has been mado subject ofinquiry
II amounts 10 l. cents; that is, 5000 men a1ii
women who daily take their luncheons in thi,
establishment pay on an average II cents each
% cents. Here the money is paid merely TO-
What rs Is put on the tai table there Tiers are ne
rules of the restaurant to either black or whit,
in their dress ;., and are nov, now dtaphanoqs ii
The three places described above illust rate
OF course, the extremes OF the downtown lunci
rooms. One Is the most expensive and th'
, other is the cheapest. Two men who sit dow
to luncheon in the dining room described abor,
$3 at least for what they have, and the rroba
bilites are in favor Of their checks amounting
, TO a great deal more; but their luncheon vii
be the antithesis OF the other described, and ex
ceed by a large proportion the sum paid by tn
average man for what he eats downtown. Il
this place there will be entrtes at 80 cents am
81, and there will s be as well Ig game which ma!
ss I en- sne"Ps ars men the eat
at this price than those at the highest prices
But the aysr@ge ,e price "s luncheon vii not not
the other lunch room the average price for tn
I man who sits down at one OF tho tables will b
% Ss If VIII III bs 81 or g. hf Here whtG the
: order is for one dish only; that with bottle q
rae hods true OF
lunch room. Those places In which a man vii
{ order two three courses are probably no
0 more than three in number, and their patronag
1 comes from men, so far removed from the avci
0 age downtown luncher that they. really play
0 small part in any consideration OF the question
0 These general divisions could bo flied In b
o | restaurants offering no end of variety in thei
particular spocialics or In the matter Of ,prlc,
con man could move by steps OF five cents at
time, so great is the number ana so different th
a scheme OF the restaurants downtown. or tn
i "quck lunch" species there is another develop
ment, the heapinR counters OF pies and sant
0 wiches, with milk. ocon, coffee and tea on III
behind them. and the responsibility Of the Gu,
back to his chair is the kind popular now. Her
the price which the average man pays Is NJ
less than that at the other establish ments ,
Il this kind, where he sits down and Is waite
Is gnf peut" arc lineal Descendants SC Of the ',bu
Z ten years ago. AT these places-and some OF thel
il still exist on lower Broadwey-a man could fc
o small plate Of beans; Or, Or whatever happened
r. cashier when he left the building. The ne
e "quick lunch" places improved on these b
i having their rooms lighter and cleaner and su
a plying chairs. =,