The times., 1901-04-21
THE QUICK MIDDAY MEAL
Profits Enjoyed by the Owners of
Modern Luncheon Counters.

An Jnpretentious Busiaess That rs
Constantly EncroaCaing Upon Eat
ing Houses of Greater Nofe-PIe
Hnd Eohee Prominent on the NcRu.
For those people who leave their homes
in the residence part Of the city or "a the
suburbs in the morning and remain in
the business sections until evening the
question how and whore 30 get the mid
day meal has always been an important
one In the early days of the city il
was possible for a man TO 90 TO his home
from his business at the luncheon hour.
: notwithstanding the imperfect and slow
means OF transportation. But only the
oldest inha bitants can remember those
days. and the custom of taking luncheon
downtown has been an established rule
for many years. In the dry goods AMI
wholesale districts good restaurants have
fiourished for many years. There mer-
chants meet buyers. and many business
transactions are cOnsummated over eiab-
crate meals that masquerade as lunch
cons. Near the large restaurants less
pretentious establishments are maintained
for the accommodation of clerks. small
buyers whose trade is not of sufficient i'm
ing. and for ''transients With few ex-
ceDtions these restaurants derive a great
profit from their bar trade and in many
instances the drinks net the proprietors
more than the food
Some years ago the dairy lunch" made
its appearance in the business district and
men who had been unable until then to
Ind restaurant to their taste one where
no Intoxicating drinks were sold ceased
bringing their midday luncheon from home
and patrOniZed the new places where hot
coffee and sandwiches and other light food
could be had at a reasonable price. The
dairy lunch was success from the frst
and within a few years the modest little
places grew to be big establishments. and
were crowded daily for several hours with
men and women who in most instances
waited upon themselves from counters.
where everything except the hot drinks
were kept Coffee or tea at cents a cup
and sandwiches or cakes at the same price
were the chief attractions The large
restaurants and many luncheon clubs still
flourish, but the quick lunch places are
also growing in popularity. and competi-
tion has done much toward improving
them.
About five years ago it occurred to a
man who had little coffee and cake stand
in the lower part of the city that there
were many people in New York who could
not afford to pay cents for a cup of
coffee or tea or a bowl OF milk and mas
much as these prices had enriched the
prOprietOrS OF the quick lunch places il
might be a profitable scheme 10 start
similar establishment with cut prices. Act
ing on the thought. he opened little place
in Frankfort Street. and sold coffee at ?
cents cup, sandwiches at cents each.
and cuts of pie and pieces of cake at
cents.
1T was hard work at first" he said,
because people thought that they would
get poor stuff. But those who came once
came again. and it wasn't long before the
place was paving and my customers were
saving three cents on every cup OF coffee
and two cents on every sandwich. and
that amounts TO something with people
who look to the pennies.
Presently d branch establishment was
started in Beekman Street. and a BOwery
place soon followed In all Of these places
The expenses were kept down 10 the lowest
notch by employing as little help as pos
sible- There were no waiters. and the bill
of fare included nothing perishable What
was left unSOid one day could be disposed -
of he next. Customers helped themselves
10 Nhat they wanted. and paid for il be-
fore they sat down at the tables or be-
fore the marble shelf along the wall which
served a rest for the plates and cups
The places were kept clean, and custO-
mers were provided with paper napkins
The Establishments paid because the ar
ticles of food We're purchased in large
quantities at bottom prices. and the
bread. rolls. and cakes were baked by the
concern. The man who opened the little
place with twO-cent coffee as the chief
now has twenty similar places
in New York and within a year hopes to
open several more.
One advantage which these places have
over the ordinary downtown restaurant
is that their business hours are longer.
SOrae OF them are open for business as
early as > o'clock in the morning and re-
main open until midnight. and many mere
are open all day and all night.
In the bakery, which is a prominent
feature of the business. thirty Thousand
cakes are turned out daily, and about
5000 lOaves Of bread The consumption Of
coffee Is from Z30 TO 300 pounds day.
The 2-cent cup of coffee" is largely milk
and for that reason a pound of ground
coffee viii, with the added Ingredients.
make dDodt ~" cups OF the beverage. Ihe
dark deccCtiOn Is served from iIrus con-
tanning ten gallons. \ glass gauge on the
outside OF the urn tells the coffee m@n
how much the urn contains. and the color
indicates the strength The ground coffee.
ChicOry. and whatever else is necessary
To give the coffee the proper taste, color.
and other qualities 10 make
it surprising. surprising, or 'Su-
perior." are contained in a bag which IS
suspended in the urn. When the quantity
gets low, water is added while the color
lasts. md when that gives out, new ma
terial is put into the bag The cups in
which the coffee is served hold about a
half-pint.
The avera ge number of customers at
each Of the restaurants IS ! 600, which
makes 20.000 a day for the business as a
whOie-a pretty good showing for an en-
terprise which has grown out of a 2-cent
coffee counter in five years.
Pie, which is an important item on the
cheap restaurant bill of fare. is not made
by the concern. but is purchased in large
quantities from one of the pie fOun-
dries. Near one of the 2-ceut restaurants
small placGrds were recently posted in
which the public was warned against eat
ing ''scab pie. 1t was explained that this
was not "A hit against the enterprlsing
coffee and cake man. but was aimed AT a
restaurant in the neighbOThO0d whore pies
were sold that did not bear the Bakers
Mon imprint
1T makes no difference which house you
want 10 hurt said emplOye in one
IF the restaurants. YOU don't improve
peoples appetite Tor pie by showing 'scab
lie notices under their noses New York
Tribune.
PEARLS IN NEW JERSEY RIVERS
One of Great Value l.
Discovered.