Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-23

coffee and sandwiches, as for many years
these articles comprised the entire menu
of the cheap lunch rooms.
1t cannot be denied that II IS great re-
source to find within three or four min
utes' walk of the business part of the city
clean and well-kept little establishments
where one can go at any hour of the night
or day, week day or Sunday and for 8
cents obtain cup of delicious coffee, with
plenty of rich cream; for another cents a
more or less digestible sandwich or hunk
OF cake or pie, and for 10 or 20 cents fair
meal.
Good Coffee a Requisite.
Good coffee is the first essential Of the
Washington cheap lunch rooms. Some have
better coffee than others. but they all try
to keep up the standard of excellence. AS
soon as it is lowered the custom drops
away with a suddenness that causes the
proprietor to hasten to get back to the old
basis again. Washingtonians are coffee
drinkers, and 1t is fact that a better cup
OF coffee can be obtained in many of the
cheap lunch rooms than in some of the
h1gh-priced restaurants
Inc development of the dairy lunch room
INTO the more pretentious restaurant Is the
outcome Of the last three or four years
The pie, milk and sandwich feature is still
retained, but is subordinated. In these lit
Tie restaurants you can get a modest meal
at small cost. A light breakfast consist
Ing of two soft-boiled eggs, rolls and but
ter and coffee, with cream, comes to 20
cents. Five cents additional will give YOU
shredded wheat biscuit. with plenty of
cream to cover it. Or for 20 cents you
can have country sausage and buckwheat
cakes and coffee. in liberal portions and
well cooked. A white tablecloth, clean sill
yer and glass and napkin, and a we'll
warmed and nicely furnished room, are a
part of the game not to be overlooked.
When lunch time comes you have an
elaborate menu to choose from. Within
% cents you can have soups, chowders
with onff
butter. Within Is cents the range includes
stews baked beans, oysters in many styles
and coffee. There are some rice little
cafes where silver quarter will buy you
soup, nSn, an entree, two vegetables deS-
Sert and coffee
OF course, If the hungry man wants beef
or chops he must pay more, and the bill
reaches 30 to 50 cents. At that he is not
good beef costs money, and there is no
getting around 1t.
Center Market Stands.
Another interesting set of eating places
is found in the Center Market. That s
where you get your moneys worth II
searching for a heavy feed. Drop in some
frosty morning when the odor of ham and
bacon on the nipping atmosphere and the
pungent smell of good coffee brewing per-
wade the neighborhood. There you will
see the lusty countrymen and marketmen
getting away with great dishes of bacon
and eggs, fried potatoes and hot rolls big
pats of country sausage and stacks of buck
wheat cakes. steaks large enough to supply
a small family, and juicy-looking and tempt
ing, too There is clatter of crockery a
great play of knife and fork-mainIy knife
and much hustle and din, but these people
are eating to live. and they are not paying
much for it, either Twenty-Five to 10 cents
is the limit and nobody goes away hungry.
Then see the dinners set out for these
same fellows, who by II o'clock are ready
trenchermen again. Boiled beef and DO
tatoes, Irish stew fit for an Irish king,
jowl and greens. with plenty of both; ba-
con and cabbage; chicken pot pie, and
bread by the loaf. all washed down with
big cups of strong coffee. Again the %
cent piece pays the shot and everybody is
happy.
So 1t Is that with Is cents as the mini
mum and % cents the average no man
with the price need go hungry in Wash