Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-30
Some Things You Want to Know
Quick Lunch Rooms.

The quick lunch room is a peculiarly dis
tinctive American institution. It Is the
creature and the symbol Of that hustle
and hurry which has enabled the American
business man to DO ten times "a, much
work IN a decade as can be done by all
his foreign competitors together. 1t Is
also tho omen and nugury OF the certain
dyspeptic death to which Americans arc
consigned. individually and collectively, by
vegetsrinns. F1etchorites. physicians and
Englishmen. Furthermore, the quick lunch
room Is generally. sometimes with justice
accused OF being tho great mart in which
food adulterators turn into gold the hon
est hunger Of innocent men, without ro-
gard for the future security OF those hon
est and innocent stomGchs.
Unfortunately It has become the fashion
to decry the quick lunch room as an un-
mixed evil, when. on the showing OF
facts. Americans should be as proud OF
Il az OF any other distinctive red-white-
and-blue eagle feather grown entirely on
home soil. True, Il Is an institution which
could not exist in any otnsr country. But
that is due rather to the superiority OF
America than to the inferiority OF the
quick lunch room.
Despite the high cost Of living in Amer
lea, despite the food trusts and the cold
storage combines despite high wages and
general prosperity. the American quick
lunch room offers better food for the
money. quantity and quality both con-
sidered, than can be obtained anywhere
else on earth. The American restaurant
may be inferior to those Of Europe and
1t certainly is higher priced, but the quick
lunch room stands unexcelled in its field
In Boston the quick lunch purveyor may
succeed only by virtue OF his excellent
beans and pie. In New York the fame OF
good beef and win spread even farther
than the odor Of the cabbage 50 succinetly
indicated by that word and" In Baltimore
and washington the successful lunch room
must provide Maryland biscuits lit for epl-
cures, and good milk wherewith 70 wash
them down. In Charleston the lunch room
Is impossible. for the people dine at 9
o'clock In the afternoon. for the good and
sufficient reason that Queen Anne had her
principal meal at that hour. In Atlanta,
where the spirit of hustle is at high tide.
the lunohroom cocks have combined the
culinary economy Of Athens and Sparta
with the kitchen prodigality Of the old
south. The lunch comes quickly. but there
Is hot bread on the side.
Chicago took a German bakery and az
panded It into a system Of quick lunch-
rooms capable Of feeding 5000 people be-
tween 1880 and 12:aS. catering to all tastes
and all nationalities. Farther west the
lunch counter Is high and the customer
perches himself on a very Eiffel tower Of
stool, but the prices come down. Texas
towns know the taste Of real chilli con-
carne and the delicious odor OF genuine
taulales. The Pacific coast cities afford ell
| the kinds OF lunchrooms that the whole
country boasts. for the Pacific coast cities
are each one the whole Of the United States
in epitome.
Responsive. therefore, to local traditions
OF taste, and differing IN details, the quick
lunch room Is nevertheless much the same
In every part Of the country. Every one OF
them claims to serve unsurpassed coffee,
every one makes pie the chief article OF
diet and every one furnishes toothpioks ad
libitum. 1t may be a huge room in which a
thousands people sit ct marble-topped ia
bles piled high with paper napkins. served
quickly and smartly by uniformed girl wait-
ers. 1t may be an artiflcially lighted base
ment, where each customer gathers plate,
knife and fork and then passes in process
sion before the roast to be served, later
computing his own bill and paying it as he
passes the mountain of tOothpicks Or II
may be tiled hall filled with big chairs,
one arm Of which is expanded into an ell
bow table. from which coffee and pie, bis
cults and milk. may be taken in comfort
and comparative leisure. But whatever the
system, whatever he menu, whatever the
service. ten minutes is a long time to eat
and Is cents Is not at all a small check.
\ Perhaps the faetory-made pies are bad
for our digestion. but DR.. Wiley is doing
much to cure that Perhaps the strong
coffee is bad for our nerves. but It Is
better than adulterated whiskey. Perhaps
the ten minutes isn't long enough for a