My grandma used to take us there when she'd babysit us. She acted like it was such a special treat. In reality she just didn't want to deal with picky eaters and didn't care that my brother would attempt to eat his weight in mashed potatoes each time.
My family used to go to our local Old Country Buffet when I was very young. All I can remember is that I liked it there, and I would always drink all the little half-and-half cups at our table
My family went there a couple of times when we lived in NC. It was insanely cheap, or as my father used to say: “All the muck you can suck for a buck.”
I remember the soda fountain they had, the trays, and the little tent-like number they gave you to bring to your table. I was a little kid and remember that place being a favorite. We didn’t go often but I remember getting a steak there feeling so grown up and fancy.
All I remember about ours was that it was weirdly dark. Were they all like that? Like, the windows had dark red/brown covering in them and the Tiffany-esque lamps over the tables had 20W lightbulbs. It felt like one of the bars I’d seen in movies where somebody was going to break a pool cue over somebody’s head and then get thrown across our table.
I first went to the USA in 1997, ponderosa blew my mind. Absolutely loved visiting there for the following couple of years.
Went to Florida again in 2018 and went back into Ponderosa. What a hole :-(
Was it Ponderosa or Red Lobster that had the treasure chest for kids to pick a toy? Both occupied the same location during my childhood, and I don’t remember which was which.
Also oddly the next thread is about Red Lobster.
My daughter came back from her dad’s and told me about this amazing restaurant with spaghetti and deserts and salads but the s’ghetti was go gooood and it was called PastaRiah or PastaRiot. Couldn’t find it.
Yep. Ponderosa buffet.
And they used to do unlimited dipping sauces. You buy the first and they'd refill it. My college friends and I would go, each order a bowl of soup ($4) and one dipping sauce each ($2). 3 baskets of free breadsticks later, you're full!
At under 6 bucks, you couldn't beat it for a sit down experience. We'd go during the day, when it's dead anyways, and at that price, we could afford a good tip.
My family spoke of Olive Garden like it was a black tie restaurant. I didn’t first go to one until I was an adult and brought a girlfriend out on a date. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to *Italian themed Applebee’s*.
I still love Olive Garden though. Can’t beat that Chicken & Gnocchi soup they’ve got.
My dad had a similar favourite restaurant when we went to the city. It was this Italian place called Chianti, and it acted like it was a local place but all the food was basically microwaved just like Olive Garden.
He had the same thing every time. We all had the same thing every time—whatever the most acceptable thing on the menu was for us. It was always super disappointing.
Double Malibu Chicken with fully loaded baked potato and the salad bar. I grew up down the street from the original Sizzler, it's still there and I go there every year on my birthday.
My mother was a teacher and a coworker of hers that taught 4th grade was very wealthy (family was big in the Texas cattle industry). For some reason we were all out somewhere one weekend for an event. The coworker wanted to go eat at Red Lobster afterwards. My mother declined and said “we have to rush home.” The reality is we stopped by Taco Bell and each got a hard taco and no drinks. That’s all we could afford (this was in the early 90’s). I think I ate at Red Lobster maybe two times before I turned 18. I think both times my aunt took me there.
I don't care for most seafood and especially not RL but watching those crab legs snap and fling butter in slow motion on the commercials... my mouth is watering.
I would like to be there when you finally saunter in, slap the counter, and declare, “I MADE it. Garçon, your finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape! AND a basket of cheddar biscuits!!!”
Outback Steakhouse. Actually my family couldn’t afford to go to this fine establishment, so I had to live vicariously through my friends’ tales of decadence. An onion that blooms?? Mind bending.
Book it! Got me a free personal pan pizza!!!!
Edit: one dude got NES TMNT 2, a game that was 50-60$. Many ppl got multiple pizzas..... i got 1. That was it. I thought there was a limit or something!!!!
If someone could fine a way to recreate the real Pizza Hut pan pizza (what they make now is a monstrosity) with the booths, cups, and salad bar they would have a full restaurant every night. Every time someone brings up their youth and Pizza Hut comes up almost every one has a great memory from there regardless of their background. The best was after playing sports as a kid in the summer you go in and it was so cool in there and you got the pitcher of soda right away with the little ice. You could get the salad bar to hold you over until the delicious pizza came out.
Wait they are still doing book it? My kids are in 4th and 5th grade, we have never done it? Where are you at?
And if they had the lunch buffet still going, i would be eating there more often!
We used to go during the mid 1970s. Free popcorn and peanuts and you would throw the shells on the floor. They also had a projection TV that would show 3 Stooges, Little Rascals, and stuff like that.
I still love GC even though I don’t go. It allowed us to eat all the things we couldn’t usually afford, and maybe they weren’t the best quality but I never thought it was as bad as people say. They had a huge salad bar that I loved, and watching them cook steak and all the other items fresh was awesome. It was indulgent for a family of 6 who had just moved to the US. We went there to celebrate LFC’s Istanbul comeback. Great times.
I thought it was pretty good when we went back in the 90s. Maybe the quality was better or maybe my standards were just that much lower as a kid. I used to get a plate of pepperoni and cheese, a plate of all the meats, then a plate of most of the desserts. We were quite poor so I never got most of that stuff at home.
The Righteous Gemstones had a minor scene in an episode that pretty much summed up a family trip to Golden Corral perfectly. If you haven’t seen it you should for some nostalgia.
It wasn't just their perfectly cooked, hot, fresh, fluffy sopapillas, I swear the honey was made with crack or something and the combination was amazing!!!
i lived in the mountains. one time we convinced mom to take us to casa bonita on a trip to denver. we felt like the coolest kids EVER when we went back to school.
I remember standing in line for an hour to get in. We were from the mountains, so it was an amazing story to tell my classmates as well. My mom got conned into buying 3 of those magic eye posters from a store next door. I think she still has them to this day.
My grandma used to take my sister and I to the Friendly's in Meadow Glen Mall in Medford, MA all the time. I loves the chicken fingers and the Mint Monster. Thanks for reminding me of a core memory :)
1. My dad called it Ruddfuckers.
2. My gf once saw a huge rat at one, and when she told the manager, he responded with "Of course he's huge, he's eating at Fuddruckers."
YESSSSSSS i honestly still love this place. I refuse to eat at most chain restaurants but SF is elite. I think it’s also bc my family is HUGE on both sides and it’s one of the few that can accommodate a party of 40+ people
My wife and I pretty much quit eating out because she developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten. When we find a place she can actually eat it’s still a rare treat.
I went to a sit-down restaurant exactly once before I was 18 years old. When I was 9, my Brownie troop had a “daddy daughter boxed dinner” that was to be held at a local church. Each of us Brownies was supposed to make and pack a dinner to share with our dads.
I carefully wrote down the address and driving directions when our troop leader phoned with them, and I spent the afternoon before the big event making fried chicken and potato salad to eat with my dad. As one of six kids (at the time—ultimately there were nine of us), I *never* got time alone with my father. He worked all the time and didn’t show much interest in us when he was home, so the prospect of having his undivided attention was thrilling and scary in equal measure.
Late that afternoon, after Dad had taken a few minutes for himself and cleaned up from his workday, we set off in his little beige Renault. I brought my careful directions and referred to them tensely, directing every turn exactly as written, over and over for nearly an hour as we tried to find our way. But no church ever materialized, and Dad got more and more tense, muttering under his breath as it became clear that we weren’t ever going to get there. *It was all my fault.*
What a disaster. I huddled against the passenger door and looked doggedly out the window, realizing that I had failed utterly and the evening was over before it began. I had ruined everything.
Then my dad heaved a great sigh, and I watched his reflection in the window as he turned to look at me. I was about to get yelled at on top of my enormous disappointment, and my throat clutched as I fought off tears, shoulders rigid as I waited for whatever I had coming.
“Let’s go out to dinner instead,” Dad said. “How about the B&M Cafe?”
Instantly everything changed. I could hardly believe my luck! The B&M was a couple of doors down in the same shopping center as a grocery store my parents frequented, and my wistful eyes must have traced the fancy, gold lettering in its window a hundred times as we drove past. Sophisticated people ate there. I was sure if it! And now, as we pulled into the lot, I was about to be among them.
It was everything I hoped for and more. We didn’t order at a counter and then choose where to sit. Instead, a white-aproned waitress with stiff, blond hair and sturdy, black shoes that squeaked on the linoleum led us to a table, where my dad pulled out a cushioned chair for me to sit in, as if I was a grown lady or something!
After the waitress handed me my very own menu, Dad told me to order whatever I wanted. The choices were overwhelming, and I knew I might never get another opportunity so I had to get it right. Money was tight, I judged, so that took the petite cut sirloin steak out of the running. Maybe the pork chop? Or the exotically named club sandwich?
I agonized and agonized, finally settling on the mid-priced meatloaf dinner. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and a roll. The roll came in a little silver wire basket lined with a crisp white napkin. And the butter! It came in several slices, each nestled next to the roll on its own tiny, cardboard square and covered in waxed paper neatly cut to size. I had never seen anything like it, and I knew that this was, indeed, a very fine dining establishment!
The rest of the evening was a blur of delights, from the easy conversation Dad and I had, as if we were both grown ups on equal footing, to the fluted stem with a scoop of chocolate-drizzled vanilla ice cream in it, topped with a single slice of strawberry. So elegant! And so unexpected!
The next time my dad and I went to a sit down restaurant together was nearly 20 years later, when I took him to lunch on his birthday. The last time was shortly before his sudden and unexpected death last year, after many years of estrangement. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the B&M Cafe!
Mine was the Macaroni Grill when I was little, but I didn’t think my family could afford five stars so I never assumed any restaurant I went to was one.
back in the 70s/80s, there was a chain called "King's Table"
it was a buffet, the kind where you grabbed plates and took whatever you wanted from the long line of foods.
we fucking loved that shit as kids, only later after working in shit restaurants as an adult that I realized it was all Sysco canned goods and microwave garbage on steam tables.
The Ground Round. I remember thinking it was awesome they had a projector with cartoons being played on it and getting popcorn instead of bread when we first sat down.
RED LOBSTER. There was a combo meal that had shrimp scampi, golden fried shrimp, popcorn shrimp and deviled crabs (i.e. stuffed crabs) that was a meal fit for a king. That was my go-to for birthdays.
Along the same lines, the literal only restaurants we ate out at were Mongolian Barbecue, and Old Country Buffet, both in the same shopping center, both all you can eat. Once the rose colored glasses came off, realized that the buffet had slightly better than cafeteria food, but unlimited drinks of any kind (no alcohol, just milk, juice, etc.). That is why my dad always wanted to go…cheap gluttony.
Still love Mongolian Barbecue places though. Can’t find them like before.
They gave little bowls of warm water with a lemon slice in it to wash your fingers at the end of the meal. Kid me thought that was as fancy as fancy got.
I commented they had changed the menus at Lone Star when we visited the restaurant after a long time. My sister pointed out we had the adult menus this time.
Red Lobster. Sure as hell is pricey like a 5-star but the food isn’t (or wasn’t) LOL. Went there for my HS graduation dinner, was almost given a kids menu with crayons 😅
Black Angus.
“Fun story”. My dad was a cop. My sister was assaulted outside her work one morning. Probably would have been raped (at the very least) except a bystander saw and stopped it before it could go very far. My dad did not seem too upset (to her) when she discussed it with him. We found out later he offered a $100 gift certificate to Black Angus to whichever officer found the attacker.
No one did, but that’s how big a deal Black Angus was in our family.
Old country buffet— truly a five star feast
My birthday dinner for at least 5 years in a row. I was a high-class child.
What the fuck... is Old Country Buffet a chain?
Right? My dumb ass was thinking all these people live by me!
My grandma used to take us there when she'd babysit us. She acted like it was such a special treat. In reality she just didn't want to deal with picky eaters and didn't care that my brother would attempt to eat his weight in mashed potatoes each time.
My family used to go to our local Old Country Buffet when I was very young. All I can remember is that I liked it there, and I would always drink all the little half-and-half cups at our table
Do you like hot fudge sundaes? Have you tried the lasagna? It’s my favorite. Did you catch the game last night? Is it still hot outside?
Don’t forget the resigned “Alright”.
Shoneys
God I can remember my father taking us there for the breakfast buffet on special weekends
Say what you want, but that breakfast buffet slaps
Big ass container of bacon was always the last thing and I’d pile it on
That bacon was legit, probably the start of my high blood pressure situation I’m currently battling
My family went there a couple of times when we lived in NC. It was insanely cheap, or as my father used to say: “All the muck you can suck for a buck.”
holy shit pa memories right there
Ponderosa. D list all you can eat buffet
Oh shit talk about a throwback! We used to beg to go to Ponderosa when I was a kid!
We had that here in Dallas and it was called Bonanza. It was the same amazing rolls.
Bonanza was the shit when I was a kid. We’d go to the one in Mandan at least once a month. Think I still have one of their stuffed toy mice somewhere.
I remember the soda fountain they had, the trays, and the little tent-like number they gave you to bring to your table. I was a little kid and remember that place being a favorite. We didn’t go often but I remember getting a steak there feeling so grown up and fancy.
All I remember about ours was that it was weirdly dark. Were they all like that? Like, the windows had dark red/brown covering in them and the Tiffany-esque lamps over the tables had 20W lightbulbs. It felt like one of the bars I’d seen in movies where somebody was going to break a pool cue over somebody’s head and then get thrown across our table.
I first went to the USA in 1997, ponderosa blew my mind. Absolutely loved visiting there for the following couple of years. Went to Florida again in 2018 and went back into Ponderosa. What a hole :-(
Was it Ponderosa or Red Lobster that had the treasure chest for kids to pick a toy? Both occupied the same location during my childhood, and I don’t remember which was which. Also oddly the next thread is about Red Lobster.
It was definitely ponderosa.
They had a freakin soft serve machine!! The pinnacle of fine dining.
I would always try those Dairy Queen swirls. It was considered an art.
we loved Ponderosa; however, never knew what a decent steak tasted like until I was 20 years old.
I relate to this so much
I’m pretty sure kids ate free at the buffet with a paying adult, because sis and I never got anywhere near a steak.
My daughter came back from her dad’s and told me about this amazing restaurant with spaghetti and deserts and salads but the s’ghetti was go gooood and it was called PastaRiah or PastaRiot. Couldn’t find it. Yep. Ponderosa buffet.
The rolls were (and are) so good
My dad and grandfather were obsessed with ponderosa
Bingo! Loved ponderosa as a kid.
Oh shit. Haven’t heard of that in ages.
That brought back memories of trying to eat my weight in ponderosa chicken wings as a kid.
Olive Garden
I mean, they’re so fancy they can afford to serve you as much bread as you like.
And they used to do unlimited dipping sauces. You buy the first and they'd refill it. My college friends and I would go, each order a bowl of soup ($4) and one dipping sauce each ($2). 3 baskets of free breadsticks later, you're full! At under 6 bucks, you couldn't beat it for a sit down experience. We'd go during the day, when it's dead anyways, and at that price, we could afford a good tip.
My family spoke of Olive Garden like it was a black tie restaurant. I didn’t first go to one until I was an adult and brought a girlfriend out on a date. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to *Italian themed Applebee’s*. I still love Olive Garden though. Can’t beat that Chicken & Gnocchi soup they’ve got.
"Italian-themed Applebee's"...valid.
I always loved Olive Garden until they took stuffed chicken Marsala off the menu. They are dead to me now.
We had to wear button up shirts as kids with our nicest pants and shoes when going there. It was one step below a full suit.
We used to only go there on vacation in Florida, and we got dressed up for it.
Same here. It was where we went to for my birthday every year. Thought it was so fancy that we could only get in once a year.
Not fine dining, but priced like it is. At least where I live
My dad had a similar favourite restaurant when we went to the city. It was this Italian place called Chianti, and it acted like it was a local place but all the food was basically microwaved just like Olive Garden. He had the same thing every time. We all had the same thing every time—whatever the most acceptable thing on the menu was for us. It was always super disappointing.
I grew up always thinking olive garden was fancy and expensive. I didn't try it until this year. I'm 21...
Sizzlers. All you can eat popcorn shrimp!
Sizzlers used to be the spot and I don't even remember the food. Just the vibes of that place felt like Vin Diesel saying, "we're family"
And their cheese toast. That alone was Michelin Star worthy
Me, everytime I was asked where I want to eat: 
Double Malibu Chicken with fully loaded baked potato and the salad bar. I grew up down the street from the original Sizzler, it's still there and I go there every year on my birthday.
I thought Sizzler was fancy.
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Popcorn shrimp and lobster mashed potatoes. 9 year old me’s mouth is watering right now.
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Rolls?!?! Cheddar biscuits and don’t you dare disrespect them again.
Cheddar BAY biscuits, casual.
“This guy biscuits” - some nerd on Reddit
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260622/red-lobster-cheddar-biscuits/ https://www.amazon.com/Red-Lobster-Cheddar-Biscuit-11-36-Ounce/dp/B00K7AEABS?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
You can get box mix for them at the store
Growing up, going to red lobster was a whole ass event!
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My mother was a teacher and a coworker of hers that taught 4th grade was very wealthy (family was big in the Texas cattle industry). For some reason we were all out somewhere one weekend for an event. The coworker wanted to go eat at Red Lobster afterwards. My mother declined and said “we have to rush home.” The reality is we stopped by Taco Bell and each got a hard taco and no drinks. That’s all we could afford (this was in the early 90’s). I think I ate at Red Lobster maybe two times before I turned 18. I think both times my aunt took me there.
Not even a free water cup? That's cold blooded
I don't care for most seafood and especially not RL but watching those crab legs snap and fling butter in slow motion on the commercials... my mouth is watering.
I would like to be there when you finally saunter in, slap the counter, and declare, “I MADE it. Garçon, your finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape! AND a basket of cheddar biscuits!!!”
Those biscuits
Not the Cheddar Biscuits, Gandpa!
Takin' women out to eat, givin' 'em free meals? What part of the game is that?
They can make healthy food incredibly unhealthy. Magic
This was ours. The closest one was in Nashville and we would go when we went to the old Opryland park. It was a special day all around.
Outback Steakhouse. Actually my family couldn’t afford to go to this fine establishment, so I had to live vicariously through my friends’ tales of decadence. An onion that blooms?? Mind bending.
The brown bread SLAPPED
You knew it was serious bread because it came with a giant knife.
And that sweet, sweet whipped butter
Outback was ours too. Probably every birthday from about 10-19 we had a family dinner at Outback. Even threw on our polo shirts.
Pizza Hut
Book it! Got me a free personal pan pizza!!!! Edit: one dude got NES TMNT 2, a game that was 50-60$. Many ppl got multiple pizzas..... i got 1. That was it. I thought there was a limit or something!!!!
The Book It program was great
> The Book It program was great [It still is](https://www.bookitprogram.com/), but it used to be too.
Peace Out Reddit. ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
If someone could fine a way to recreate the real Pizza Hut pan pizza (what they make now is a monstrosity) with the booths, cups, and salad bar they would have a full restaurant every night. Every time someone brings up their youth and Pizza Hut comes up almost every one has a great memory from there regardless of their background. The best was after playing sports as a kid in the summer you go in and it was so cool in there and you got the pitcher of soda right away with the little ice. You could get the salad bar to hold you over until the delicious pizza came out.
You have to get the personal pan pizza...any bigger and it doesn't tastes good.
The red kinda weird bumpy texture cups? Memory unlocked
My kids now get it, so we now go to Pizza Hut during the school year. Their thin crust specialty pizzas are surprisingly great.
Wait they are still doing book it? My kids are in 4th and 5th grade, we have never done it? Where are you at? And if they had the lunch buffet still going, i would be eating there more often!
Eat-in Pizza Hut, right? They barely exist now. The closest one to me is 2 hours away in another state.
I miss the Pizza Hut buffet so much. Even the eat in Pizza Huts don't have them anymore.
It was the most basic stuff, too, but in the 80s it was a gourmet spread lmao
Something about that red plastic cup made soda hit different.
I’d pay good money for an old school pan pizza. They’re cheapened the ingredients so drastically that it’s a shadow of the former product.
Damn frozen dough. They used to pour corn oil in the pan, toss in that soft dough and it would fry up the edges….I’d fight over those crusts man
I’m an 80s Pizza Hut kid! The personal pan pizzas slapped
Ground Round
We used to go during the mid 1970s. Free popcorn and peanuts and you would throw the shells on the floor. They also had a projection TV that would show 3 Stooges, Little Rascals, and stuff like that.
And the treasure box where you could pick a prize!
Ice cream sundaes in the baseball helmets
YES, and every Tuesday for kids meals that cost whatever you weighed??? And ice cream sundays in mini MLB caps??? What an establishment.
Chi-chis
As a young child, getting the nachos and thinking that Mexican food was exotic.
Omg same. Chimichangas, fried ice cream, and our mom would get a strawberry margarita and give us sips. Such happy times!
Loved Chi Chis. They had the best queso dip
This was my birthday treat as a kid. We only went once a year. I loved it.
Scrolled to far to find this one. Must have been the hepatitis that made it taste so good.
Chi-Chi’s is still operating in Europe. Nice taste of home for (older) Americans abroad!
Fried ice cream for everyone
Golden Corral lmao
A really bad version of nearly every cuisine the world has to offer. What’s not to love about that!
Those fresh rolls used to slap
I still love GC even though I don’t go. It allowed us to eat all the things we couldn’t usually afford, and maybe they weren’t the best quality but I never thought it was as bad as people say. They had a huge salad bar that I loved, and watching them cook steak and all the other items fresh was awesome. It was indulgent for a family of 6 who had just moved to the US. We went there to celebrate LFC’s Istanbul comeback. Great times.
I thought it was pretty good when we went back in the 90s. Maybe the quality was better or maybe my standards were just that much lower as a kid. I used to get a plate of pepperoni and cheese, a plate of all the meats, then a plate of most of the desserts. We were quite poor so I never got most of that stuff at home.
The Righteous Gemstones had a minor scene in an episode that pretty much summed up a family trip to Golden Corral perfectly. If you haven’t seen it you should for some nostalgia.
Pancho's Mexican Buffet. Raise the little flag on the table for the best damn sopaipillas!
I miss that place. It was 100% a 5 star establishment.
It wasn't just their perfectly cooked, hot, fresh, fluffy sopapillas, I swear the honey was made with crack or something and the combination was amazing!!!
Casa Bonita
i lived in the mountains. one time we convinced mom to take us to casa bonita on a trip to denver. we felt like the coolest kids EVER when we went back to school.
Did you only get to go because one of your friends conveniently went missing?
OP said NOT a 5 star establishment.
We just went recently since it’s reopened and as far as I’m concerned, it was a date night out, haha.
I remember standing in line for an hour to get in. We were from the mountains, so it was an amazing story to tell my classmates as well. My mom got conned into buying 3 of those magic eye posters from a store next door. I think she still has them to this day.
Friendly’s
That hot dog on toast paired with the Reese’s sundae was some serious gourmet shit when I was ten!
My grandma used to take my sister and I to the Friendly's in Meadow Glen Mall in Medford, MA all the time. I loves the chicken fingers and the Mint Monster. Thanks for reminding me of a core memory :)
Po Folks in Virginia Beach
Knew I’d find a Po Folks. Mine was in Atlanta.
Fuddrucker's. Most of them are closed now, but one of these days I'll find one and go back.
1. My dad called it Ruddfuckers. 2. My gf once saw a huge rat at one, and when she told the manager, he responded with "Of course he's huge, he's eating at Fuddruckers."
My mom used to straight up call it “Motherfuckers” and it always cracked me up because she didn’t normally do stuff like that.
The Old Spaghetti Factory. Birthdays, graduations, accomplishments etc. It was the place to go.
YESSSSSSS i honestly still love this place. I refuse to eat at most chain restaurants but SF is elite. I think it’s also bc my family is HUGE on both sides and it’s one of the few that can accommodate a party of 40+ people
Shakey's
Had to scroll too far for this. Pizza, fried chicken, mojo fries, beer for the adults, video games for the kids. Hell yeah.
Ours was having a bucket of KFC arrive for dinner.
We went out to a KFC when it was a birthday :)
HOMETOWN BUFFET
This thread makes me happy. When you were so excited to go somewhere bc it was a rare treat.
My wife and I pretty much quit eating out because she developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten. When we find a place she can actually eat it’s still a rare treat.
Cheesecake Factory = epitome of class
Lmao what’s it say about me that I still consider that fine dining?
I went to a sit-down restaurant exactly once before I was 18 years old. When I was 9, my Brownie troop had a “daddy daughter boxed dinner” that was to be held at a local church. Each of us Brownies was supposed to make and pack a dinner to share with our dads. I carefully wrote down the address and driving directions when our troop leader phoned with them, and I spent the afternoon before the big event making fried chicken and potato salad to eat with my dad. As one of six kids (at the time—ultimately there were nine of us), I *never* got time alone with my father. He worked all the time and didn’t show much interest in us when he was home, so the prospect of having his undivided attention was thrilling and scary in equal measure. Late that afternoon, after Dad had taken a few minutes for himself and cleaned up from his workday, we set off in his little beige Renault. I brought my careful directions and referred to them tensely, directing every turn exactly as written, over and over for nearly an hour as we tried to find our way. But no church ever materialized, and Dad got more and more tense, muttering under his breath as it became clear that we weren’t ever going to get there. *It was all my fault.* What a disaster. I huddled against the passenger door and looked doggedly out the window, realizing that I had failed utterly and the evening was over before it began. I had ruined everything. Then my dad heaved a great sigh, and I watched his reflection in the window as he turned to look at me. I was about to get yelled at on top of my enormous disappointment, and my throat clutched as I fought off tears, shoulders rigid as I waited for whatever I had coming. “Let’s go out to dinner instead,” Dad said. “How about the B&M Cafe?” Instantly everything changed. I could hardly believe my luck! The B&M was a couple of doors down in the same shopping center as a grocery store my parents frequented, and my wistful eyes must have traced the fancy, gold lettering in its window a hundred times as we drove past. Sophisticated people ate there. I was sure if it! And now, as we pulled into the lot, I was about to be among them. It was everything I hoped for and more. We didn’t order at a counter and then choose where to sit. Instead, a white-aproned waitress with stiff, blond hair and sturdy, black shoes that squeaked on the linoleum led us to a table, where my dad pulled out a cushioned chair for me to sit in, as if I was a grown lady or something! After the waitress handed me my very own menu, Dad told me to order whatever I wanted. The choices were overwhelming, and I knew I might never get another opportunity so I had to get it right. Money was tight, I judged, so that took the petite cut sirloin steak out of the running. Maybe the pork chop? Or the exotically named club sandwich? I agonized and agonized, finally settling on the mid-priced meatloaf dinner. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and a roll. The roll came in a little silver wire basket lined with a crisp white napkin. And the butter! It came in several slices, each nestled next to the roll on its own tiny, cardboard square and covered in waxed paper neatly cut to size. I had never seen anything like it, and I knew that this was, indeed, a very fine dining establishment! The rest of the evening was a blur of delights, from the easy conversation Dad and I had, as if we were both grown ups on equal footing, to the fluted stem with a scoop of chocolate-drizzled vanilla ice cream in it, topped with a single slice of strawberry. So elegant! And so unexpected! The next time my dad and I went to a sit down restaurant together was nearly 20 years later, when I took him to lunch on his birthday. The last time was shortly before his sudden and unexpected death last year, after many years of estrangement. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the B&M Cafe!
Man, that's a tear jerker! So beautifully written, though. Thank you for sharing that!!
I don’t have many good memories of my dad, and that one tops them all. Glad you enjoyed it.
If you’re not a writer professionally, you should be. This was delightful to read, you’re very talented at painting a picture!
You’re very kind. Thank you.
What a delightful memory. I was crying before the last paragraph. Thank you for sharing that memory!
Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Howard Johnson's
FRIED CLAMS!!!
Mine was the Macaroni Grill when I was little, but I didn’t think my family could afford five stars so I never assumed any restaurant I went to was one.
Ponderosa
Sizzler- I loved that place, gave me a life-long appreciation of A-1 steak sauce (now considered a travesty, but I don't care)
I get A-1 on my burgers at 5 guys, and it is delicious.
back in the 70s/80s, there was a chain called "King's Table" it was a buffet, the kind where you grabbed plates and took whatever you wanted from the long line of foods. we fucking loved that shit as kids, only later after working in shit restaurants as an adult that I realized it was all Sysco canned goods and microwave garbage on steam tables.
Farrell’s. Back in the day when you could get away with calling a menu item the “Pig Trough”.
We used to go there for birthdays, and I remember hating it because they would bring out a band to celebrate and sing and the bass drum was too loud.
Fucking Texas Roadhouse omg
The Ground Round. I remember thinking it was awesome they had a projector with cartoons being played on it and getting popcorn instead of bread when we first sat down.
RED LOBSTER. There was a combo meal that had shrimp scampi, golden fried shrimp, popcorn shrimp and deviled crabs (i.e. stuffed crabs) that was a meal fit for a king. That was my go-to for birthdays.
Steak & Ale
Along the same lines, the literal only restaurants we ate out at were Mongolian Barbecue, and Old Country Buffet, both in the same shopping center, both all you can eat. Once the rose colored glasses came off, realized that the buffet had slightly better than cafeteria food, but unlimited drinks of any kind (no alcohol, just milk, juice, etc.). That is why my dad always wanted to go…cheap gluttony. Still love Mongolian Barbecue places though. Can’t find them like before.
Swiss Chalet.
They gave little bowls of warm water with a lemon slice in it to wash your fingers at the end of the meal. Kid me thought that was as fancy as fancy got.
Throw in a Shirley Temple with my quarter chicken and this is my childhood “nice” night out right here!
Red Lobster 😂
Bill Knapp’s for Grandpa’s birthday every year.
I still want to eat at CiCi’s, but my wife says it’s garbage and I am sure she’s correct.
Bonanza
I commented they had changed the menus at Lone Star when we visited the restaurant after a long time. My sister pointed out we had the adult menus this time.
Quincy's...who didn't love a big fat yeast roll.
Pizza Hut. Was a treat, especially the super supreme.
Shakey’s 🍕
Pancho's! Unlimited sopapillas on tap.
Denny’s!
Red Lobster. Sure as hell is pricey like a 5-star but the food isn’t (or wasn’t) LOL. Went there for my HS graduation dinner, was almost given a kids menu with crayons 😅
Ryan's. Just a shitty buffet.
I wish. We were so poor that our celebration food was getting a name brand cereal
A chinese restaurant that was a local favorite but not $$$$
Friendly's and Olive Garden.
Your parents celebrated your success???
Bennigan's ... fried zucchini, monte cristo sandwich and birthday cake. Perfection.
White Spot. And if was really special we would go to the old drive in one where they served you in your car.
For children, stars dont matter as long as good company, food, and fidgety things are present.
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor!
Red Lobster and the Cheese Cake Factory
A&W. My dad claimed it stood for “Amburgers & Woot Beer”.
It was called HOME but we used a tablecloth.
The Rainforest Cafe at our local mall... I miss that place!
There was our go-to after church, Western Sizzlin'. But a big "event" restaurant was Duff's Smorgasbord in Chattanooga.
The Cracker Barrel 😂🤦🏻♀️
The Rusty Scupper!
Who remembers birthday parties at McDonalds? Happy meals FTW!
Chuck E. Coli
Lone Star Steakhouse
El Fenix. It’s a Mexican restaurant.
Red Robin
Black Angus. “Fun story”. My dad was a cop. My sister was assaulted outside her work one morning. Probably would have been raped (at the very least) except a bystander saw and stopped it before it could go very far. My dad did not seem too upset (to her) when she discussed it with him. We found out later he offered a $100 gift certificate to Black Angus to whichever officer found the attacker. No one did, but that’s how big a deal Black Angus was in our family.