What happened to the restaurant trade in the 1870s?
Marked by a deep Depression with high rates of unemployment and business failure, the destruction of Chicago by fire, and the world’s most popular international fair to date, the 1870s are a tumultuous time for the burgeoning restaurant trade. On the one hand many restaurants fail, yet the field widens as new types and markets emerge.
Where can I find menus from the late 1800s?
The New York Public Library has an extraordinary collection of menus dating back to the late 1800s, reflecting the culture of dining at humble coffee shops, grand political dinners, and everywhere in between. Here are a few that I found quite illuminating:
What was on the menu at the first Sunday of Christmas 1917?
Each day’s menu was different, and this one from December 14, 1917 featured an appetizer of soup; a choice of fried cod steak, boiled sea trout, a special omelette, or milk-fed chicken (served with spaghetti or salad); and assorted dessert all for a dollar. A “nip of Chianti” was 30 cents extra. Click menu to enlarge.
What kind of food did they serve in 1917 at Times Square?
Each day’s menu was different, and this one from December 14, 1917 featured an appetizer of soup; a choice of fried cod steak, boiled sea trout, a special omelette, or milk-fed chicken (served with spaghetti or salad); and assorted dessert all for a dollar. A “nip of Chianti” was 30 cents extra.
Appetizers
Fried Green Tomatoes A Weidmann’s tradition. Dipped in our house recipe breading and then fried until golden brown. Served with our Comeback dressing . 8 .95
Salads
Weidman’s Salad Spring mix and romaine with che’vre, tomatoes, carrots, croutons, tossed in a champagne vinaigrette dressing. 4.95
Entrees
Grilled Pork Loin Rubbed with our special blend of seasonings, brushed with a bourbon bacon glaze and served over our white barbecue sauce. 13.95
Pasta
Chicken Alfredo Chicken tossed with Linguine, broccoli, mushrooms and our Alfredo sauce. 14.95
Vegetable Plates
Choose any 3 for 6.95 Or Choose 4 for 8.45 Black Eye Peas, Butter Beans, Creole Cabbage, Corn Pudding, Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Honey Glazed Carrots, Sliced Tomatoes, Hoppin’ John, Home Made Potato Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese Grits, Turnip Greens, Fried Green Tomatoes (add $1), House Salad (add $1).
What was the taste of the 1870s?
Taste of a decade: 1870s restaurants. Marked by a deep Depression with high rates of unemployment and business failure, the destruction of Chicago by fire, and the world’s most popular international fair to date, the 1870s are a tumultuous time for the burgeoning restaurant trade.
Who was the baron of Dwingelo?
1870 After dealing in spices, coffee, wholesale liquors, and real estate, and running a beer hall, ball room, distillery, dry goods store, and country hotel, Hanoverian baron Christian Wolfgang von Dwingelo, a refugee of the failed German revolution of 1848, opens a restaurant on William Street in NYC.
What was the first fine dining restaurant in the country?
Opened in 1837, Delmonico’s is a New York institution, calling itself the “first fine dining restaurant in the country.” It certainly delivered many of the elements we now associated with fine dining: a considerable wine cellar, private dining rooms, and a house special steak. The prices were certainly high-end in 1899, when “Tournedos of filet of beef” would set you back $2.50, and a roast canvas-back duck was a whole $4. There were 411 items on this menu, and it was printed in both French and English. Click menu to enlarge.
How much was a roast duck in 1899?
The prices were certainly high-end in 1899, when “Tournedos of filet of beef” would set you back $2.50, and a roast canvas-back duck was a whole $4. There were 411 items on this menu, and it was printed in both French and English. Click menu to enlarge.
Where is Guffanti's restaurant?
Guffanti’s. Guffanti’s Restaurant, Seventh Avenue between 25th Street and 26th Street, New York City, May 1918 (New-York Historical Society Library) Located on 26th Street and Seventh Avenue, Guffanti’s Restaurant was described as “the most famous Italian restaurant in all of New York” in 1930, which is saying a lot.