Boomers and Gen Xers recall 17 things they loved in old-school restaurants that are long gone

Dining out was a different experience in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the pizza places and family restaurants were elaborate, sit-down joints with ornate decorations, theming, and plenty of video games. The dining experience also catered to smokers, with ashtrays on the table, smoking sections, and machines that distributed cigarettes by the bathrooms.

These days, when you go to a department store or big-box retailer, it’s rare that you’ll find anywhere to sit down and eat besides maybe a Starbucks or, in some Walmarts, a McDonald’s tucked into the corner. But department stores used to have sit-down grills or places to relax and have a hot dog. It was also assumed that going to a K-Mart, GEMCO, or Sears in the ‘70s and ‘80s would smell like freshly popped popcorn.

There was also a time when fast-food restaurants were a lot more elegant. You could get some decent greens at the salad bar in a Carls, Jr., Wendy’s had a great taco buffet, and it wasn’t uncommon to be able to relax in the glow of a solarium while scarfing down fries. Let’s not even get started about how incredible and imaginative the McDonald’s Play Place was.

A group of folks born in 1980 or later shared the things they miss the most about eating establishments that no longer exist on the AskOldPeople Reddit subforum, and it brought back some delightful, if not smoky, memories for many. It also taught young people that an eating establishment doesn’t need to be sterile; a bit of theming and tons of breadsticks can go a long way.

1. Pizza Hut was fantastic

"I miss when Pizza Hut had dining rooms. Dark, plastic Tiffany hanging lamps over each table, and those plastic red cups."
"Pizza Hut is permanently etched into my brain. It was such a treat to go there. The smell of pizza when you walked in the door, the tablecloths, the plastic red cups."

"I always liked the tabletop arcade games that were the start of my gargoyle curve in my posture."

2. Farrell's ice cream was epic

"Farrell's Ice Cream. Every time someone ordered a Zoo -- a bowl with 20 scoops of ice cream, usually for parties -- they'd bring it out on a stretcher-like item, carried by two people. And they'd ring a bell and blow a siren and generally make a racket, and run around the restaurant with it before bringing it to the table. And if one person ate a whole Zoo? An announcement, also accompanied by sirens, bells, etc. And I think for every birthday, also, which included the singing of Happy Birthday by the whole restaurant. Basically, every trip to Farrell's was sure to include multiple loud interruptions to the meal. It was a blast."

"Omg Farrell’s old timey candy store by the register was so fantastic."

3. Cigarette machines in waiting areas

"The closest place to buy cigs was a nice restaurant. If you needed change for the machine, the bartender would help you out. Nobody cared if you were 12."

4. Mini jukeboxes

"Small jukebox at your table to choose songs and insert your quarter (for 3 songs)."

"One of my favorite memories! When I was a kid, we'd go to a diner on Sundays with the little jukebox at the table, and I'd play Heartbreak Hotel every time. Whenever I hear that song I'm right back in that booth."

5. Fewer chain restaurants

"I remember a lot more locally owned restaurants, and fewer chains. When you were on vacation, there would be all these different local restaurants and you would have to ask around to find the good ones. And you would get food that was different than what you would have at home. Now every town seems to have the same chains and the restaurants and the food are all the same."

6. The golden era of salad bars

"Salad bars, lots of restaurants had salad bars in the 1980s. Now, I can't think of one locally. Ruby Tuesday's, but I think they are all closed."

"Remember when Wendy's had this huge salad bar / potato bar thing that everyone loved? Looks like Wendy's closed all of those in 2006 or earlier. I'd say that's about the time that salad bars started to completely fade."

7. Arcade games in pizza joints

"When’s the last time you saw a Street Fighter or other game at any local store?! I’ve been to some laundromats that have old grubby and often broken machines, but outside of deals like that it’s like they just completely disappeared!"

"Oh god, yes. I remember my last great birthday as a kid, 12 maybe 13, my two friends and I went to the local pizza place and after sharing that large with all the gooey cheese carried out on the tray all smoking and greasy, we blew an entire roll of quarters beating some game, I think it was Aliens. We spent that entire roll of quarters and finished the game. That's still my favorite birthday memory from when I was a kid."

8. Discount store cafeterias

"Cafeterias in discount stores. K-Mart had a delicious orange drink that I absolutely loved. And going to Woolworth's for a burger, fries, and a chocolate shake."

"Around the early 1970s, Thrifty had a section with booths and food. Sister and I would go there often. After we ate, we'd go to the front of the store and get an ice cream cone... with the cylindrical scoops. Back then, it was 5 cents a scoop. We always got three :)"

9. Smoking sections

"My first job was as a hostess at a restaurant: 'Smoking or non-smoking?'"

"We went to a restaurant once and asked for non-smoking; the hostess led us to a random table and took the ashtray away. Presto, that was now the non-smoking table."

10. Free matches

"Matches with the restaurant's name embossed on them, by the register, next to the mints."

"Speaking of which, how do they solve crimes today without restaurant matches for clues?"

11. Breadsticks and crackers galore

"A basket with all different varieties of crackers and breadsticks to go with your cup or bowl of soup."

12. McDonald's deep-fried pies

"I had a friend who swears up and down, that before the FDA required ingredients lists, McDonald's Apple Pies were made with potato chunks, apple sauce, cinnamon, sugar, etc."

"'CAUTION: FILLING IS HOT!' We'd repeat it out loud and snicker every time we bought them :)"

13. Parsley

"You used to get a few sprigs of parsley on your plate. You weren't supposed to eat it. It was for decoration."

"Parsley is a good breath freshener after a meal."

14. Better atmosphere

"Whether it's nostalgia or real, I'd say the effort that went into building the atmosphere of a restaurant. It used to be an experience. Restaurants, especially asian ones or buffets would go all out on the ambience and variety. I remember fish tanks, complimentary pots of green tea, fortune cookies, exotic fruits or dishes etc. Now as Elaine from Seinfeld puts it you feel like a hog about to fill up at the trough."

"Nowadays, the problem is that minimalistic and uniform is mistaken for modern. Anything quirky, personable or fun is generally seen as tacky, unprofessional, lacking in class. Unless you're a chain with a theme of some sort. This goes for architecture in general. Restaurants definitely, I think shopping malls have definitely suffered, also."

15. Butter on cardboard

"Little yellow pats of butter on a square of cardboard."

"Whoa. I haven’t had that image in my brain for a loooong time."

16. Ashtrays on tables

"Those little foil ashtrays they had at McDonald’s. I used to fold them up to amuse myself."

"I liked the ones at Burger King better. They were gold LOL."

17. Cocktails on placemats

"When I was a kid in the 70s, many restaurants had paper placemats that were cocktail menus. There’d be photos of each cocktail with fun names like Singapore sunset, grasshopper, pink lady, monkey’s kiss, etc. They looked so good and I couldn’t wait to grow up to order them all one day. But sadly, by the time I was old enough to drink, those menus had long gone."