Even as a millennial, seeing how the dining landscape has changed is wild. I still remember my family being asked, "Smoking or non-smoking?" when going out to eat. A while ago, redditor lordofedging81 asked the r/AskOldPeople community to share the iconic restaurant experiences they grew up with that no longer exist.
Here are some of their nostalgic memories from dining out in the '70s and '80s. 2. "Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour.
Whenever 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, blow a siren, make a racket, and run around the restaurant with it before bringing it to the table. If one person ate a whole Zoo, there was an announcement accompanied by sirens, bells, etc.
Every trip to Farrell's was sure to include multiple loud interruptions to the meal. It was a blast." — DanaMorrigan 4.
"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 best ones. And you would get food different from 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." — Ok_Huckleberry6820 6. "Salad bars — a lot of restaurants had salad bars in the 1980s.
Now, I can't think of one locally." — reesesbigcup "I think COVID helped kill salad bars and buffets." —.