Posted on 12/04/2025 4:10:36 AM PST by Adder
"Another family restaurant chain has abruptly closed all of its locations for good.
K&W Cafeteria — an 88-year-old institution across North Carolina and Virginia — closed its final eight restaurants on December 1, marking the end of a dining tradition generations grew up with.
'It is with a heavy heart that we share this news,' the owners posted on Facebook."
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
We used to dine there when we had 5 young children who couldn’t sit still for 1 minute to wait for the food to arrive. We called it Kanes & Walkers because it was a big hit with the seniors. But honestly, the food was barely edible.
Most things have a life span at
which it is time to move on.
We called it Kanes & Walkers
LOL
That’s funny and pretty much true!
It was never great food...but much better than what it later became...
Probably like Morrisons use to be.
I LOVED cafeterias when I was younger!!! It reminded me of our beloved school lunch ladies all over again!
The one in downtown Raleigh had a treasure chest. Each kid got to pick something. I once claimed a rubber knife. Probably stabbed my sister with it.
Myrtle Beach, 1979. HUGE chicken breast is what I remember.
So sad...one of my first brushes with “southern culture” was K&W Cafeterias waaayyy back in the day. They fed a slew of folks over the years.
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I think we can blame the covid crazies for a lot of the hardship and demise. That entire period of time was like being in an insane time warp and the fall out, death, and business shutdowns are still taking their toll.
cafeterias were the bomb
yep .. for me a big juicy golden fried chicken breast or liver and onions with sides of green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy with a big yeast roll with butter and unlimited sweet tea brought by the waitress when you started to get low.. about $4.95 .. 75 cents for a slice of pie which was always homemade
A lot of these chains get worse across generations. Kitchen Nightmares is maybe exaggerated, but some of the things they get up to, as new owners stop caring or were never competent to begin with, eventually sink the most venerable watering holes.
*yum* That’s what I remember. Sad to have seen them disappear.
We used to eat at a K & W when we woukd visit my wife’s grsndmother in Greensboro, NC. She was in her late 80s to early 90s through those years.
She lived that place and always left a tip of 50 cents. They all knew her and she had done that for years. This was in the esrly to mid 1990s. When we ate there with her we’d secretly leave a generous tip before we left.
We had one nearby where I used to work. One senior engineer, very country, and a bit older than the rest of us in his 70s, used to sneak off to K&W for lunch every chance he could get. I enjoyed many meals there myself. But time marches on...
It was likely in the Forum 6 at Friendly shopping center then. The food went downhill after Covid so we knew the end was near. We almost went there last Friday when I was in town. I’m sorry we did not.
Article seems to intimate that food prices are rising at present. They seem to be moderating or holding still to decreasing for my shopping experience
I would guess COVID had more to do with k&w demise.
Seems like any communal style restaurant suffered, especially the “all you can eats”
Cafeteria chains were in free-fall long before Covid. The regional chains have been dying off for a generation. Morrisons, Piccadilly, Luby’s, Furrs, Highland Park, S&S, Wyatts. Most collapsed before Covid.
S&S Cafeteria had the best liver and onions.
My guess is that labor costs were a factor. Instead of someone in the back dishing up plates, there was a line of servers. And in the old days, someone to carry your tray to the table and keep your glass of tea full.
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