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In a farewell to egg creams, N.J. luncheonette closes after 88 years
The Star Ledger ^ | 02.06.19 | Steve Strunsky

Posted on 02/27/2019 11:09:31 AM PST by Coleus

Move over egg creams and doughnuts. Sprouts are moving in.

Schnackenberg’s, an old-fashioned luncheonette that for 88 years served classic concoctions of seltzer with chocolate syrup, tuna melts and other staples of decades past, has closed, a victim of what its owner said were changing times and healthier tastes.

An eatery with a different menu and a different vibe will take Schnackenberg’s place on Washington Street, between 11th and 12th streets, under the name “Alfalfa.”

“Doughnuts and milkshakes are not the steady diet of modern Hobokenites,” said Joyce Flinn, who along with her husband, Eugene, bought Schnackenberg’s from the daughter of its original owners just after Hurricane Sandy.

“We had the most awesome doughnuts in town, and people would say, ‘Oh, I love those doughnuts!’ But if you eat one doughnut a month, that’s not going to pay my rent,” Flinn said in an emotional phone interview. “It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and we didn’t make it lightly. It was really a long-considered and painful choice.”

Schackenberg’s was opened in 1931 by the parents of Dorothy Novak (née Schnackenberg), who continued to live upstairs from the restaurant in the family-owned building until she passed away not long ago. During the height of the Great Depression, Hoboken was a largely working class shipping port that bore little resemblance to the popular night spot or high-rent New York City bedroom community it would eventually become. The food was basic luncheonette fare: burgers, shakes, tuna melts, store-made doughnuts, and a nod to Schnackenberg’s German heritage called the eggtzel, a kind of pretzel breakfast sandwich.

The luncheonette underwent a makeover after the Flinns took control. But, Joyce Flinn said a shrinking clientele and a protracted construction project on Washington Street that discouraged walk-in traffic made it clear

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Local News; Society
KEYWORDS: eggcream; hoboken; luncheonette; milkshakes; newjersey; nj; schnackenberg
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To: ifinnegan
What did you like better, milk shake or egg cream?
There was a third choice - malted milk. Same as a milk shake, but with malt added. The best, but more expensive.
My family moved from NYC to Rochester in the mid 60s. When we got here there were no egg creams, no bagels, no pizza. Fifty years later and still no egg creams.
61 posted on 02/27/2019 12:08:32 PM PST by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Waverunner
Alfalfa... I didn't know he could cook..

No, but the guy who played him, Carl Switzer, was fatally shot in the dick trying to collect a $35 debt.

And that is your useless trivia lesson for today.

62 posted on 02/27/2019 12:13:05 PM PST by Drew68 (No, as a matter of fact, I didn't read the article.)
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To: dandiegirl; All
We used to drink a “chocolate soldier” in a bottle shaped like a soldier. Similar to Yahoo.

How many here remember this?

Related image

63 posted on 02/27/2019 12:16:14 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: dp0622

I’d heard about them through the years so made a point of having one at Katz’ deli when I was visiting NY last summer. Meh. No big shakes


64 posted on 02/27/2019 12:19:21 PM PST by j.havenfarm ( 2,000 posts as of 1/16/19. A FReeper since 2000; never shutting up!)
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To: nuconvert
Ya can’t talk me into that one.

As they say, don't knock it til you try it. I thought a peanut butter and banana sandwich sounded ridiculous until I tried it. Been eating them for 50+ years now. If you like(d) chocolate egg creams, I can't imagine you wouldn't like the You Hoo substitute with cream soda. Just has to be the right brand of CS for you, and the right proportions of the two (mostly Yoo Hoo).

65 posted on 02/27/2019 12:20:22 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: ifinnegan

It’s vanilla! With the soda water. It’s yummy if you love vanilla. No egg involved.


66 posted on 02/27/2019 12:24:25 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: dandiegirl

Chocolate Soldier was a chocolate-flavored beverage produced by the Monarch Beverage Company of Atlanta, Georgia. The drink was sold in glass bottles from 1966-1988. Chocolate Soldier was made by Citrus Products Company in Illinois in the 1950s and 1960s. It was bottled all over the United States.

67 posted on 02/27/2019 12:34:12 PM PST by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: All
Known in Italy as "creamosas," these are very popular in Italian restaurants and coffee shops. Most are carbonated
water, syrup, ice, cream (or milk), dollop whipped cream on top. Syrup in hundreds of flavors and brands. Firstly,
find a great tasting, high-quality syrup. Secondly, mix in order given to prevent curdling. Invent a garnish to match.

ITALIAN SODAS

METHOD layer in lge glass, 2-3 tb syrup. Add 1/-3/4 c h/cream, half and half, or milk. Stir. Now
fill w/ club soda, and ice. Top with whipt cream. SERVE w/ straw and a color-coordinated garnish.

68 posted on 02/27/2019 12:35:53 PM PST by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: ifinnegan

I also grew up on L.I in the 50’s/60’s. The egg cream was a favorite but the drink I loved the most and still crave ,til this day, is a vanilla malted.


69 posted on 02/27/2019 12:38:32 PM PST by surrey
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To: ifinnegan

Buy a container of Chocolate milk, add seltzer or club soda and you will have an egg cream. However, the Chocolate milk has to be real milk, not the 1-2% stuff. I make it half milk and half soda. I will make one after I enter this.


70 posted on 02/27/2019 1:02:39 PM PST by Bringbackthedraft (What is earned is treasured, what is free is worth what you paid for it.)
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To: Bringbackthedraft

BTW, Fox’s UBet isn’t the same anymore. I tried it a few years back, it was awful. No egg creams around here in FLA west coast. Maybe you will find them in Boynton, Delray, or Boca Raton. Its a 5 Burroughs thingy. The generation that grew up with them are down here now.


71 posted on 02/27/2019 1:13:54 PM PST by Bringbackthedraft (What is earned is treasured, what is free is worth what you paid for it.)
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To: oh8eleven

“There was a third choice - malted milk. Same as a milk shake, but with malt added. The best, but more expensive.”

Yeah. We had that in California. We called it a malt. My Dad liked that.


72 posted on 02/27/2019 1:18:01 PM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: Coleus

No farewell in THIS house!! I make them all the time. So simple: 2 big squirts of Hershey’s syrup (I use lite), enough milk to make a strong chocolate milk (I use skim milk), then fill the glass with seltzer and stir. Heaven on Earth!


73 posted on 02/27/2019 1:20:47 PM PST by EnquiringMind
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To: Coleus

In Minneapolis, Minnesota area I remember going to Woolworth’s and Reed’s drugstore where they have a luncheon counter. Byerly’s grocery store had one. It has been remodeled into a restaurant attached to the store and the area where it was is now is a bakery and deli. I would get soft serve ice cream in a cone.


74 posted on 02/27/2019 2:29:16 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: ETL; Yaelle; Army Air Corps; Gamecock; SaveFerris
Yoohoo is a fine product.


75 posted on 02/27/2019 4:37:29 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Liz

Love these pics. Seems like the ones we drank out of were clear soldier shaped.


76 posted on 02/27/2019 5:36:30 PM PST by dandiegirl (BO)
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To: NFHale; GOPsterinMA; Impy; BillyBoy; LS; SunkenCiv

Another loss of the old culture.


77 posted on 02/27/2019 10:12:15 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj ("It's Slappin' Time !")
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To: ifinnegan; fieldmarshaldj; GOPsterinMA; Impy; BillyBoy; LS; SunkenCiv

When I was growing up in Philly, there were “diners” and “luncheonettes” just like that place all over.

Loved those places. A cheeseburger, fries, Cokes or Root Beer floats, and a slice of pie for a couple bucks.

Better days.

Better people, too.


78 posted on 02/28/2019 6:11:23 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: NFHale
Those places are gone around here, although there's a retro version here and there. A tiny little diner where the grill was in the front window spent the years 1930-something through the 1990s on a side street in the Creston neighborhood of Grand Rapids. Loved that place.

79 posted on 02/28/2019 11:52:21 AM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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To: SunkenCiv

“...Those places are gone around here...”

It’s very difficult to watch things and places you enjoy disappear... It’s natural, I guess, but that doesn’t make it easier to take.

“Retro” places just aren’t the same.

It’s the same thing with the corner taproom... what city DIDN’T have a “Murphy’s Irish Bar” on the street corner somewhere? Working guy comes home from a rough day, walks in, gets a warm greeting by familiar folks from the neighborhood, and has a cold beer or two to shake off the day’s worries.

Not the same anymore. I miss it.


80 posted on 02/28/2019 12:13:23 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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