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 ...
“When I was growing up in Philly, there were “diners” and “luncheonettes” just like that place all over.”
Pics or BS.
You’re in Tourettes mode again, I see... :^)
So bad that it smells.
“...smells...”
Like a democrat campaign rally...
LOL!!!
The old Bill Bixby Hulk....
“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry...”
When I start Touretting, I hear that Hulk music.
What’s funny about casting Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk, is that Lou wasn’t real tall...
The Hulk should have been more like the one in the Avengers movies.
I don't generally order french fries, but if they come with the meal, I'll eat them just to be polite. At the aforementioned place, when I ordered fries, the cook pulled out a potato, julienned it, and deep fried it. *That* is very hard to find, or at least, where one can actually watch it being done.
Indeed?
“...the cook pulled out a potato, julienned it, and deep fried it. *That* is very hard to find,...”
That’s something you never see anywhere, anymore.
Yeah, “large and in charge”...
But then again, he’s all CGI now, and they didn’t have that kind of budget for the TV show, I suppose.
Yes.
It was rare then, but of course, it was probably in part because ordinarily the food prep is done where the customer can't see what's going on. But the flavor of a fresh potato fried is *way* better than frozen ones can do.
I remember “home fries” more than french fries... chopped into wheels, and fried up with onions.
I make those now, with scrambled eggs, chopped up kielbasa, and green peppers.
Wow, just reading that gave me a burp that tasted terrific! :^)
Yeah, grandmom used to make that for breakfast on Sundays. I learned it from her.
Good stuff. Salt and black pepper to top it off. Sometimes, pierogie too.
Mmm...
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