September 4 – First Cafeteria in the U.S.

nPostednon September 4, 2016

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nSelf-servicenfood? Getting a tray or a plate and grabbing your own grub at anrestaurant?

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nThisnnew idea was a time saver for workers, many of whom only had shortnlunch breaks. n

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nThenfirst cafeteria restaurant in the United States was apparently ThenExchange Buffet, first opened in New York City on this date in 1885.nIt was right across the street from the Stock Exchange – hence itsnname.

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nAndnit was on the honor system!

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nGetnthis: customers picked up whatever they wanted to eat, put it all onna tray, and walked to a counter – where they ate their lunchnstanding up! It was only as they left that they told the cashier whatnthey had eaten and paid for their food!

Apparently the E.B. of the
logo led many to call The
Exchange Buffet “the E & B.”

It was said that this nickname
meant “Eat ’em and Beat ’em,”
a reference to how easy it
was to rip off the restaurant
by lying about what you’ve
eaten.

Perhaps a more likely
explanation for the nickname
is “Eat it and Beat it,” which
refers to how fast you can eat
and then leave (beat it).

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nWhatnif customers lied? What if they ate an entire lunch plus pie andncoffee but then claimed only to eat pie and coffee?

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nApparently,nmost customers were honest. Even less honest people didn’t want tontake the chance of being loudly accused of lying by sharp-eyedncashiers. The Exchange Buffet stayed on the honor system for morenthan half a century, at least, so it must’ve worked out pretty well!nAlso, Exchange Buffets ended up springing up all over New York City –nmore than two dozen by the early 1900s!

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nHere’snanother “get-this” revelation: when it first opened, the ExchangenBuffet served only men! I suppose that the idea was to servenbusinessmen, because in 1885, there were only men working at thenStock Exchange? Still, decades into the restaurant’s existence, menusnclaimed that the Exchange Buffet was a “Man’s Place,” and thencompany’s president claimed in an ad that “every Exchange Buffet isn’A Man’s Place.’”

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nOfncourse, eventually the restaurants allowed women customers and even –ngasp! – provided some tables as well as counters at which theyncould eat. Thisnphoto from the 1920s shows some women customers as well as a waitressnstanding between counters:

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