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By Ed Murrieta


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Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:15am

The way we ate: Vintage menus from the South Sound

A collection of menus dating to the 1930s reveals what we ate -- and what we still eat

Posted by Ed Murrieta in Cool Things, Tacoma
Comments (6)

I've been drooling over thoroughly modern menus at South Sound restaurants: Mangalitsa pork ravioli at Brix 25. House-cured beef bresaola with quince preserves at Il Fiasco. House-made pork rilletes and pan-Asian steak tartare at Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge. Farro and anything with rabbit at Merende. Then I came across a stash of vintage menus from South Sound restaurants. We've come a long way, baby.

While many South Sound restaurants are still heavy on meat-and-potatoes and breaded-seafood diner dishes today, such meals ruled the menus back in the day, save for the occasional chicken fricassee and sardine sandwich. Most of these menus date from the 1930s, some from the the 1950s. Enjoy!

MECCA_MENU
Dining in downtown Tacoma, 1937.

lakewoodmenu1
Dining in Lakewood, 1943.

lakewoodmenu2
Dining in Lakewood, 1943.

lakewoodmenu3
Dinner in Lakewood, 1943.

rhoadesmenu1
From a restaurant at the Rhodes department store, downtown Tacoma, undated.

rhoadesmenu2
From a restaurant at the Rhodes department store, downtown Tacoma, undated.

eatonvillemenu1
Eating in Eatonville, undated.

eatonvillemenu2
Eating in Eatonville, undated.

eatonvillemenu3
Eating in Eatonville, undated. Note the local sourcing of meat and bread.

chinesepheasantmenu1
Chinese and American food, near Sea-Tac, undated.

chinesepheasantmenu2
China Pheasant's American menu, undated.

chinesepheasantmenu3
China Pheasant's Chinese menu, undated.

chinesepheasantmenu4
China Pheasant's specials, undated.

buschsmenu1
Dining in Tacoma, undated.

buschsmenu6
Dining in Tacoma, undated.

buschsmenu7

More from Busch's, undated.

horseshoemenu1
Midway, indeed: Chinese and American food,
 with a dance floor for more than 200, undated.

horseshoemenu2
Horse Shoe Inn's American and Chinese menu, undated.

horseshoemenu3
Horse Shoe Inn's American and Chinese menu, undated.

prisonchristmasmenu1
The cover of the Christmas menu served to the incarcerated dickens
at the Washington State Penitentiary, 1950


prisonchristmasmenu2
The men behind the inmates' dinner.

prisonchristmasmenu3
A whole lot more than bread and water.



Comments (6)

this is definitely one of my favorite posts so far, the artwork is amazing and the food is hilarious
1 | Left by intacoma | Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:45am


Ed.. I have in my claws a box of old menus and recipes from a friend who passed away and was a chef in the Rose Room... I had planned on scanning many of the recipes for his firends. Let me know if you are insterested in seeing any of the treasures.
2 | Left by MonkeyBob | Dec. 18, 2008 at 12:37pm


Ed, these menus are fantastic. I wish more of them could be date traced. It really provides an interesting perspective with regard to changes seen in menus over time, types of foods offered over that time, and of course associated pricing. Neat stuff!
3 | Left by Vince | Dec. 18, 2008 at 2:22pm


So..... I'm wondering when The seemingly Tacoma Favorites of Chicken Dijon and potato crusted Halibut came around. I half expected to see them there!
4 | Left by Joel Mertens | Dec. 18, 2008 at 4:12pm


I'm thinking of stealing the last line from the Rhodes menu for my own. "good little boys and girls who finish everything on their plate will get a nice stick of candy from the lady at the front desk when they leave." Maybe that will help with the over the top substitutions Gordon was talking about.
5 | Left by Dan Hutchinson | Dec. 18, 2008 at 5:22pm


Great post! Wow- to think all this food was made without Sysco's help!

Somewhere I have a menu from a restaurant that used to be in the Winthrop- I think it had a middle-ages theme or something like that and ran by the same folks that created Trader Vics! I'll have to dig that up and scan it. What would be really cool is if there was an online museum for these menus...
6 | Left by morgan | Dec. 18, 2008 at 8:51pm


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