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Classic Restaurant Thanksgiving Menus

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    Cynthia Dea

    Cynthia is the Living editor at KCET.org. Prior to her role at KCET, she mostly wrote about food, contemporary art, and social justice issues for a variety of publications and websites. She also worked as a cheesemaker in London and kitchen assistant in Paris.
2015-11-24T02:58:17-08:00

What did our restaurant forefathers -- in this case many from the 1920s and '30s -- serve for Thanksgiving dinner? If you're looking for some retro menu ideas for your dinner spread, take a look these restaurant menus. Most of the traditional fare is familiar to us today, but perusing the offerings leaves me with so many questions: Is it time to bring back English plum pudding? What's California Burbank Snow Flake Potatoes? And just when was there enough snow in Burbank to inspire such a dish?

Would you want to recreate any dishes from the menus below? Tell us! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Blounts
Blount's Cafe in Glendale, 1930s / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
ChateauDeQualite
Chateau de Qualite in Glendale, 1924 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
TheChef
The Chef in Ukiah, 1958 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
ChicagoChopSuey1
Chicago Chop Suey Parlor in Glendale, 1940s / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
DeLuxecafe
De Luxe Cafe in Venice, 1923 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
Grisons
Grison's Steak House in San Francisco, 1960s / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
HotelAlexandria
Hotel Alexandria in Los Angeles, 1924 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 

 

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hotelcarmel
Hotel Carmel in Santa Monica, 1936 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
HotelMiramar
Hotel Miramar in Santa Monica, 1924 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
PetesGril
Pete's Grill in Venice, 1926 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
Pig%27nWhistle
Pig 'n Whistle in Hollywood, 1931 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
SpencerSnackShop
Spencer Snack Shop in Los Angeles, 1949 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 

 

Symmes
Symmes Grill in Ocean Park, 1930 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
theVictorHugo
The Victor Hugo in Los Angeles, 1926 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
VelvetTurtle
The Velvet Turtle -- Sam's Cafe in Pasadena, 1960s / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
Warrens
Warren's in Hollywood, 1921 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
GlenInn
The Glen Inn, 1920s / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 
Montmartre
Cafe Montmartre in Hollywood, 1927 / Image courtesy LAPL Menu Collection.
 

 

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    About the Author

    Cynthia Dea

    Cynthia is the Living editor at KCET.org. Prior to her role at KCET, she mostly wrote about food, contemporary art, and social justice issues for a variety of publications and websites. She also worked as a cheesemaker in London and kitchen assistant in Paris.

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