By Michtex (141.211.207.171) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 11:53 am:

Is there a place in Detroit to get Chicken n Waffles?

I came across a website for Roosevelts and drove by the address listed. However, the place was vacant.

By Michael/cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 12:35 pm:

I don't know about Detroit but I LOOOOOOOOVE Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles in LA. It is kinda funky and you never know who is going to be in there.

By Michtex (141.211.207.171) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 12:47 pm:

My wife visited Roscoes a couple of months ago and raved about it. She mentioned Roscoes to somebody from the Detroit area and they told her that supposedly some place in Detroit served C n W. We just haven't found it.

By Eli (64.12.97.7) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 01:30 pm:

YESSSSS!!!!!!!!
Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!
Lip smackin' good!!!!!!!

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 01:34 pm:

Roosevelt's never got off the ground. That space in the Addison will be occupied by the Atlas Cafe. Don't understand the appeal of chicken with waffles anyway. I can't stand to have sweet and salty tastes mixed together. Ugh.

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 02:01 pm:

Fury...I felt the same way until I went to Roscoe's the 1st time. I think you would be pleasantly surprised !

By Lynn Bruce (69.14.140.151) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 02:49 pm:

Sweet and salty--- I once worked with a guitar player named Dick Maxwell in Tommy Good and the Tabs. He would order ice cream and shake salt all over it. When I asked him why,he replied:When I was young I loved potato chips and ice cream,when I got older I realized it wasn't the chips, it was the salt. So he eliminated the middleman and salted his ice cream.

I salt my watermelon.

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 02:54 pm:

(still shuddering at the thought of sweet and salty together...)

By STUBASS (205.188.209.109) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 02:57 pm:

HEY MITHTEX: PERHAPS YOU COULD DO A DRIVE THROUGH AT "KFC"...THEN HEAD STRAIGHT TO THE "WAFFLE HOUSE"...AND THERE...YOU HAVE IT!!!...STUBASS

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 05:43 pm:

Fury...think about your past relationships & just women you may have known....many women (that I have known, anyway) dig chocolate covered pretzels, chips & a Hershey bar, & other such combinations about one week out of every month or so. The salty & sweet thing is really not that uncommon. And...WRT chicken & waffles....the waffles are only sweet if you add the syrup. Otherwise...you basically just have another type of bread. (LOL)

By Rooster Cogburn (212.159.54.20) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 05:50 pm:

Leave us Chickens alone
Fog-Horn(I say)
Fog-Horn Leg-Horn.

By Soul Sister (65.43.150.250) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:02 pm:

Jimmy & I ate at Roscoe's in L.A. last December, it was funky & the food fabulous!
Don't forget Well's Chicken & Waffles in Harlem, they were dynomite, don't know if they are still in business anymore.

By Jim G (64.12.97.7) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:08 pm:

Fury,
"Chicken And Waffles" was written and recorded by the great trumpeter Bunny Berigan in 1935.
It's a pretty cool tune and I assume ol' Bunny frequented NYC C&W houses...

By FAYETTE (205.188.209.109) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:10 pm:

GLADYS KNIGHT'S SON RUNS A WAFFLE AND CHICKEN
RESTAURANT IN ATLANTA, AND IT IS SO GOOD.

By FAYETTE (205.188.209.109) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:11 pm:

PS MICHAEL IF YOUR EVER IN ATLANTA IT'S
MY TREAT

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:30 pm:

1Wicked, sorry, you can't convince me... ugh. You know, I've watched people dump syrup on meat too, like sausage or roast beef... I think they were Germans... LOL

(Still shuddering.... )

By Sly fan (63.207.60.53) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:36 pm:

Micheal/Cleo:
Roscoe's is Cool but VERY overrated if you've been exposed to real soul food...THE spot to try is a place called Harold and Belle's ..now thats the real deal...

Also, Aunt Kizzy's in Marina Del Rey...Stevie and Little Richard are regulars there...

By mhc (172.174.18.240) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:45 pm:

I've been to Roscoe's AND Gladys and Ron's; both awesome. The waffles at Roscoe's are like from Heaven, with a giant scoop of butter on top.. Does anyone remember the night on the Arsenio Hall show when Jesse Jackson was a guest and they brought in Roscoe's food 'cause Jesse hadn't been able to make it there that day. I got hungry watching them eat the stuff.. Another incredible Soul Food place that I've been lucky enough to stumble into is the Pan Pan Diner in Durham, North Carolina. Go there if you can...

By 1Food Lovin Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 03:59 am:

Sly fan..."rat on, rat on rat on"...Harold & Belle's is some killer stuff(especially their seafood platter, clam chowder, and etouffees), but technically, their specialty is Cajun/Creole...not Soul Food. Aunt Kizzy's is also good...but not what they once were. The "Serving Spoon" has great food as does the over-priced "Reign" ....but avoid "M & M's" at all cost !!

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 11:21 am:

I wonder if Roscoe's can "Fedex" me a chicken & waffles dish...
The former Motown Cafe here in NYC used to serve chicken & waffles and they weren't bad. I've heard that Ashford & Simpson's restaurant (The Sugah Bar) serves chicken & waffles as well.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 11:32 am:

Soul Sister:
Wells is still in business here in NYC. A few years back WBLS' Hal Jackson & his wife Debbie treated me to some Wells takeout and it was great (chicken with collard greens, macaroni & cheese with biscuits).
Damn...why am I hungry all of a sudden....
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Helmut (172.174.3.88) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 11:33 am:

Fury.. achtung!!!!! zat sounds like mein feu.. you no vat i mean.. haff you got a problem mit deutchland????
vee do not put syrup on our meat... vee put horseradish!!!!

By Soul Sister (65.43.150.250) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 07:20 pm:

Kev-Go; I kinda thought so but honey its been years since I had the good fortune to eat there. Thanks! S.S.

By Sly fan (67.119.52.132) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 12:38 am:

1 food lovin wicked: LOL!!! True!! The chowder is slammin'!!

M&M is straight garbage!! Good call!!

By Vickie (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:35 pm:

ok, one of you LA people..
I want to go to Roscoes..
everytime I was to meet there or go there I got flaked on..

Vickie

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:42 pm:

Vickie,
If I was down there I would be happy to take you. I don't flake on people either.

By Sly fan (64.169.107.208) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:45 pm:

One day we will link up Lady V, I hate flakes too.

Only in milk do I like the flakes. Peace.

By Vickie (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:48 pm:

I used to work across the street at the studio there..and I would find out everyone went after work...
I think my Roscoes experience is supposed to be special or something..
there have been at least a half a dozen times I was to go there and it just didn't happen..

get in that Caddy of Teddy's and come down sometime soon Ralphy..

Vickie

By Vickie (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:51 pm:

Sly Fan..

just let me know..

let me hear a holla from Uptight and Stu...
we can have a Soulful Detroit waffle night..

Vickie

By Sly fan (64.169.107.208) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:54 pm:

you got it Vickie,we are gonna make it happen...

It'd be cool to meet some of the other Cali folks as well!!

Peace and Looking Forward!!

By La Quan (141.151.1.101) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 03:36 pm:

I would NEVER flake on you La Quisha!You know why???? Cause I have a shaved head!!!!!!

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 04:06 pm:

OK vickie, I'll try. Of course even though it's Teddie's Caddy Ill have to figure a way to leave him here. Three's a crowd etc. I suppose I could take my own car.

By Michael/cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 04:12 pm:

Fayette:

Your on. I occasionally do get to Atlanta and the next time I will contact you. I have heard about the one in Atlanta but didn't realize it was run by Gladys Knight's son.

By Michael/cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 04:16 pm:

Slyfan:

I have been to Aunt Kizzy's and you are right it is wonderful. I actually used to go there regularly back in 1983/1984 (when I was doing a show at the then Westwood playhouse) when Aunt Kizzy's was at the smaller place (you had to get there at the right time or the place was full!!) that was across the mall from where it is now. I loved the lemonade being served in the Mason jars. Have you been there recently?

By DetroitDar (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 04:55 pm:

Vickie: I'm confused...You used to work across the street but you never went???

By DetroitDar (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 04:58 pm:

There are some mighty fine eats in the Nashville area too.

By Larry (216.23.183.2) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 05:04 pm:

Michael/Cleo,

I used to go to Aunt Kizzy's (when it opened) in the late 70's early 80's around the time I was performing at Westchester's Kentwood Playhouse (bass gtr in the pit).

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 05:22 pm:

Vickie & Sly Fan: I'm game...just say when !! Oh, BTW...the Long Beach location is the newest and "nicest" (I hear), if anybody wants to trek that far.

By Vickie (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 05:26 pm:

AHHHHHHHHHHH

Long Beach is my home town...


Yes Dar..I worked across the street at Sunset Gower Studios..there was always a line -
I just never got to eat there

By STUBASS (152.163.252.68) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 06:09 pm:

I'M UP FOR IT TOO!!!...I THINK I'LL TRY THE GEFILTE FISH & WAFFLES???...I'M GAME...AND READY FOR A "SOULFUL GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCE"!!!...STUBASS

By DetroitDar (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 07:11 pm:

Gefilte fish...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

By DetroitDar (198.81.26.231) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 07:44 pm:

1Wicked: I confess to totally being a sweet and salty woman! : >

Vickie: I hope it finally works out for you!

Can I come too???

By Sly fan (64.169.106.177) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 09:57 pm:

Micheal/Cleo: It has been a while since i've been to Aunt Kizzy's but I do miss the lemonade in the mason jars!! (you remember!!)...

1wicked: We are going to make that happen. Besides, yall are makin' me hungry!!

Cant wait for the feast!!

Peace and Chicken Grease!!

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 07:30 pm:

Oh, Vickie. Yes, we L.A. Soulful Detroiters have to do Roscoe's together soon! I hope I responded to this thread in time.

-Christopher

By Caleb (171.75.84.205) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 07:40 pm:

Chicken and waffles-is this a new concept or has it been around?First I've heard of it.

By Vickie (198.81.26.231) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 07:48 pm:

Christopher ,
Just let me know..
you know where to find me...
TammiProject@aol.com

I'm on hiatus til Aug. so I
can get a way for din din anytime...

Vickie

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 07:50 pm:

Roscoe's has been open for years. The concept may have been around much longer. When I lived in Detroit, I heard Diana Ross mention Roscoe's in a TV interview sometime in the mid-1990s. And once in a while you will hear it mentioned in a sit-com (perhaps written into the script if the cast likes the food).

By RD (63.188.32.150) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 07:50 pm:

Cleveland got its first restaurant that specializes in Chicken and Waffles last year. It's a popular soul food place in Shaker Heights. Before they came I had never heard of the combo. But I also never heard of a chain of supermarkets called Piggy Wiggy, Donald Duck Orange Juice or smothered shrimp until I went south.

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 08:05 pm:

RD, you mean the Piggly Wiggly? I visited Mississippi in the 70s, and my siblings and I laughed at the supermarket name. Do they still have those stores?

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 08:26 pm:

Uptight: Your timing is impeccable...we haven't "blessed the table" or had our first bites yet ! (LOL) There have been no tentative dates thrown out for discussion yet...I'm just waiting on Vickie, Sly fan, and Detroit Dar. Maybe even Stu can be convinced....

As I said before...Long Beach is the "nicest", largest, and newest location...but there's also Gower @ Sunset, Pico near LaBrea, Manchester @ Main and Lake off of Orange Grove in Pasadena. I'll leave it up to those who have been in Cali longer than I have to know which of those locations may be uncool or "environmentally unsafe"....

By Eli (151.197.115.10) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:18 pm:

We've been eating chicken and waffles as long as there has been African American cuisine!!
It is not a new "concept"

By Soul Sister (65.43.150.250) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:23 pm:

Dig it, its soul food baby! Nothing new just good old southern cooklng and places like Wells in Harlem have been in northern cities since the thirties & forties. Ever had salt fish & eggs for breakfast?

By Eli (151.197.115.10) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:38 pm:

Salt fish and eggs with a bowl of grits!!!
MMMMmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!
I was first turned on to it by my Carribbean brethren in the late sixties .
Im getting hungry soul sister!!!

By Soul Sister (65.43.150.250) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:45 pm:

Yeah Bobby my ex use to cook it, even better salt fish with dumplings West Indian style, I could eat about ten of those dumplings with some hot sauce mmmmmmmm....its a wonder I'm not as big as a house! As for good old american soul food love me some chiterlins', collard greens, candied yams and cornbread! We're both hungry now bro'!! S.S.

By Eli (151.197.115.10) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:48 pm:

I am such a well fed Jew!!!

By Jim G (152.163.252.68) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:49 pm:

Piggly Wiggly used to carry "Sonny Boy" brand flour, named for Sonny Boy Williamson. There was a picture of SB, harp in hand, sitting on some sacks. I had a small bag for years until it became infested with worms of some sort, broke open, and it got tossed out.

By RD (63.188.33.25) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:34 am:

That's it Uptight, Piggly Wiggly (What did I type?). I walked into one thinking it was a children store like Toys R Us or Children's Palace and it was a supermarket. I couldn't believe it. You know you're south of the Mason-Dixon line when you see a Piggly Wiggly supermarket.

I was eating breakfast at a relatives house and a cousin plopped a half gallon of Donald Duck Orange Juice on the table. I burst out laughing and some got offended; they didn't see anything funny about Donald Duck Orange Juice. No doubt they brought that juice at Piggly Wiggly.

Cleveland has had many soulfood restaurants over the years and still do but I never saw chicken and waffles on the menu in combination until this new place I spoke about. For some reason I can't think of the name but they also have a concession at Jacobs Field where the Cleveland Indians play. Fish with breakfast is not very popular here as a restaurant item; but my southern born mom would cook fried fish and grits, not for breakfast, but for dinner.

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:43 am:

Actually Piggly Wigglys were all over the North originally, too -- in the 20s and 30s. It was the first self-service market, nationally -- before A&P or Safeway. My mother remembers a Piggly Wiggly store in Pennsylvania.

Most of the stores out west became Safeways, the ones in Detroit and the rest of the east became A&Ps or another chain, or closed, and it just consolidated in the South.

By RD (63.188.33.25) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:56 am:

That was way before my time Sue. I remember the A&Ps and the Krogers very well but I don't think Piggly Wiggly was ever in Cleveland or Ohio. Well maybe Cincinnati, which is like the south. We didn't have Safeways here either but I've seen them in other northern cities. Before the major chains, Cleveland had many neighborhood markets that sold fresh meat and produce. On any given block you might have three or four such stores.

Though my people are from the south the southern experience escapes me. If I go down there it's only for a minute.

By RD (63.188.33.25) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 01:22 am:

Sue, your post intrigued me so I did a Piggly Wiggly search on Google and found their website. Interestingly enough they developed the paradigm for what most of us know now as the supermarket. I also found out that I'm not the only one who thinks the name is unusual; even the owner thought it was strange and never revealed how he came up with it.

Is there any supermarket chain, large or small, named after a woman? We've had/have Mike's, Dave's, Sam's Club, etc. in my town but I've never heard of one name Mary's or Barb's. Not a neighborhood store but a chain of at least three or four stores. You'd think a supermarket with a feminine name would be more attractive to the core of their shoppers.

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 01:28 am:

Piggly Wiggly, Safeway, Kroger, Skaggs-Albertsons/Skaggs-Alpha Beta and Winn-Dixie were all common names in Texas once upon a time. Consolidation and the economy have killed most of them off (in that market area). I really miss Safeway's "Cragmont" soda....it was "thee best" store brand ever...especially "Tiki Punch" !

By RD (63.188.33.25) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 01:44 am:

Winn-Dixie never made it to Cleveland either.

IWicked I see you used the word soda for what is always called pop in Cleveland. Even people who move here from places where they called it soda all their lives end up calling it pop after being here a few months. They get tired of the strange looks. Most of the northeast calls pop soda too. soda is pop; pop is pop.

I always thought it was odd that some pops and potato chips are regional (only availabe in certain areas). I can go to Detroit and find potato chips that aren't sold here and vice versa. Beer too.

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 05:07 am:

RD, I've been seeing Donald Duck OJ sold in detroit for at least ten years.

It took me months to be able to form my mouth to say "soda" while living on the west coast. I figured, "Well, when in Rome..." Sometimes I still find it difficult to say, and I'd just call it by the brand name (Sprite, Coke, etc).

1wicked, I remember A&P around the corner from my old house. We'd walk there. Kroger stores are in Cincinnati, and Kroger brand products are sold at Ralph's in L.A.

By RD (63.188.33.25) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 07:34 am:

Uptight, no DDOJ in Cleveland yet to my knowledge; it must be distributed by a supplier that doesn't have any affilated stores in this area. Or, possibly sold at stores that I never shop at, like Aldi's. Mostly Tropicana, Minute Maid and store brands here. Giant Eagle for example has their own brand of OJ. What's the connection with Donald Duck and OJ, or for that matter Popeye and Fried Chicken?

By Michtex (141.211.207.171) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 08:00 am:

1Wicked,

Are you a fellow Texan?

Everybody else,

So can I take it that there are no places in Detroit that sell C n W's?

By Wonder B (81.248.163.47) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 09:29 am:

Hey 1 Wicked please mail me that Aunt Kizzy's address... or post it here...as well as Roscoe's LongBeach address...I always go to N.Gower because Dawn Silva likes it better there but when she ain't there it'll be a much shorter trip for me from Newport Beach... LOL Plus if it is bigger than Gover's location it won't be a drag because I am tired of waiting on the sidewalk for 30 minutes to get a table LOL!!!!
I still have to try to go to Glady's & Ron the next time I am in Atlanta....
Hey we could have a bite togethjer the next time I am in town? :o)

Wonder B

By matt (208.130.56.167) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:35 pm:

about ten years ago, i had a great solo late-afternoon lunch at the roscoe's on pico near la brea, and the waitress was very chatty. she asked me where i was from, and when i said detroit, she got all excited and pointed to the only other customer in the place, a serious-looking gentleman in a sport jacket, a cowboy hat, and wraparound sunglasses sitting by himself in the corner, and she said, "HE FROM DETROIT TOO!"

the guy nodded at me without smiling and continued eating his chicken.

By Eli (151.197.123.83) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:49 pm:

Sounds like it could have been Detroit "Pimp Daddy" Slim from over on the North Side!!

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 12:33 am:

MichTex: Yes, I'm a native Texan....same 14AAAA District as Earl Campbell.

Wonder B: I really don't know how to take your statement !! Was it a "back-handed" compliment ?? (To paraphrase) "We could have a bite *if* Dawn's not available ?" LOL I know Dawn's a beautiful woman and all, but.... And why wouldn't *I* drive to Gower to gaze into her beautiful eyes ? Or is three a crowd ?? LOL Ya cut me deep man !!

Anyway Wonder B...Aunt Kizzy's Backporch is @ 4325 Glencoe, Marina Del Rey (310)578-1005 and
Roscoe's is @ 730 E. Broadway, LB (562) 437-8355

RD: I've heard "cold drink", "soda", "soda water", "pop", and "Coke" (in reference to ANY soft drink) from people of various regions over the years...so I usually only use brand names. And, speaking of regional foods..."Cheez Doodles" was a major Dick Clark sponsor in the 60's (Philly)...but I didn't see a bag until the 70's. Our dominant brand of chip was Tom's...and "Twistees" kicked the crap outta "Cheetos" !! (And anybody remember "Asa Buchanan" of "One Life To Live" as "Granny Goose" ??)

By RD (63.188.33.131) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 01:01 am:

1Wicked: The Convenience Stores (a chain) once carried a very good house brand pototato chip but they discontinued it for some reasons. The dominant potato chips here are Dan Dee, Lays, Snyders and Wise. Kettle chips are popular too. Twistees sounds like a good chip; I've had Tom's before, their ok but nothing to rave about. A discount chain supermarket name Save A Lot (much better than Aldi's) have the bomb corn chips. A real big bag only cost 99 cents and they're almost as good as Fritos.

By Michtex (141.211.207.171) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 07:24 am:

1Wicked,

I'm from the 4A district that produced the team that lost to Campbell and his Lions in the 73(?)championship game.

By Wonder B (193.252.46.41) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:15 pm:

1Wicked, I am sorry that my post could have been interpreted the way you did LOL!!!!!!!
No problem, the next time I am in L.A I intend to mail you before so we can meet (perhaps with Barry and Mary who knows, I haven't seen him here in a while) and if Dawn is in town too I'll introduce you to her... how does that sound to you!
You know you ain't no second fiddle here LOL
Just didn't know you wanted so much to look in those green eyes LOL!!!!
About Roscoe's LB address it's just that sometimes I get a craving for some chicken & waffles but don't feel like driving all the way to Newport Beach to N.Gower just for that if you see what I mean! :o)

Wonder B

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:37 pm:

RD,
I don't remember Piggly Wigglys in the north either -- the 20s and 30s are before my time as well, but trust me, they were here. First I heard it from a few older relatives, then I saw some photos in old newspaper clippings, then I saw it confirmed on the Piggly Wiggly website. If they were in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania I'd bet they were in Ohio as well.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 03:59 pm:

My Mom remembers seeing Piggly Wiggly's in Pennsylvania when she was much younger (late 1930s). Otherwise, the stores my family frequented were A&P (Pittsburgh), Star Supermarket (LeRoy & Rochester, NY), Bells Supermarket & the huge Wegmans chain (both Rochester NY).

My relatives in the Carolinas bought Donald Duck Orange Juice (they let me have the carton when I visited them during my childhood).

If I may throw in a bit regarding fast food restaurants - does anybody remember Carroll's Restaurant? It used to serve great burgers, fries & a tasty orange soda pop that put McDonalds to shame. Carroll's were very popular in Rochester during the 1960s & 1970s - McDonalds & Burger King didn't really make their way through upstate NY until the mid 1970s.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Sue (64.12.97.7) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 05:00 pm:

I lived in Philly until I was 10, and I remember going to the Acme as well as the A&P.

In Detroit, in the '60s and '70s there were a lot -- Wrigley's, Kroger's, A&P, Farmer Jack, Chatham's ...

By Scratcher (65.238.127.88) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 07:04 pm:

We had a Carrolls in Cleveland but Manners Big Boy and Kenny Kings were more popular; these were sit down places where many went to after church. Their burgers and fries put McDonalds, which came later, to shame. The burgers were double decked. It was North Carolina about four years ago where I first saw Donald Duck Orange Juice. KevGo, can you buy Donald Duck Orange Juice in New York?

I'm going to ask somebody who's 70 or 80 years old about Piggly Wiggly's being in Cleveland. They may have been in Ohio but I don't know about Cleveland. Most Ohio cities particularly back in the day were very rural like compared to Cleveland.

By Scratcher (65.238.127.88) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 07:40 pm:

I know some people in Cleveland who may help me out on this one. It's like a second home to me. I use to go there to see shows at the Front Row.

By Soul Sister (68.73.167.246) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 09:20 pm:

Scratcher;
I just asked Jimmy if there was a Piggly Wiggly's in Cleveland and he said he's never heard of one. He's been all over this city since he was hustling at age 5 or 6 years old and he's 77 now. If there was one in Cleveland I would think he'd remember it. I hope this helps out with that question.
S.S.

By Scratcher (65.238.127.88) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 09:32 pm:

Thanks Soul Sister, I know we didn't have one in Akron where I spent my time. I have relatives in Cleveland and know the town fairly well. We had Church's Fried Chicken long before Cleveland. They were in Akron in the early seventies but didn't get to Cleveland until the eighties. Akron also had those Acme and Click stores that you didn't see in Cleveland, and Scotts, which was like Woolworths.

By RD (63.188.33.16) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 10:26 pm:

Yea, Churches the only thing Akron had before Cleveland. I went to Akron U and would travel to Copley Rd. to the Churches (they only had one; Akron only had one of anything) and feast on that greasy, tasty chicken. If your money was short you could buy one piece. I knew guys who couldn't afford that and would beg you for a piece of the crispy crust to chew. They could have made a nice buck selling little bags of crust for a quarter.

Sue, I asked my Mom (81) and an older cousin and they only remember Piggly Wiggly's from the south where they migrated to Cleveland from.

Scratch, I went to the Akron Zoo once and almost demanded my money back. No lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, polar bears or bald eagles. Nothing like that. They had goats and other farm animals along with some birds and snakes. It's a farm not a zoo.

By Sue (64.12.97.7) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 10:48 pm:

RD,
I'm too busy/lazy to go to the PW website and check on Ohio but trust me, they were in other parts of the north, not just the south. Perhaps Cleveland was behind the rest of the world in the 20s and had no self-serve grocery.

www.pigglywiggly.com I believe it is ...

By RD (63.188.33.16) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:21 pm:

I've been to the site, Sue. I stated that when I said I researched the store in a previous post. Did you read Soul Sister's post? Jimmy is a Cleveland resident and has never heard of them being here either. Akron, which is 45 minutes south of Cleveland had stores we didn't have and vice versa. Now Akron is a Piggly Wiggly Donald Duck Orange Juice drinking kind of town.

I suspect they were in the smaller cities up north because large ones like Cleveland had plenty of neighborhood stores where you could run up bills and buy meat so fresh and good they put todays supermarkets to shame. Nobody was giving up that for no self service store where you couldn't run up a tab. Cleveland also had no nonsense unions and most of these neighborhood stores I speak of were actually butcher shops that expanded into more varied stores. One chicken shop had live chickens. You picked your chicken and the guy killed and cleaned it right on the spot. It doesn't get much fresher than that.

Self service stores were late coming to Cleveland because the people here were use to a more personal touch. Self service stores were the beginning of lousy customer service.

The first Lawsons I remembered in the inner city lasted less than two years. You see Sue the owners of these neighborhood stoods usually lived there so they seldomly got burgularized. When the guy who owned/managed the Lawsons went home for the evening the store was fair game to every thief in the neighborhood. A brick through the front window and it was on.

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:32 pm:

Michtex: U from Ft. Worth Paschal...or wherever Ray Renfro Jr. went to school ?? And...wasn't that '75 ? (CRS dude...)

Wonder B...it's all good !! I just had to yank your chain a lil bit !! LOL

RD: Been there...done that. 5 guys (3 brothers & 2 cousins) in two apartments side by side...NOBODY cooked !! There was the weekly "chip-in" for lunch meat, bread, mayo, and sandwich spread and if we didn't eat that...it was "Barnyard Pimp" !! We didn't have a Churches then...but we had Edmondsons. (There was KFC and Jim Dandy...but not in the 'Hood AND not open late !) Edmondsons was open until about 2:00 AM (catering to the after club crowd)...u could buy anything from 1 pc. up...came with 2 slices of bread...extra ketchup was ONLY .02 each...and the girls working always SEEMED to be cute !! (LOL) Oh man...18 years old, away from home (140 miles) *finally*, in college...and LIVIN' !! Deuce & A Quarters, 8-tracks, Flagg Brothers, double knit pants, Room 222, Pam Grier, Vonetta McGee, platform shoes, 1/2 vinyl tops, Champale, Tyrolia, Boones Farm, TJ Swann, black light posters, MFSB's 1st album and $5.00 "match boxes"...may the memories linger on. AMEN

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:41 pm:

RD,
You aren't getting me. I'm totally in the dark about Cleveland, and will remain so.

I can only tell you about San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They had 'em.

By Soul Sister (68.73.167.246) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:45 pm:

RD; Your so right on, Jimmy worked at a couple of those neighborhood grocery stores when he was a kid. Besides he was the one who pulled the wagon whenever his mother had to go to the grocery store when he was small. Then he used to travel all over the city hustling Liberty Magazines in the 1930s and so fourth. Would go down to the local 5&10 every week to read the latest song lyrics from the songbooks they sold back then, after giving money to his mother she'd always give him a little back for himself which he promply spent on those songbooks! The lady in the store would play the melody on the upright piano for him to learn. He was always a wanderer and would get all around Cleveland and extended areas in the country or outskirts of Cleveland. Funny, he's still restless and has the energy of a teenager, he was just born that way. A taveling man!

By RD (63.188.33.16) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:28 am:

Yea Soul Sister nobody wanted self service here. Not when you could go seven houses down the block to Al's Superette without a penny in your pocket and come home with a bag of groceries.

Sue, what is the name of the grocery store on Woodward that's three stories high? All of our supermarkets are one story. That store is the first three story grocery store I had ever seen. I didn't go in but it must be a trip having to go to different floors to shop for groceries.

Iwicked the chicken was a break from the pizza and them little cans of Vienna Sausages I squirreled away in my dorm room. I use to shop at the Star Market cause one was right on Exchange Street a block away. Akron had Star Markets all over; there were none in Cleveland, we had Sav Mors. Shopping was buying baloney, bread, chips, pop, them sausages, and a pack of EZ Widers.

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:40 am:

A grocery store on Woodward three stories high? Uh ...no such that I know of.

By RD (63.188.33.16) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:45 am:

Yep, saw it myself. Somebody said it was a food market that had stuff you couldn't find anywhere else.

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:48 am:

Well you'll have to be a little more specific about the location. But I've never seen, nor heard of a three-story grocery store anywhere ...let alone on Woodward.

There's one in Birmingham that looks like it's several stories tall but it's a false front, inside it's a basic one story food emporium ...

By fayette (152.163.252.68) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 02:17 pm:

how did you all get from chicken and waffles
to piggly wiggly???????

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 06:09 am:

Fayette, I am LMAO..!

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 12:12 pm:

1Wicked:
My God...you sound just like my older brothers when they went to college in the early 1970s! Neither one cooked as well and lived off of supermarket-brand hot dogs, cold cuts, bread, Heinz ketchup (the only brand name they had in their refridgerators besides French's mustard!) and LOTS of Genesse Beer (hey, it was Rochester, NY!). Pam Grier & Lonette McKee posters ruled the walls and albums by Mandrill, Curtis Mayfield and Rare Earth never left the turntable.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 12:19 pm:

Scratcher:
I've seen Donald Duck orange juice in a rural store somewhere in central NY when I was in college but that was very brief and long ago. The last time I had tasted DDOJ was in the late 1980s when my family visited relatives in Pittsburgh.

As for restaurants, we had a TJ's Big Boy but it was way out in the suburbs of Rochester. Carroll's hung in there for dear life until the mid 1980s when McDonalds and Burger King penetrated the market like water to a sponge. Currently, it's hard to find even an Arby's (love their roast beef sandwiches!).
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Scratcher (65.238.128.121) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 01:54 pm:

KevGo: On my first and last visit to Arby's they smothered my sandwich with thick gooey cheese. I was on lunch and there was no way to eat it in my car without getting cheese everywhere. Never went back.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 01:57 pm:

Scratcher:
I hear you about the cheese...Arby's do carry it a bit far in that area. That's why I just order the plain roast beef sandwich without the cheese sauce (gotta watch the cholestoral!)and I put barbecue sauce or ketchup on mine.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Scratcher (65.238.128.121) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:05 pm:

Oh, that $#@& was cheese sauce! Will they sell me a plain roastbeef that's all I wanted in the first place?

By Sue (63.85.105.20) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:08 pm:

Is that the Horsey Sauce? To this day one of my brothers torments the other about how that stuff made him throw up one time ...

By Scratcher (65.238.128.121) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:17 pm:

It would have made me sick if I had took more than the two bites I did. From that day I never understood why people went there to eat.

And RD, I feel you on Akron. I ain't even mad you trashed the city cause Akron's need a good trashing and a makeover too. Remember the Heidi Ho lounge on Wooster Street?

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:34 pm:

Scratcher:
You should be able to get an Arby's plain roast beef sandwich without all the cheese crap they put on it - it's part of their menu. If not, then make sure you tell the clerk "no cheese sauce" for your sandwich.

I have to watch my cholestoral intake and crap like cheese sauce (which is nothing but homogenized, pateurized liquid with flavor) is not what I need in my diet.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:43 pm:

Scratcher:
Just went on Arby's website - their regular, giant & junior roast beef sandwiches come with just the meat & the bun. The Arby-Q has the roast beef and barbecue sauce.
Happy digesting!
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By stephanie (64.63.221.145) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 07:20 pm:

You all are nuts looking up websites on food!!! Thats what I like everybody here is so human..
All of the Arbys here in the MD/DC area went out of business and to the person who posted they miss the Safeway Cragmont Punch I didnt think anyone remembered that it was really good!!!!!

Stephanie

By fayette (205.188.209.109) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 07:34 pm:

how did you all get from chicken and waffles
to piggly wiggly to arby's.

By Eli (141.151.94.253) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 08:37 pm:

Just found out that there is an "upscale" chicken and waffles place in Philly called"Jones"

By Scratcher (65.238.127.27) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 10:35 pm:

Yea, but does Philly have a Piggly Wiggly supermarket and can you buy Donald Duck Orange Juice any where in the city of Brotherly Love.

By 1Wicked (24.126.64.120) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 02:52 am:

Upscale chicken & waffles, Eli ?? I guess they use real cloth napkins and provide an optional bib so they can raise jack the prices up.

By RD (63.188.33.93) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 09:55 am:

The place in the Cleveland area I couldn't remember is Phil the Fire an upscale soul food restaurant on South Moreland Road in Shaker Heights. They feature chicken and waffles and also is one of many restaurants that offer patrons of Jacobs Field more than the usual eats you get at a baseball game. People have been known to accidently bite their fingers eating one of their delicious sandwiches.

By Soul Feud ! (141.151.91.101) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 10:06 am:

Wicked:
The owner Steven Starr is the restaurant king in Philly and all his venues are "upscale' and extremely overpriced so therefore he gets away with it. What a shame.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 12:40 pm:

"Upscale" chicken & waffles, eh? Do they put some kind of garnish with a lemon rind on top of the waffles?

My best friend & musical director for my label makes a killer chicken & waffles and all I have to do in exchange is loan him my Delfonics CDs whenever he has a date coming by his apartment!

Kevin Goins - KevGo

PS to Stephanie - yeah, we are a lively bunch of coconuts, aren't we!