America’s Forgotten Tea Rooms | Hacker News Reader

America’s Forgotten Tea Rooms

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59 pointsThevet31 comments

We used drive across America - the USA and Canada regularly, for over 50 years. In the last 10 years the annual drives, especially up and down the west coast or inland up and down (I15 for example), have changed completely.

There used to be great country diners along the way, a real treat after driving all night to pull in to a gas station, eat a country breakfast. At night, there would be steak houses, burger joints, chili shacks, taquieras, and so on. Now, there are only, these mega stops, with fast food chains, all of them the same. You can drive 2000 miles and chew on identical food and cultural experience. A big part of the pleasure of travel has been destroyed, not to mention the health. What used to be culturally local home cooking, is now the the basest junk food, with hardly any food value, or pleasure. I would hate to be a truck driver nowadays. Now you have to drive away from the highway, sometimes miles, to find an eatery.

It would be nice if that changed? But I think the big chain gas stations- together with the big car companies, will lobby for special funding from the government, as they seem to do, to add charging infrastructure. And a chance for local cultural identity and food, will be passed into history, again.

I think it's a way that inflation's expressed itself. The only way to keep prepared food affordable for ordinary people having an ordinary meal has been relentless application of economies of scale and making the food worse. That keeps the prices close to "the same" but if you find food that tastes like even mid-tier fast-food in 1995 it costs 3x what it did then, not 1.5-2x like the current fast food joints. That's because they squeezed more money out of economies of scale, and made the food worse.

A place serving a decent home-style or local-diner-style meal that isn't just microwaved can't compete with the Pizza Hut express or a McDonalds for the money of people just popping off the highway for a bite and a fill-up. They're too slow and they (have to!) charge too much. Plus land and rent's getting more expensive all the time, in excess of broader consumer inflation, and has been for a while (many fast food chains are also plays for real-estate value, as I understand it, which is another way they can afford to undercut local competition)

Conversely with the rise of Sikh driving culture in the US the last few times I stopped at truck stops I got much higher quality food (samosas & butter chicken thank you!) and was able to fuel up on good quality tea.

Those things weren’t available ten years ago. I’d argue over the last 10 years highway food has gotten better in the US.

Samosas is quality food?

I think pretty much anything can be quality food if it's done well enough.

My strategy for end of day meals when driving long distances is to look for a non-chain brew pub in a smaller town. You are going to find a business that is the passion of the owner and that sets a certain minimum threshold for food quality. Plus if they felt they needed to make their own beer they will probably be paying attention to food instead of selling Sysco glop bucket #6.

Override this strategy if you see a non-chain restaurant that hasn't had its exterior updated in 3 decades with good reviews. They probably have something good going on.

Accept that sometimes this strategy will fail.

This is precisely the goal. However it's sad, you have to drive further from the highways to find something. Then, the last time I stopped to ask someone at a gas station for a good local restaurant - specifically not a chain, the answer I got was "there's a Denny's down the road." Nothing against Denny's - but they missed the point.

I would attribute this perception to state and county highways increasingly being used as last resorts when interstates are not available. The major interstate stops are newer and more planned out. The diners are still there but are increasingly outnumbered as commercial infrastructure is continually built. I agree that locally owned, unique stops are a better experience than a series of Casey’s and the like and hope that Americans will become more adventurous again, which could cause capital investment to return to unique establishments.

>> You can drive 2000 miles and chew on identical food

For people with food allergies, I don't think you understand what a life-changer that is.

That's a very educational comment. I didn't think of that view point. Thankyou. Although, I wonder, if you find the little mom and pop outfit, if they wouldn't be more flexible in tailoring the food to your requirements? I would assume there are always locals with special needs too.

Nobody takes it seriously, they just think you are on some sort of fad diet. The chains don't take it seriously either but since they're standardized you know what makes you really sick and what makes you less sick.

I imagine it comes down to risk. Anecdotally I did food prep for my college dining hall and we had a decent number of people asking for sandwiches on gluten-free bread, but we only had one who asked for a very strict protocol (had to be from a new bag of gluten-free bread, new gloves, sauces were squirted on only (no spatula that could have touched glutenous bread)). We knew the customer by sight so were used to going through the process - I'd guess it'd be tiresome to have to explain the whole process at every new restaurant.

That said, I'm doubtful a fast food restaurant would do much better for a dietary restriction that severe. I too miss local and independent restaurants and am a little sad to have missed the "golden age" of road trips in the US.

It’s like playing roulette. Will they know what’s inside of the food they make? I don’t mean this as a dig, sometimes it is difficult. Most places don’t make _absolutely everything_ from scratch. There are various sauces and bases that they outsource, and keeping track of all of the allergens is difficult.

I have found that the small restaurants do go above and beyond to _find out_ if they have an allergen. Once I had an owner call two suppliers to check the ingredients for a particular sauce they were using and had mixed in to a lot of the entrees.

But also, I’ve had horrendous experiences, from being purposely served croutons (“gluten isn’t real”) to arguing that a dish lacking milk did not mean it was gluten free (turns out there was barley in it and my wife got sick).

Homogenization has definitely made _our_ lives easier, although I do believe there is something lost in it.

That was as long and rambly as a country drive. The author covers lots of incidental details like segregation and women owning the roadside diners.

I was reading with an eye for shortcomings and enjoyed the article. Well written!

I was suprised to learn that Tea Room moreso than advertising tea was advertising a women-friendly environment to the new generation since apparently a woman would often not be welcome at a restaurant unaccompanied by man.

Also the Green Book is mentioned. It was a guide detailing the location of black-friendly establishments which was especially invaluable when going for long distance drives in unknown territory. Published all the way up to '66!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Motorist_Green_Book

This makes me curious of how the gradual change from gas- to charging stations will affect these places. I could see clusters of charging stations gathering in the same place and causing a resurgence of shopping centers, maybe even malls, in those areas.

I had the same thought. It takes time for even a fast charger to "top up" an electric car, so taking a half hour or more for lunch seems natural. They might even serve tea...

consider that that implies consolidation (malls need much more capital than stations) and likely another monopolized market. gas stations, for all their faults, still provide an avenue for hard-working folks to build a small business without getting squeezed by financialized gatekeepers. it's why immigrants gravitate toward such businesses, and how dynamic economies are perpetuated. you can already see the stranglehold by big capital on charging networks start to take shape.

It could even revitalize these places - make them destinations in their own right - if the charging is paired with good food and a nice setting.

For example, a lot of California highway waypoints function that way now, like the saloons and restaurants near the entry points to Yosemite.

It would be a temporary boost that would have to sustain itself on its non-charging-related merits when charging itself becomes ubiquitous though, as even the original restaurants/gas-stations in the article were based on the then new novelty of countryside driving.

> resurgence of shopping centers, maybe even malls, in those areas

I doubt it - you're mostly describing outlet shops which are also affected by the decline of brick and mortar retail. Thanks to the internet and e-commerce, people don't often go on long drives with the objective of shopping, but instead are seeking out distinct experiences (think cute tourist towns with "local" feeling shops) which may involve shopping, not the same mall experience they can already get nearby their homes.

I strongly believe that charging stations need to become entertainment complexes, particularly if you're going to have them on highways. You have a captive audience for however long it takes to "fill up" an electric car, you need to offer services to fill the time/make profit off of the customers while they're there. Get people loyal to your brand, your specific offerings of entertainment while you wait for your car to charge. Until we see those sort of things pop up to deal with the fill up time relative shortcoming of electric cars on long trips, I don't think electric cars will have truly "made it".

On long road trips, the ~20 to ~25 minute stops for charging go by in a blink. You get out, stretch your legs, hydrate, maybe grab a bite to eat, use the restroom, and before you know it the charging is done. Sure, some stations like the Kettleman City Supercharger have a coffee bar and some other accoutrements, but you're not really there long enough to enjoy more than a quick walk through.

You could fire up Netflix on the car's screen, but most Netflix shows are longer than a charging session.

Maybe a future Quibi clone will find a new home in the Tesla app store.

Sometimes the charge is faster than our break, and I have to move the car from the Supercharger stall before idle fees kick in. Annoying in a good way.

On trips I used to time stops for future reference. It's surprising how long they take. Sure you can gas up a car in 5 minutes. But in practice it's usually a lot longer. 15 to 20 minutes is more common. For food, 30-45 minutes. Sit down dinner is often an hour and a half.

Sounds like you just described places like Buc-ees.

I disagree. Buc-ees wants people to stop, buy gas, buy food and drink, restroom stop, maybe buy a souvenir and then be on their way. If Buc-ees wanted people to hang out and make themselves comfortable they would have tables and chairs for people to sit and eat the food that they bought. They have no chairs meant for customer sitting -- only some to buy and take with you.

That's not been my experience at all. Every Buc-ees I've been to has a seating section of tables meant for this very thing. This section is located near where they are selling sandwhiches, ice cream, etc, and opposite where the store section is located. Maybe these are newer stores than the ones you've visited?

I’ve been to ~10 Buc-ees (although I prefer mom and pop places like Hruska’s/Czech Stop) and I don’t think I’ve ever noticed seating.

If you pass up Czech Stop for a Buc-ees, you should be tried for treason. At the least, driven to the border and asked not to come back.

Yeah I was thinking this too. It’s not the “chill and sip a coffee” experience, but for a stretch break on a long highway trip, Buc-ees is perfect. Interesting food, weird shopping, high quality people watching. Good place to walk around for 15-20 minutes (within the context of being on the side of a major highway).

The people I know who own electric cars can sit in them and watch a movie while it charges. That is not much of a captive audience.

The pattern I see emerging is that people prefer to make more frequent 15-20 minute stops along the way rather than stop for a "full charge". That's enough to stretch your legs, use the restroom, buy snacks. Not very different from gas stops today.

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