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20 Restaurant Experiences That Disappeared

20 Restaurant Experiences That Disappeared

Buzz Feed20-05-2025
Restaurants have changed a ton over the last few decades. Everything from the food to the decor to dining culture itself has evolved in ways new generations might never realize once existed.
If you've ever wondered what restaurants used to be like, you're in luck. A few weeks ago, Tasty readers took a trip down memory lane and shared the restaurant experiences they had in "the good old days," and it's giving me a serious case of secondhand nostalgia. Here's what they had to say:
"As a kid, I remember all the adult meals came with a side salad. And most importantly, those salads came with croutons and a pack of crackers. The croutons and crackers the adults didn't want were my original appetizers!"
"The first thing that would happen once you were seated in the restaurant is that the waitress would come to the table with a glass of ice water for each diner at the table, then ask everyone for their drink order. You also got a napkin, a knife, a fork, and a spoon. Nowadays, you're lucky to get more than just a fork."
"Just the quality and taste of the food was better. Now the food looks and tastes like frozen microwave dinners."
"I would love to walk into a Pizza Hut again with the brick walls and the glass lights hanging down. It was such an atmosphere."
—ChihuahuaMom
"Oh my god, Ponderosa used to have student nights where you could go to their buffet for under $10. During college, my friend and I used to not eat the entire day, hang out with our good friend 'Mary,' and then eat there. We normally wouldn't even want to eat the next day. Great deal."
"I miss the three silver containers that came to the table that had sour cream in one container, butter in another, and chives in the other. I also miss apple dumplings from Wendy's."
"I remember going to the A&W drive-thru. They would bring your food out in roller skates, and the root beer was in real glasses: big ones for adults and little ones for kids."
—Heather, 57, Ohio
"There used to be a completely separate area labelled for truck drivers at truck stop restaurants, and they gave a truckers discount as well (and they had smoking or non-smoking sections, too). This was only in the US, though. Canada never had that."
"KFC used to have a buffet! It was amazing home-cooking-style country food like beans, biscuits, gravy, and mashed potatoes."
"I miss the way McDonald's restaurants USED to be. Many of them were often uniquely decorated to reflect the city in which they were located. When we traveled when I was younger, we would often see a McDonald's that had different decor than any other we had ever been to. And Ronald McDonald and his friends were often a colorful presence."
"Now, McDonald's restaurants all look alike, with nothing to really tell them apart from each other. I find that really sad, since the McDonald's of my childhood were COOL!"—jomariem
"It used to be easy to find a nice Chinese-style food restaurant that was not a buffet with menu items like Flaming PuPu Platter, Happy Family, Phoenix and Dragon, and an extensive drink menu. You would all order one dish apiece, which you could share with your dinner mates."
"Personally, I miss restaurants with crayons and coloring page menus or other little games for kids. A lot less annoying to see kids busy with those, instead of on a tablet without headphones."
—sportypear867
"The Little Caesars in Kmart is the only time Little Caesars has been good. It must have been something special in those little kitchens."
"If they brought back an old video game that takes one quarter to play, like Centipede, Asteroids, Defender, or Pac-Man, there would be people on that machine all night long. I stopped playing them when they came out with games costing more than a quarter that only last for a couple of minutes."
"Parsley was put on plates as a garnish. It's a natural breath cleaner that you can chew on to remove any bad breath or taste from whatever you ate at dinner. I discovered that working in a Chinese restaurant. Pretty cool."
—Gerry, 72, Washington
"They used to have kale as just a salad bar decoration. It was not meant to be eaten."
"Instead of bread and butter, restaurants served WisPride cheese spread in a crock or ball covered in slivered almonds and an assortment of crackers."
"I would kill for a great salad bar. Buffets in general these days just don't hit the same."
—marvelousbubble
"I miss having real maple syrup at the table. I miss real pepperoni on my pizza. I miss my Burger King beef patty coming fresh off the flame broiler and not from a stainless steel drawer. I miss when Arby's would steam their beef sandwiches."
"I miss the lunch counters at department stores. Our dad used to take us girls to JCPenney's counter for cocoa after our Saturday morning dance lessons. My mom and I would stop into Rea & Derick (a drug store) for a cherry coke, and when we'd go to the mall with friends, we would go to the counter at McCrory and get their French fries. They were the best."
—Blinky Bo
Can you think of anything else that's changed about restaurants in the last few decades? Let us know in the comments, or fill out the anonymous form below!
And if you're finding yourself craving the taste of your youth, download the Tasty app to browse everything from KFC-style fried chicken to salad bar-style salads — no subscription required.
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Reviewers Are Singing The Praises Of These 34 Genius Kitchen Products
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time21 hours ago

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Reviewers Are Singing The Praises Of These 34 Genius Kitchen Products

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20 Kitchen Gadgets People Regret Buying
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timea day ago

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20 Kitchen Gadgets People Regret Buying

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Dad recalls horrific moment 10-year-old son was attacked by shark in Florida: ‘I heard the screaming'
Dad recalls horrific moment 10-year-old son was attacked by shark in Florida: ‘I heard the screaming'

New York Post

timea day ago

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Dad recalls horrific moment 10-year-old son was attacked by shark in Florida: ‘I heard the screaming'

It was a sunny August Saturday when Mary and Jameson Reeder took a boat nine miles out into Looe Key Reef with their four children, for a day of swimming and snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Florida Keys. 'The kids were diving, splashing, just having the best time,' writes Jameson in 'Rescue at the Reef: The Miraculous True Story of a Little Boy with Big Faith' (Worthy). As Jameson swam with his youngest son, Nehemiah, his oldest boy, 10-year-old Jameson Jr. grabbed a GoPro video camera and dived down to the seabed to see what he could find. 9 Jameson Reeder Jr. was 10-years-old when he was attacked by a shark on a snorkeling trip with his family. ABC News 'Then I heard the screaming,' Jameson recalls. On the boat, Mary Reeder thought her son had been stung by a jellyfish. But when she and her husband dragged him back on the boat, she was shocked by her son's leg. 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'He had lost so much blood, more than I'd ever seen,' she remembers. 'I was trying to keep him awake, to get him to keep his eyes open, praying that he wouldn't die.' When they reached the marina, an ambulance was waiting to transport Jameson to a nearby church — where a helicopter would airlift him to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, a thirty-minute flight away. There, as doctors examined his injuries, the extent of the damage was clear. As the Reeders explain, the surgeons couldn't save Jameson's leg, because there was nothing left to save. 9 Through footage obtained with Jameson Jr.'s GoPro camera, they were able to ascertain that it was a bull shark — eight to 10 feet long, weighing between 300 and 500 pounds. ABC News 'I had been worried that my son might lose his life. Then I'd been worried that Jameson would lose his leg, but in this moment I realized he had already lost it,' adds Mary. While she and her husband deliberated over giving permission to amputate their son's leg, a doctor intervened. 'You don't have to make this decision,' he told them. 'The shark made it for you. You're off the hook.' The family learned that it almost certainly had been a bull shark — eight to 10 feet long, weighing between 300 and 500 pounds. 'We hadn't seen it,' adds Mary. 'A quarter‐ton animal twice as long as our kid had snuck up on us.' 9 The boy had to be airlifted from the marina to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. Jameson Reeder Jr / Instagram In a wild twist, their suspicions were confirmed when the boy's GoPro video camera was recovered — and the Reeders could see exactly what had happened. First there was a shadow. Then a tail and a fin. A cloud of blood filled the screen before a shark's tooth appeared and then drifted out of view. 'It wasn't an exaggeration to say he had fought a Goliath and won,' says Jameson Sr. Statistically, write the Reeders, you have a greater chance of being struck by lightning on five separate occasions than you do of ever being attacked by a shark. 9 Doctors said there was no way to save the boy's leg. Jameson Reeder Jr / Instagram What's more, there had never been a single recorded shark attack at Looe Key Reef in recorded history. Jameson had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the boy awoke after 10-hour surgery he said he couldn't feel his toes. A doctor asked what he remembered of the incident and why he thought he couldn't feel them. Then the realization kicked in. 'He didn't say anything,' writes Mary. 'He was processing the question, trying to find his way from it to an impossible and horrible answer.' 9 Shortly after the attack, Jameson Jr. was intent on going back to the reef where it happened. ABC News Jameson required three more surgeries as physicians attempted to graft new skin to what was left of the bottom of his leg. But he shocked his family by saying he wanted to go back to the reef, just four days after the attack. 'Dad,' Jameson said, 'I don't want the shark, this hospital, and my leg to be my worst nightmare. I want to face my fear and move forward.' The attack also had profoundly different effects on his three siblings. Brother Noah, 8, for example, wanted to stick close to Jameson to make sure he was all right. 9 Jameson Jr. got a prosthetic leg three months after the attack. Jameson Reeder Jr / Instagram 9 'I don't want the shark, this hospital, and my leg to be my worst nightmare. I want to face my fear and move forward,' the tween said. Credit: Reeder family Six-year-old sister Eliana, meanwhile, didn't even want to talk about what happened. 'Whenever we tell the story to someone, Eliana goes into another room or covers her ears or puts on headphones,' writes Mary. Youngest brother Nehemiah, 3, thinks his brother is a superhero. 'He brags about it to people,' says Jameson Sr. 'He just thinks it's so cool: 'My brother got bit by a bull shark.'' The family, meanwhile, attributed their son's miraculous survival to their faith. 'I felt so certain that God was leading every snap decision,' writes Jameson Sr. 'Every moment felt like we had been guided into doing the best thing.' Jameson told his parents that in the aftermath of the attack, while he was drifting in and out of consciousness on the boat back to shore, he had seen a 'person on fire' standing on the boat. 'I knew it was Jesus,' he told them, adding: 'It was the worst and best day of my life.' 9 The family attributes their son's miraculous survival to their faith. Jameson Reeder Jr / Instagram Three months after the attack, Jameson — who still swims and skateboards and plays basketball with friends — received his first prosthetic leg. Before the year was over, he went surfing. On the one-year anniversary of the incident, the Reeder family returned to Looe Key Reef to swim in the same waters. 'We did see some sharks when we got in the water. That definitely made it more frightening, more intense,' recalls Jameson Sr. 'But Jameson still jumped in.'

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