Above my desk, I have a bulletin board with several lists. One list is filled with suggestions of neat places to visit. Another is my to-visit list, and the final list notes everything I've already done the foot-work for and just need to post. The Grundy Center Soda Fountain spent a long time on my "I really should stop there sometime" list.
So, toward the end of July, Yai and I stopped for sandwiches! I ordered a sliced turkey sandwich ($2.50). Yai ordered a tuna salad sandwich ($2.50), and we both ordered Green Rivers ($0.80).
We arrived just at lunch time, and the ladies were so busy serving the apparently very hungry customers who had arrived before us the special of the day (chili dogs!), that it took a while for them to get to us. But they did their best, and we were happy to get our sandwiches!
The turkey sandwich reminded me of the one I ate at the Ahoy Fountain in Eldora. It was not at all exciting. It seemed just like a nice, inexpensive sandwich that can be ordered as an alternative to bringing a sack lunch from home. My Green River was good and slightly more interesting.
Available were chicken salad, egg salad, ham salad, and tuna salad sandwiches, sliced ham, sliced turkey, cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. There were also hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and BBQ rib sandwiches and canned soups...plus the daily special.
For dessert, there was a good selection of ice cream varieties and preparations to choose from--sundaes, malts, and shakes. Yai ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream ($1.50), and I opted for a tin roof sundae cone ($1.20).
Most of the building is still in use as a drug store and pharmacy, only the back corner is used as a soda fountain. The setting is very pleasant and clean, and I loved the stained glass lamps. Everything on the menu seemed inexpensive. The ladies who served us were very nice.
I'm glad I stopped, and I won't hesitate to go back if ever I crave a Green River in Grundy Center! I might also like to try something a little more adventurous from their ice cream selection.
Ahhh... I love your travels in the midwest, and your reports about the meals you eat along the way :) You remind me of how I enjoyed my time living in or driving through the midwest. xx
ReplyDeleteGlad you have good memories of the area! :)
Deletefast food looks nice ,architecture of your street is different from our in Europe
ReplyDeleteI imagine! But then our streets vary from one town to another as well.
DeleteSo fun to see what you're up to trying and checking out little Lady. ;) What is a Green Rivers? Never heard of that before. Looks interesting. Now I'm craving some ice cream ::sigh:: - maybe I should go for a little run instead. Lol ;)
ReplyDeleteBlessings Doll. xoxo
A Green River is a lime-flavored soda pop. It was originally created by the Schoenhofen Edelweiss Brewing Company in Chicago as a response to the Prohibition. They couldn't brew beer, so they switched to Green Rivers and other soft drinks. For a while, Green Rivers were the #2 soda fountain beverage in the Midwest, right behind Coca-Cola! You can still find Green Rivers at many of the soda fountains here in Iowa.
DeleteA run *and* some ice cream might be a good solution! ;)
such a sweet little shop and the sandwiches are so reasonably priced!!! green rivers, a mystery to me!!
ReplyDeleteGreen Rivers are definitely a Midwestern drink! I imagine they'd be pretty hard to find on the East coast!
DeleteSuch a nice little shop to stop in for lunch. I probably would have went for the chili dogs. : )
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Green Rivers.
I can always eat ice cream. : )
I love my paternal grandmother's chili, but I'm not too crazy about hot dogs...once in a while they're ok. Still it might have been more exciting than a turkey sandwich. Too bad I couldn't have brought you along to try them out! It would have added another facet of interest to this review! It is hard to go wrong with ice cream!
DeleteWhat a lovely place to stop for a bite, Bethany! Here in Montreal, Canada, we used to have soda fountains in pharmacies where you could sit down for a bite to eat, a milkshake or coffee, whatever you were in the mood for. Now, and this has been for decades, there are none left...at least not to my knowledge. I kind of miss them, too, but just looking at your photos and reading your post has brought back some great memories of days gone by. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteWe are incredibly fortunate/blessed to still have so many of our Iowa soda fountains and diners in operation. Glad you have great memories of the old soda fountains in your area.
DeleteWhat a fun lunch outing! I can't believe the cheap prices of the menu items! This is the first time I've heard of Green Rivers soda and it looks refreshing. So what's the craziest ice cream flavour that they offer?
ReplyDeleteThey have a sign that says they have chocolate and vanilla, and to ask for other flavors. So, I think it varies with what they happen to feel like buying. Tin roof was the most interesting ice cream flavor they had at the time.
DeleteBut...their malt and shake flavors looked a lot more interesting. They had black raspberry, butterscotch, caramel, cherry, chocolate, hot fudge, marshmallow, peanut butter, red raspberry, and strawberry.
Sorry I haven't visited in awhile. I lost a bunch of my blog subscriptions when I was having computer issues. - Anyway I'm back now. The sandwiches sound nice and not to expensive. I want to know what a "Green River" is though?
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting! Great to see you again, Ida!
DeleteA Green River is a lime-flavored soda pop. It was originally created by the Schoenhofen Edelweiss Brewing Company in Chicago as a response to the Prohibition. They couldn't brew beer, so they switched to Green Rivers and other soft drinks. For a while, Green Rivers were the #2 soda fountain beverage in the Midwest, right behind Coca-Cola!
You can read more about Green Rivers on here, on Wikipedia
You have lots of fun places to visit. This looks like another good one. I think the green river sounds very interesting. How nice to spend more time with your grandma. She looks so young!
ReplyDeleteShe does! I'm hoping I've inherited her genes for an enduring youthful appearance! I'm really going to miss her when she leaves; she's a lot of fun.
DeleteIt's so satisfying to be able to mark a place off the list! It looks like a great place for lunch.
ReplyDeleteI know! I'm a dedicated list-keeper and note-taker. Marking something off is a great feeling. I keep lists to stay organized, but just the joys of checking something off could make all my lists worthwhile. :D
DeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteNever, ever, have I been to a restaurant that served nice sandwiches like that for under $3!
Being from Portland, Oregon (the land of food trucks) that's a STEAL!
Thanks for sharing, Bethany!
Be blessed!
It is pretty nice to get a deal like that! Come to think of it, it's possible that was the most inexpensive sandwich I've purchased myself.
DeleteI love pistachio ice cream and mango.
ReplyDeleteNice to spend time with his grandmother.
Greetings to grandma and for you BethANY.
I don't think I've ever tried mango ice cream! I did see it as a smoothie flavor at the mall the other day though.
Deletelook great glad you had nice sandwich
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteI love your list ideas, and to have them out for you to see often, I am sure that helps to get things checked off sooner. My hubby has started something like that on his phone but I like the idea of having it where you can see it all the time, glad you tried one out and that you shared it with someone :)
ReplyDeleteHaving a small bulletin board above my desk is super-convenient!
DeleteWhat a nice spot to enjoy lunch with Yai! It reminds me of places that I would visit when I was growing up...such sweet memories!
ReplyDeleteGlad you have great memories! It was a nice place to visit.
DeleteThis makes me want to go there some time!!!
ReplyDeleteNext time you're in Grundy, you'll have to check it out! I wouldn't recommend making it a sole stop on a trip, but it might go well, with, say, a courthouse tour. They do have a very nice courthouse, and if you call the auditor, Rhonda Deters, it's likely she'll set up a tour for you. She gave us a tour of the courtrooms, and the custodian took us all the way up to see the bell and clock tower. You do have to climb a ladder if you want to get to the very top; but you seem in pretty good shape! :)
DeleteGreen Rivers? Now that does sound interesting! Fruity? Lime? That plain old sandwich is making me hungry!
ReplyDeleteGreen Rivers are lime-flavored. You can read more about the soda here.
DeleteThat sandwich makes me hungry! We are trying to watch our carbs, and I have had more than my share for the day, but I have some fresh turkey in the refrig. that will definitely be calling my name in the morning, Lord willing!!! Thanks for the review...it looks like a nice, humble, welcoming place!
ReplyDeleteWe don't eat turkey often. We pretty much buy a turkey at Thanksgiving, and one sometime during the year. But turkeys are so big we end up eating turkey for days (sometimes till we are tired of it!)...and my mom usually freezes some for soup during the winter.
DeleteIt looks like you and I both visited soda fountains this week! The green river is so pretty in the tall glass and the sandwich looks delicious. I know you enjoy these outings with your grandmother.
ReplyDeleteYou have good tastes in destinations! :D Actually, this visit was at the end of July...it takes a while for my trips to become posts. Though if I had any breaking news to post, I'd probably speed the process up a little!
DeleteI love these old-time soda fountain diners! I've never heard of a 'Green River' but it sure looks tasty! I remember when most pharmacies and even department stores had a little diner. These were the places we always went to when me and my Mom went shopping together. There was one at the local K-mart that we loved. Thanks for sharing the fun. xx Karen
ReplyDeleteOur local Walmart had a little diner when we first moved here. A chess club met there once a week, which made it a great place for us to visit!
DeleteWell, the prices seem great! And any meal that ends with ice cream is a success if you ask me :) I had no idea what Green River is, so I clicked on your link to learn about it. It certainly goes way back and I'd give it a try just out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to beat those prices! I don't think you'd be disappointed if you tried a Green River. I don't drink hardly any pop, but Green Rivers are good.
DeleteThey seem so very inexpensive, most places even the small ones here can't feed two people for under ten.
ReplyDeleteTrue! It's a nice place to get a bite to eat without spending much.
DeleteWow, great prices and looked like a fun treat, to boot.
ReplyDeleteThese types of little old-fashioned, small-town places to grab lunch never have the most exciting of food, but I have a special place in my heard for them. Old-fashioned, small-town living in the USA is kind of my favorite part about the country!
ReplyDeleteI love the friendliness in small towns and rural areas.
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