I know by now you have heard that all K & W cafeterias have closed for good. I felt bad when we lost the Salem location but knew I could still go to Crossroads and get my cafeteria fix. I always got the German chocolate pie and baked spaghetti. Notice how the dessert is listed first?
I grew up eating at cafeterias. More specifically Franke’s Cafeteria in Little Rock Arkansas. A fixture downtown since 1919, both of my parents grew up eating there. Every time we visited my grandparents we had to go to Franke’s.
They closed for good in 2020 during the covid pandemic. I remember getting the chocolate cake with fudge icing and mashed potatoes. My mom always got the egg custard pie. My dad liked the eggplant casserole.
I am a great lover of cafeterias. I always liked being able to choose what I wanted to eat instead of what my mom fixed. Cafeterias were fancy places for most regular folks. They had real linen napkins, heavy silverware, carpet in the dining room, chairs with casters. Light music in the background, typical elevator music. The cafeteria was one of the first air-conditioned buildings in town after the movie theater.
Cafeterias used to be abundant. K&W, S&S, S&W, and Morrison’s were all in Roanoke at some point in time. I thought going to Morrison’s at Valley View Mall was extravagant in 1985.
A cafeteria is a restaurant where instead of first sitting down at a table, you wait in line, grab a tray and roll of silverware, then go down the line a pick and choose what items you want. Often, the traditional way is a la carte pricing. Pick a salad, a protein, couple of side veggies, dessert, roll and butter, a beverage such as sweet tea. Traditionally, you pay before you leave, usually at the end of the line.
Why do we like cafeterias? Unlike a buffet, it is hot and portioned out to you by a server. No strangers touching every piece of chicken or sneezing on the salad’s fixings. It is extremely fast. All the food is already made and just portioned out to you. The food follows very traditional recipes and tastes exactly like a quality home cooked meal. So, you see all this delicious food and options but it’s not all cold/laid out for big eaters like in a buffet. It’s very appealing on a sensory level.
The cafeteria, as we know it today, has roots that trace back to the late 19th century in the United States. Depending on whom you ask, the American cafeteria started in 1885, when a New York self-service restaurant opened, or in 1893, when a Chicago restaurateur named his business a “cafeteria” (Spanish for “coffee shop,” though the American version of the term is now in use around the world).
The Industrial Revolution also spurred the cafeteria’s growth. A new class of workers had emerged who looked down on bringing steel lunch boxes to work. And unlike the saloons that offered free lunches, cafeterias were open to women.
By the turn of the 20th century, cafeterias started appearing across the United States, especially within large businesses and factories where feeding a mass workforce quickly and economically was essential. This model became particularly popular in the bustling urban centers, where speed and efficiency in dining became as valued as the food itself.
In the 1920s, as the U.S. urban population continued to grow, the cafeteria-style adapted to various environments, including public spaces and educational institutions. Childs Restaurants in 1898 introduced trays and the “tray line,” where patrons move along a counter selecting items, becoming a standard model.
Despite facing competition from fast-food outlets and casual dining establishments in the mid-20th century, cafeterias held a unique niche, especially in settings like schools and hospitals, where large, diverse groups needed to be served simultaneously.
If you have never been to a cafeteria outside of school, then you may have to drive to Charlotte, NC and visit Ikea to have the cafeteria experience. The company now estimates that about 30 percent of visitors to its blue and yellow behemoths come solely for the food, which, in addition to its famous Swedish meatballs, includes three meals a day spanning scrambled eggs to salmon filets, chicken meatballs to cappuccinos.
This week’s recipes are for some of my favorites. While there is no official K&W cookbook there are recipes online that are very close to those we love to eat.
K&W Copy-cat Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
• 1 small box uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1¼ cups ketchup
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• ¾ cup beef stock or broth
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef and onion together, breaking up the meat as it browns. When no pink remains, drain off the extra fat. Stir in the salt, pepper, chili powder, about ¼ cup of the cheddar cheese, the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and mustard. Let this simmer for a few minutes so the flavors come together. Add the beef stock and the cooked spaghetti to the skillet and toss until the pasta is well coated and everything is evenly mixed. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheddar cheese and the mozzarella. Bake 20–30 minutes, until the casserole is hot and bubbly and the cheese on top is lightly browned around the edges.
German Chocolate Pie
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 tbsp melted butter
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans.
Directions
Mix all together and pour into an unbaked 9” pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
Franke’s Egg Custard Pie
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
½ stick butter -softened
6 eggs
2 pie crusts (or 1 for a Deep-dish pie)
Pinch of salt 1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 TBLSP whole milk
2- 9” pie pans or 1- 9.5-10” deep dish pie pan
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pie crust(s) in pie pan(s); do not bake. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and salt. Add 3 eggs and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add 3 more eggs and nutmeg and beat for 2 more minutes. Add vanilla extract and milk and stir in with a spoon. Pour into unbaked pie shell(s) and bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and cover the pie(s) loosely with aluminum foil to prevent the tip and crust from getting too dark. (Take care the aluminum foil doesn’t touch the top of the pie.) Bake for 60 to 70 minutes for deep dish or 45 to 50 minutes for regular pies or until the middle is firm enough to shake (or until a sharp knife inserted in the middle comes out clean). For a darker pie, remove the aluminum foil for 5 to 10 minutes before the pie is done. Allow to cool before serving.
Franke’s Scalloped Eggplant Casserole
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small eggplants
½ teaspoon salt
Dash black pepper
2 cups canned tomatoes well drained
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 Green pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
2 eggs well beaten
2 cups cornbread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Grated cheese (at least 1 cup)
Directions
Peel and cube the eggplant. Cok in water to cover until tender, drain well. Add salt and black pepper; mash the mixture with a potato masher. Mash the tomatoes with the onion and if using the green pepper. Add to the eggplant along with the eggs and cornbread crumbs. Grease a 2-quart casserole with butter or margarine. Pour the eggplant mixture into the casserole dish. Pour in enough milk to cover. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 375 degrees 30-35 minutes.
