Kmart Cafeteria

[mguilford1]

I thought I was the only one that loved Kmart food! When I started dating my husband (1984) I would get him to take me there for salisbury steak with lots of grilled onions, gravy, mashed potato and corn. The whole meal was like $3.50! No wonder he married me I was a cheap date! We also use to go to Dunkin Donuts....they had a counter with bar stools and you could get unlimited bowls of soup, a roll, donut and soft drink or coffee for $2.99.

 

[superme80]

It's Chocolate Malted Krunch. And it was my favorite too. It was 10 cents a scoop when Baskin Robbins was 25 cents too. And it was those mechanical straight scoops too so you got more in a scoop. They used wafer cones because the cylindrical scoop fit in em. But for so much more ice cream, it was worth the trade off. I am told that Rite-Aid still carries and serves the Thrifty Ice Cream in some of its Southern California Stores and that there are one or two independent locations that sell it out west. Next time I'm out there, I'll have a look.

Growing up they had both. Vanilla with chocolate chips and malt. Then chocolate with chocolate chips and malt. We get the ice cream from Rite Aid a lot. I love it!

 

[Diznygrl]

It's Chocolate Malted Krunch. And it was my favorite too. It was 10 cents a scoop when Baskin Robbins was 25 cents too. And it was those mechanical straight scoops too so you got more in a scoop. They used wafer cones because the cylindrical scoop fit in em. But for so much more ice cream, it was worth the trade off. I am told that Rite-Aid still carries and serves the Thrifty Ice Cream in some of its Southern California Stores and that there are one or two independent locations that sell it out west. Next time I'm out there, I'll have a look.

Yeah, most Rite Aids here carry Thrifty Ice Cream pre-packaged in the freezer section. I do know that there's a Rite Aid in Downtown Sacramento that still has a Thrifty Ice Cream counter.


I remember when Kmart had a cafe, but I really couldn't tell you if I ever ate there or not. Maybe once or twice, but I'm not sure. I remember getting lots of cherry ICEEs at Kmart, though.

 

[sasywtch]

I miss Thriftys!!! My favorite was the double chocolate malted crunch!

The Rite Aids around here sell the Thrifty ice cream cones. Not as cheap as back in the day.

Ate at the KMart diner a few times and had the subs from the center deli thing. That was the thing back in the day as families just didn't go to McD's or Carls Jr every day.
Those subs were with the pressed meat, little cheese, a slice of tomato and maybe a pickle slice but it was take out so it was good LOL

 

[sasywtch]

Yeah, most Rite Aids here carry Thrifty Ice Cream pre-packaged in the freezer section. I do know that there's a Rite Aid in Downtown Sacramento that still has a Thrifty Ice Cream counter.


I remember when Kmart had a cafe, but I really couldn't tell you if I ever ate there or not. Maybe once or twice, but I'm not sure. I remember getting lots of cherry ICEEs at Kmart, though.

Antelope and Citrus Heights/Sylvan library area also have the counter.

 

[sasywtch]

I thought I was the only one that loved Kmart food! When I started dating my husband (1984) I would get him to take me there for salisbury steak with lots of grilled onions, gravy, mashed potato and corn. The whole meal was like $3.50! No wonder he married me I was a cheap date! We also use to go to Dunkin Donuts....they had a counter with bar stools and you could get unlimited bowls of soup, a roll, donut and soft drink or coffee for $2.99.

I'm almost embarrassed to say this: in the 70's, my boyfriend took me to Kmart as I had picked out a ring. (going steady thing). He went to the auto section, got himself one of those big foot gas pedal things LOL pretended like he was going to check out without getting me my ring. That ring had the teenest, tiny, small little chip diamond I think it cost $20 I was still in high school, what can I say.

 

[kydisneyfans]

The KMart cafeteria was the place to be on the weekends.

I remember many time we went to eat there after church and there was no place to sit. Our subs/sandwiches had to be made with no mustard.

The café also had spin for a sundae, with different discounts depending on where the wheel landed.

When KMart partnered with Little Caesars in the 80s that all went away.

 

[dreamin_disney]

ME!ME!ME! Those are the best memories with my Mom. I'm 41 now and I so wish they would bring it back. My mom would get the pack of sandwishes on a bun from the deli ham sandwiches were a treat because we mostly got bolgone from the grocery store. Another Kmart in the next town had the cafeteria. When my sibling were are grown andout of the house my mom and I would go and eat at the cafeteria once in a great while( it was a treat to go). I remember the pudding yummmm! It was the simple things like that , that warm my heart when I think of my special time with my mom. She's been gone for 14 years I was just telling my daughter that back then lil things like ham sandiwches or mcdonald were a special treat, not like today time ...our kids are so spoiled!!!!

Thanks for bringining this up

 

[LBIJim]

I remember K-Marts having cafeterias and deli counters but I don't think I ever ate at one.

Someone mentioned Sears with the "hot nuts" case with the revolving tray and the popcorn. I was always fascinated by that revolving tray but I don't think my parents ever let me get any nuts. But we DID get the popcorn. That was always a treat.

I remember eating at Woolworth's, both at the counter and a table. And I always liked looking in the pet department there; parakeets, goldfish, and in the 1960s, small turtles. They literally had hundreds of those small turtles piled up on top of each other in a tank or other vessel.

Most drug, discount, and department stores had some kind of lunch counter/restaurant back in those days.

Jim

 

[penn19]

The KMart cafeteria was the place to be on the weekends.

I remember many time we went to eat there after church and there was no place to sit. Our subs/sandwiches had to be made with no mustard.

The café also had spin for a sundae, with different discounts depending on where the wheel landed.

When KMart partnered with Little Caesars in the 80s that all went away.

wow. Totally forgot about the sundae thing. Ours had balloons. You picked a balloon and there was a slip of paper with a price on it inside that when popped told you how much you were paying for your sundae.

 

[thewesterberg]

The Kmart just down the street has a cafe still but I never go there as I get frustrated every time I try to shop at the store. However I do have memories of eating at the cafe at the store where my MIL worked after she retired. My DH talks about how that cafe had the best bread pudding, which was made from day old cinnamon rolls. It was an "off menu" item and after awhile corporate told them they couldn't make it any more. My DH laments this fact when we've gone into that store ever since.

 

[Jedana]

OK, fess up. Who used to dine at the Kmart cafeteria back in the day?

I was thinking about their apple dumplings the other day. I used to beg for them when I was little. Sooo good. I tried googling a knock off recipe but no luck.

We also used to get their sub sandwiches. They were the best and so cheap.

So how else used to eat there and what did you like?

I will accept Kresge cafeteria offerings as well.

When I was a kid, they had the boiled ham and lettuce sandwiches. My mom would go shopping and bring home bags of these for dinner.

They had Slush Puppies too. I remember saving those darn points for years and never did anything with them!

 

[willowsnn3]

I do not remember Kmart cafeterias, but I do remember when Sears used to sell Icees and (I think) popcorn.

The Kmart near me just opened a small Little Caeser's restaurant up near the exit.

Ohhh, I remember going to Sears & getting a bag of warm Cashews!!!

 

[fabulousfive]

I do remember the slushed but I don't think I was ever able to get one. Maybe that's how Target got their inspiration for their icees. I did however eat at Woolworth's in their diner often at the mall.

 

[willowsnn3]

In the 80's there was a KMart across from where I worked. We had an hour for lunch so a bunch of us usually walked over there to eat. I remember they had a side salad for a dollar & the salad bar was just a little more. And oh, yes, my mama used to stock up on those ham sandwiches every time she went, lol.

 

[NotUrsula]

Not K-Mart, but W.T. Grant had a great lunch counter -- the burgers were SO good: perfectly-toasted buttered buns, and a nice thick handmade patty.

And for anyone who grew up or lived in New Orleans, the D.H. Holmes Cafeteria. (Sadly, it is the lobby of a parking garage now. )
Best cheap seafood gumbo in town; it was a back-to-school and Christmas shopping tradition, and when I worked in the Quarter it was the best lunch deal going.

 

[chisnpeke]

I remember eating at Little Caesars in Kmart in the early 90s.

 

[crz4mm2]

Yep yep yep.

Used to take my little sister and brother there. They had great mashed potatoes. Good first meals for kids

 

[MM27]

Slushies and hot pretzels. Only reason I ever had to go shopping with my mom.

 

[VintageGuy1988]

I can't sleep so here i am online looking up nostalgia it is funny i thought i was hallucinating. But i do remember very vividly these little restaraunts they were actually more like Cafeterias. In the Back of the Kmart they were by the sporting goods and Electronics Section. I read a little bit on another thread it looks like these Kmart Cafeterias were in a lot of Kmarts from the 1960's to the Early 1990's. Here was the layout i Remember you would walk into the Store through the Front Doors then to your left there would be a Snack Island which sold popcorn,ICEE (ICEE with the oldschool Polar Bear),Soda,popcorn,Ice Cream with the (Ice Cream Viewing Windows). Then if you went to the back of the Store To (what is now in 2014 the Electronics Department). There was a Boxed area I think may have been wood Paneling it was a Cafeteria it was pretty dimly lit complete with Plexi Glass, I think a yellow sign on the outside that read "Cafeteria" it was Kind of Dark as i mentioned already. I think there was a slide your tray along counter. I think in addition to what all you guys remember them serving they had Hamburgers as well. Me and my MOM would go in there and eat whenever we went shopping. Apparently they never updated the 1970's Decor so it kept it's 1970's Look all the way until they shut them down in the early 1990's LOL. Which is why i and most of the people that remember these Kmart Cafeterias say they looked like they were frozen in the 1970's. So if you walk into my Local Kmart nowadays and went to what now is the Electronics Department you would never have known they existed. The one in my Local Kmart closed in 1993.