So many things come to mind when thinking of the Ivanhoe restaurant in West Springfield, Mass.
This populist restaurant had the same name as an 1819 novel about a Saxon knight with a relentless allegiance to King Richard and strong love for Lady Rowena. How many restaurants in West Springfield could say the same thing? None.
They had a salad bar that seemed like the culinary equivalent of the novel -- that is, quite lengthy with no end in sight.
The hostess always seemed to find us a seat even when no seating appeared available. Sometimes it meant taking, well, a lengthy walk along the carpedted floor to the back of the large restaurant but that was OK. We were socially distant in restaurants before social distancing was cool, enjoying our peace and solitude when dining out.
I always got a chuckle that Ivanhoe was part of the Abdow's Big Boy restaurant chain that had the famous cartoon logo of a smiling big boy (actually, he looked like a little kid with a bloated head) holding a plated hamburger above his shoulder. At the Ivanhoe, I almost cracked up one time when seeing a waiter with a bloated head who looked like an overgrown kid holding a hamburger plate above his shoulder. He even had the cartoon-like smile!, Yep, good anecdote.
The Ivanhoe ultimately hit the spot on every visit whether ordering a sandwich, dinner or just concentrating on the massive salad bar. It was a typical old school restaurant informally specializing in chicken, steak and seafood. The thing is, The Ivanhoe seemed to serve up food better than most. That's why we always stopped there on the way back from our vacations in Cooperstown, N.Y. Now heading back from vacation in one of the northeast United States' most beautiful, fun towns and ending up in West Springfield could have caused me to make a career out of writing depressed songs. But The Ivanhoe was so good (and welcoming) that it offset some of the sadness of just ending a vacation.
It was a real restaurant and really good until its closing in 2007.
Nostalgic Boston memories of a simpler time including favorite restaurants no longer there, retro family road trips, travel attractions, TV and radio personalities and special hometown reflections. Also featuring old school Boston businesses still thriving today!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Does anyone remember Dana Hersey and The Movie Loft on WSBK, Channel 38 in Boston? Hersey, with his deep, resonant theatrical voice, expe...
-
Boston television has turned out some outstanding meteorologists through the years with one of the best periods taking place in the 1970s an...
-
For a chain, the Pewter Pot resonated with personality. With waitresses dressed in Revolution era dresses, colonial theme wallpaper, post a...
-
The sepia-tinted memories of going out to eat with family and friends back in the day conjure up warm memories at wonderful places that, unf...
-
I need your help. People don't believe me when I tell them there was a Midget Deli in Cambridge, Mass. It's like I am the only one...
-
Growing up in Arlington, Mass., during the 60s, 70s and 80s, I was country before country was cool. I loved watching The Andy Griffith Sho...
-
The Massachusetts Turnpike Howard Johnson's restaurants were sub-par, Wellington Circle location too congested with traffic and the Le...
-
Eddie Andleman Let's face it, Sunday nights as a teenager in the Boston area weren't the best of times in the 1970s. An increas...
-
When thinking of some of the greatest personalities in modern Boston radio history, the old WHDH on 850 AM (now WEEI) surely ranks amongs...
-
Downtown Lexington, Mass., remains an impressive central district with many outstanding mom and pop shops and restaurants, but I do miss gre...
No comments:
Post a Comment