Forum Cafeterias
Encyclopedia
The Forum Cafeteria was a chain of economical cafeteria-style restaurants which operated across the United States. The company was founded around 1918 and had restaurants in the downtown areas of several major cities. In the 1960s the company expanded its business concept to suburban areas, opening shopping center locations at Antioch, Kansas and the Dadeland Shopping Center southwest of Miami.
The company was founded by Clarence Hayman (1881–1971) who owned several restaurant venues before establishing the concept of a ground floor cafeteria, in 1921, at 1220 Grand Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri
. He later opened similar branches in other Midwestern cities. Clem Templin (1884–1966) was a vice president of the firm. The building architect for the cafeterias was George B. Franklin (1883–1953)
- There were two cafeteria locations in Kansas City. The original was downtown at 1003 Grand Avenue
, which was closed and the operation moved to the 1212 Main Street
location, around 1930. It was known in the company as "1212."
The second Kansas City location was at 810 Grand and called the "New System Cafeteria." It may have been established as a venue to test new concepts, processes, recipes, service innovations, etc. This location closed sometime between February 1941 and June 1946. The Forum General Office was at 2300 Fidelity Building. There was also a suburban location at the Antioch Center
In St. Louis, Missouri
the Forum was at 307 North Seventh Street.
The Minneapolis site was at 36 South 7th Street. The owners of the Art Deco
Strand Theater sold that property to Forum Cafeterias of America, Inc. in 1929. The building was extensively remodeled by removing the stage and making changes necessary to bring it in line with the needs of a cafeteria. When the Forum closed in the 1970s, the space was used as a nightclub, Scotties on Seventh. After that enterprise closed, many of the furnishings were placed into storage when the building was demolished. The interior furnishings were rebuilt within the City Center complex and the space was used by Goodfellows restaurant.
The Houston, Texas
store was located at 816 Main Street.
The Cleveland, Ohio
restaurant was at 2050 East Ninth Street, at the corner of Ninth and Euclid.
The Chicago
Forum was located in the Loop, at 64 W. Madison Street
. It was destroyed by fire in 1973. The dining area walls were decorated with many colorful murals.
Los Angeles
was opened sometime after 1941 and before June 1946. Its address was 620 South Broadway, adjacent to the Palace Theater. It was named Schaber's cafeteria in a 1946 company publication. Schaber's had other locations around the LA area. The last one, in North Hollywood, closed in 1998.
The Miami location opened in October 1962. It was in the Dadeland Shopping center, now Dadeland Mall
. It was situated on then rural land, near the Palmetto Expressway, ten miles southwest of downtown Miami.
There were two long cafeteria lines where diners queued up and could view and select the items they wanted. Taking a tray and a wrapped table service, you slid it down the chromed rails and moved through first the soups and salads, next entreés, then vegetables, breads and desserts, last was beverages. At the end of the line was a cashier who rang up your selections, you paid, and then found a place to sit and enjoy a freshly prepared meal.
The 1212 location in Kansas City had seating on the main floor with the food lines, and additional seating upstairs. The kitchen was on the main floor. In the basement were the employee locker room, the ice machine room, and the dishwashing machine. Dishes were sent downstairs on two dumbwaiters which came down to conveyer belts and sent the dishes toward the middle, at which point a feeder emptied the trays and fed the dishes onto a moving coveyer belt which moved them through the dishmachine, and they were emptied on the other end by another employee and sorted for redistribution upstairs.
Employees received a 25% discount on meals, with the amount deducted from their paychecks.
The company was founded by Clarence Hayman (1881–1971) who owned several restaurant venues before establishing the concept of a ground floor cafeteria, in 1921, at 1220 Grand Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. He later opened similar branches in other Midwestern cities. Clem Templin (1884–1966) was a vice president of the firm. The building architect for the cafeterias was George B. Franklin (1883–1953)
Locations
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
- There were two cafeteria locations in Kansas City. The original was downtown at 1003 Grand Avenue
Grand Boulevard (Kansas City, Missouri)
Grand Boulevard or Grand Avenue is a north/south street that in Kansas City, Missouri. Grand runs along the 200 east block in the Kansas City street grid system . In the Downtown and Crown Center areas of Kansas City it is an arterial route, continuing on the north as the Grand Ave. Viaduct...
, which was closed and the operation moved to the 1212 Main Street
Main Street (Kansas City)
Main Street or Main is a major north/south main street that runs in Kansas City, Missouri. It most likely starts at the Missouri River as a dead end street not intersecting with 1st Street and most likely ends at Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Brookside Boulevard as a major main street. The...
location, around 1930. It was known in the company as "1212."
The second Kansas City location was at 810 Grand and called the "New System Cafeteria." It may have been established as a venue to test new concepts, processes, recipes, service innovations, etc. This location closed sometime between February 1941 and June 1946. The Forum General Office was at 2300 Fidelity Building. There was also a suburban location at the Antioch Center
Antioch Center
Antioch Center is an enclosed shopping mall located in Kansas City North, Missouri, United States. The mall opened in 1956, and was once home to the first location for ShowBiz Pizza Place, a pizzeria chain that would later become known as Chuck E. Cheese's...
In St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
the Forum was at 307 North Seventh Street.
The Minneapolis site was at 36 South 7th Street. The owners of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Strand Theater sold that property to Forum Cafeterias of America, Inc. in 1929. The building was extensively remodeled by removing the stage and making changes necessary to bring it in line with the needs of a cafeteria. When the Forum closed in the 1970s, the space was used as a nightclub, Scotties on Seventh. After that enterprise closed, many of the furnishings were placed into storage when the building was demolished. The interior furnishings were rebuilt within the City Center complex and the space was used by Goodfellows restaurant.
The Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
store was located at 816 Main Street.
The Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
restaurant was at 2050 East Ninth Street, at the corner of Ninth and Euclid.
The Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Forum was located in the Loop, at 64 W. Madison Street
Madison Street (Chicago)
Madison Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to human intervention, the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan at the present day intersection of Madison Street and Michigan Avenue....
. It was destroyed by fire in 1973. The dining area walls were decorated with many colorful murals.
Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
was opened sometime after 1941 and before June 1946. Its address was 620 South Broadway, adjacent to the Palace Theater. It was named Schaber's cafeteria in a 1946 company publication. Schaber's had other locations around the LA area. The last one, in North Hollywood, closed in 1998.
The Miami location opened in October 1962. It was in the Dadeland Shopping center, now Dadeland Mall
Dadeland Mall
Dadeland Mall is a large enclosed shopping mall located in the Miami suburb of Kendall, Florida, in the Dadeland district. The mall, originally developed by the Joseph Meyerhoff Company of Baltimore, opened October 1, 1962 as a , open-air complex of sixty stores and services...
. It was situated on then rural land, near the Palmetto Expressway, ten miles southwest of downtown Miami.
Facterias
The company had a monthly house magazine called Facterias that profiled what was taking place at the different locations with their employees. It also cited service anniversaries at each cafeteria and welcomed new employees by name to the organization.Physical layout and logistics
The cafeteria had separate work divisions, each with their own management and staff; the Bake Shop, Salads, Kitchen, Pot Wash, Dish Line, Dish Transfer, Serving Line, Cashier. Rarely did employees cross over and work in the other disciplines, although one could work their way up to other positions.There were two long cafeteria lines where diners queued up and could view and select the items they wanted. Taking a tray and a wrapped table service, you slid it down the chromed rails and moved through first the soups and salads, next entreés, then vegetables, breads and desserts, last was beverages. At the end of the line was a cashier who rang up your selections, you paid, and then found a place to sit and enjoy a freshly prepared meal.
The 1212 location in Kansas City had seating on the main floor with the food lines, and additional seating upstairs. The kitchen was on the main floor. In the basement were the employee locker room, the ice machine room, and the dishwashing machine. Dishes were sent downstairs on two dumbwaiters which came down to conveyer belts and sent the dishes toward the middle, at which point a feeder emptied the trays and fed the dishes onto a moving coveyer belt which moved them through the dishmachine, and they were emptied on the other end by another employee and sorted for redistribution upstairs.
Specialties
- Chicken Pot Pies - The filling consisted of diced potatoes, carrots and chicken, with onions and peas, covered with a ladle of chicken gravy and topped with the crusty cover, baked on site in the bakeshop.
- Chicken Giblets and Noodles – homemade egg noodles (eggs, water, flour, salt rolled out the night before to dry, folded and hand sliced, then boiled) combined with chicken gizzards, heart and livers. There was also a Noodles and Gravy for the more faint of heart.
- Ham and Beans – large lima (butter) beans combined with strips of ham and simmered for hours
- Chicken Fried SteakChicken fried steakChicken fried steak is a dish consisting of a piece of steak coated with seasoned flour and pan-fried. It is associated with Texas cuisine...
– were cubed steaks, dredged in egg and flour and then fried on the grill - Spanish Omelet - a one and a half egg omelet dressed with "Spanish Sauce"; that being a tomato based sauce containing diced green and red peppers and onions
- Raisin Pie
- Waldorf SaladWaldorf saladA Waldorf salad is a salad traditionally made of fresh apples, celery and walnuts, dressed in mayonnaise, and usually served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal.-History:...
- Combination salad - large bowl of lettuce, with carrot strips, tomato and egg wedges, dressed with your choice of French, Thousand Island, "Roquefort" or Oil and Vinegar
- Fresh Strawberry Shortcake
Employees received a 25% discount on meals, with the amount deducted from their paychecks.