When I was a kid, my mom worked to help put my dad through school (and later raised my brother and I as a single parent), so eating out usually meant a trip to the “Food Bazaar” (one of America’s original food courts) or my brother’s personal favorite restaurant, McDonalds (wow — remember them?). But a restaurant meal with my grandparents was a rare occurance, since eating out with them meant strict decorum was observed. And since that rarely happened with us kids, well…that means it rarely happened.
One evening, my brother was off with our grandma somewhere, so my grandfather decided to take a chance on me. With mom in tow, the two of us tramped to the nearby Guggy’s coffee shop, situated in the old Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. Nothing like today’s massive temple with the same name, the old Fashion Square was an innovative three-level outdoor affair, reflecting the upscale graciousness and relaxed pace that could be found in Scottsdale in the those days.
The Scottsdale Guggy’s was very different from the one at Chris Town Mall, which was a much more typical early 60′s coffee shop, crammed into a typical early 60′s suburban shopping mall. The Scottsdale Guggy’s was relatively opulent, with tall ceilings, fashionable contemporary fixtures and a hushed atmosphere of comparatively fine dining more reflective of its northeast valley address.
All of this was lost on me. The only things I cared about was the location of the bathroom and the contents of the revolving dessert rack over by the waitresses station. My grandfather noted my wandering attention. He observed my nervousness as he and my mother put down their menus. He saw my concern as I continued to fidget with my menu, which I couldn’t read. He fixed me with a stern gaze and bent over me conspiratorially.
“You’ll catch more flies with sugar water than you will with vinegar.”
I sat up straight as my grandfather motioned for the server, and quietly folded my menu as he had. I held my breath as the adults recited their orders, hoping I’d be allowed to choose my own meal. The waitress finally turned in my direction. This was the moment of truth.
“…can I have a hamburger…?”
“Of course you can! Would you like french fries with that?”
“…uh…y-yes please…oh, and a Coke!”
“Will that be all?”
I was running out of tricks. There was silence for a couple of beats.
“…Thank you!” I blurted finally.
The rest of the meal passed uneventfully. As we drove home, my mom announced that I had done well, and that my grandfather had been very proud of me. She asked me if I understood what he meant about the flies. I said I did: he wanted me to be sure not to forget the Coke.
Derrick,
You are an awesone writer! My mom sent me your link and I’ve really enjoyed reading your blogs.
Hope all is well! Say, “hello” to the fam.
Eden
Thanks Eden! Be sure to give your mom my best.
Man oh man! Crab Bengal at the Island all for under $3…and you probably also get the toast points with it. Thanks for another great menu read!
I got on this site by a link from mymorningjacket.com. As soon as I saw your name I knew it was familiar. I grew up in Phoenix too (Scottsdale and Mesa) and I remember Guggy’s. I also believe that you lived in the guest house by the dogpark before me. In fact, I went to look at it and you were still there with crates of Meatpuppet recordings all over the place. I don’t remember the street but it was in old school Tempe (I don’t live there anymore so my memory fails me).If this is the wrong person, sorry but wow, this jogged some serious memory. Thanks!
Wow. I lived at the Colony apartments on 68th & Camelback. My little bro and i would walk across the (then) empty lot to Fashion Square and have cherry cokes for 25 cents at Guggy’s! What memories, thanks Derrick.
p.s. Loved all the MP shows i saw, in LA and here.
These are beautiful, thanks for sharing them. Vintage menus are such a rich source of graphical inspiration — I designed the look & feel of my blog after being quite taken with an old menu from Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood.
Thanks also for linking to my site, Critiki — I’ve recently added a feature that lets people like yourself add items from their collections to Critiki. If you’re interested in adding your own menus to Critiki, they would be a great addition!
The Islands in Phoenix
Don the Beachcomber at the Sahara in Vegas
I’m hoping that Critiki will become a useful historic record of what these places were like — we’ve already lost so many of them.
For maximum collaborative power, perhaps you should install a TikiWiki (sorry; couldn’t resist).
You will be knocked out by this Don The Beachcomber menu from 1948 I have in my collection. All I need is the time and energy to scan it!
I’m looking forward to the knocking out! So, I’ve gotta ask… do you know how your grandparents managed to pinch so many menus? Did they work as a team — did Grandpa cause a distraction while Grandma stuffed it in her suspiciously-oversized purse? Did they slip a fiver to the maitre d’? Did grandpa stuff a menu up his shirt on the way to the washroom? I wish I could have seen them in action.
My grandmother had a 3 ft tall glass jar full of matchbooks; when I was a kid, I used to dump them all out and look at them and sort them, probably much like you used to gaze at your grandparents’ menus… what I wouldn’t give to have those matchbooks now!
Mine had the matchbooks as well. That collection, alas, has not survived!
The trick to procuring a menu collection back then was to simply ask for one. It was part and parcel of the whole unctuously polite gracious dining experience. “We’ve had an absolutely delightful experience this evening. Would it be possible to take one of your beautiful menus home with us as a souvenir of our memorable visit to your estabilshment?”
Ah, the old ask nicely gambit…
hey guys, im doing this research project for english and well im related to the family who created Guggi. Could anyone help me out and tell me your opinions
I lived in Mesa and went to Mesa High. I married Vickie Whipple and she worked at Guggies and Helsings I was head Materide (MS) at Paul Shanks. Her boss used to send me notes from her to me when he has dinner with Paul.I still have the original Pamplet that was made to show information on the hotel and dining room. I remember Miss Jeanie a part owner and our Chef I can’t think of his name at the present but he was asian. The dining room was fampou for the several left handed coffee pots from some ship some where. The head waitress Sudie in the French Quarter left to work at the Playboy club in Phoenix while in her fifties. We were extremly busy in the Coffee Shop the Dining Room and convention Center that my mother was in charge of. My Brother-in-law was in charge of parking and staff there. I used to have drinks accoriss the street at Goldwaters at Joe Hunts dining room, where I never got a bill as he wanted me to work for him. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a line. U have many stories and enjoyed my time there. I was in several books mentioned by authors that lived in Scottsdale at the time. Maybe this is of no intrest but it was extremly fun to shoare. I can sent pictures if you like.