Spaghetti House signing off

DaveAndDan wrote:

We also remember Hess's. What a landmark! We heard rumblings a few years ago that "they" were trying to reopen The Patio as a standalone restaurant somewhere in the valley, with all of Hess's old, original recipes, personality and flair. Wonder if it will ever come to fruition?
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A few years ago, they tried selling a bad replica of the Patio's Strawberry Pie at Musikfest and it failed miserably. I really don't think anyone could even begin to replicate the Patio as it once was anywhere else. I would guess that overhead and inflation would prohibit any resturanteur to recreate any of those recipies or portions!

Change isn't always for the BETTER!!! Look what happened to Allentown when it CHANGED~!!

I Miss Hess Bros wrote:

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A few years ago, they tried selling a bad replica of the Patio's Strawberry Pie at Musikfest and it failed miserably. I really don't think anyone could even begin to replicate the Patio as it once was anywhere else. I would guess that overhead and inflation would prohibit any resturanteur to recreate any of those recipies or portions!

I've read/heard that Hess's operated the Patio at a loss just to get shoppers in the door. So as a restuarant it failed miserably but as a sales gimmick it worked great!

Kudos to the citizens who helped make this happen. Allentown has a lot of people who care.

I ate at Sal's as a young man as well. Does anyone remember when we had Speedy's record shop around the corner or when Allentown had the Woolworth's on 6 and Turner street. Mcdonalds on 8th street Ginos on Hamilton street.

Them were the good old days. Can anyone tell me if Wally's News Stand is still around.
Now thats true rememberance for me.

Be well

Iwasntmade4thesetimes wrote:

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I've read/heard that Hess's operated the Patio at a loss just to get shoppers in the door. So as a restuarant it failed miserably but as a sales gimmick it worked great!

I believe that is correct. It certainly did get shoppers in the door and standing in line for a long time looking at the goods they had in the store. Remember the models that walked through? They always seemed to spend more time in the "suits dining area" than with the common folk, though.

Hector Velez wrote:

I ate at Sal's as a young man as well. Does anyone remember when we had Speedy's record shop around the corner or when Allentown had the Woolworth's on 6 and Turner street. Mcdonalds on 8th street Ginos on Hamilton street.
Them were the good old days. Can anyone tell me if Wally's News Stand is still around.
Now thats true rememberance for me.
Be well

I remember Speedys Records. I shopped there in the very early 80's I recall buying Foreigner 4,(slight embarassment over that one) Split Enz Waita, B-52s Private Idaho, and many others. Then Speedys moved and the legendary Gene opened up Toones. ah, those were the days!

Wallys is still open I think.

aginghipster wrote:

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I remember Speedys Records. I shopped there in the very early 80's I recall buying Foreigner 4,(slight embarassment over that one) Split Enz Waita, B-52s Private Idaho, and many others. Then Speedys moved and the legendary Gene opened up Toones. ah, those were the days!
Wallys is still open I think.

I remember Speedy's...my mom got our Billy Joel tickets there for the concert at Stabler in 1982!!
I also remember Gene and Toones! I bought many many records (cds) there. He always had everything, imports, the works. Now I order my cd's on Amazon most of the time. Isn't that sad?
Also remember Hess's patio...loved the models and the big sandwiches..my grammy always took me there for lunch and they would bring out the burger in that Snow White oven!

Heck, I remember Speedy's. I bought my first 33 there!
Here's one for you--who remembers the Upper Story, Allentown's first head shop?

I Miss Hess Bros wrote:

Heck, I remember Speedy's. I bought my first 33 there!
Here's one for you--who remembers the Upper Story, Allentown's first head shop?

The Upper Story was where I would buy my incense...

I wonder whatever happened to Glenn, the tall guy who used to sell the 45s in the back of Speedys..?

Didn't Speedy's move to the Whitehall Mall for a few years after Hamilton Street went to hel ?

I Miss Hess Bros wrote:

Heck, I remember Speedy's. I bought my first 33 there!
Here's one for you--who remembers the Upper Story, Allentown's first head shop?

The Upper Story was the bomb!

aginghipster wrote:

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I remember Speedys Records. I shopped there in the very early 80's I recall buying Foreigner 4,(slight embarassment over that one) Split Enz Waita, B-52s Private Idaho, and many others. Then Speedys moved and the legendary Gene opened up Toones. ah, those were the days!
Wallys is still open I think.

Wallys is where I would get to look at those naughty books when I was 15... Also at Claude's Tobacco shop on the northwest corner of 6th & Hamilton in the basement of the corner building next to the Zollingers entrance on 6th Street...

I may have eaten in the Patio Restaurant just a few times. I have more vivid memories of a food stand where you could order hot dogs, hamburgers, and ice cream. I think the Patio was in the back.

David-1206 wrote:

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The Upper Story was where I would buy my incense...
I wonder whatever happened to Glenn, the tall guy who used to sell the 45s in the back of Speedys..?
Didn't Speedy's move to the Whitehall Mall for a few years after Hamilton Street went to hel ?

I seem to recall it being over on Union Boulevard for awhile...am I right on that?

David-1206 wrote:

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The Upper Story was where I would buy my incense...
I wonder whatever happened to Glenn, the tall guy who used to sell the 45s in the back of Speedys..?
Didn't Speedy's move to the Whitehall Mall for a few years after Hamilton Street went to hel ?

Speedys is now on the East side of town. Just like every music store their days must be numbered with I-pods and computer technology taking over.

I agree with aginghipster. Allentown was once great?

aginghipster wrote:

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Speedys is now on the East side of town. Just like every music store their days must be numbered with I-pods and computer technology taking over.

I must admit I haven't bought a CD in several years at a store.

Ebay is where I get most CDs and DVDs .... at a much reduced price. Then the CD gets ripped when I get home and I keep the songs I like as MP3 files.

Mrs David then gets the CD as she is not mp3 aware and prefers that format to play in her suv...

Oh the times, they are a-changin.. All the 45s and 33s I bought at Speedys years ago.. long gone.... except for some ... maybe 100 or so ... that are in a moving box in my home office closet that never got unpacked...

aginghipster wrote:

I may have eaten in the Patio Restaurant just a few times. I have more vivid memories of a food stand where you could order hot dogs, hamburgers, and ice cream. I think the Patio was in the back.

The Patio was in the basement. The snack bar.. which I ate at as well.. was on the first floor next to the elevators...

Hess's by the way, had the first push-button elevators on Hamilton Street. Zollingers and Lehs had elevator operators up until the late 60s...

I also rememger the lunch counter at Greens next door to Hess's.. They must have built that back in the 40s as it looked quite a bit like the one in the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives"...

They also sold 45's and I bought quite a few there as well.. Lehs' had their record department in the basement. I still get flashbacks of years ago of the Leh's restraunt in the basement... Ate there many times on saturday afternoons....