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A fantastic recently-unearthed video lets us peer almost 30 years back in time to hear from the endearingly surly waitresses at two L.A. institutions.
In this short gem of a video segment known as "Meet the Waitresses," reporter Merrill Markoe interviews some of the current and former waitresses of Canter's and Du-par's, circa 1986. The responses she receives are nothing short of hilarious. In the video, the women share their thoughts on working as a waitress and their pet peeves about customers, including terrible table manners.
Seated at a booth in Canter's Deli, one 20-year-vet of the restaurant shares her pointed observations on the iconic landmark. "The food is delightful, if you can swallow it," she says. She goes on to share her tongue-in-cheek thoughts on the reputation of restaurant's waitresses, "The waitresses are great, they're all old-time hookers or drunks." Evelyne, another subject of the video who at the time had been working at Du-par's for 33 years, recalls the time a rain-soaked customer asked to dry her pantyhose in the kitchen. And Mary, a 32-year-vet of Canter's, shares the annoying habits of her regulars, including "the elderly who wash their teeth in the chicken noodle soup."
"MEET THE WAITRESSES": Here is another one of my "reports" from NEWS13 KCOP/LA, circa 1986. This one is a portrait of the waitresses at Cantor's and DuPar's....two classic L.A. dining experiences then and now.But these ladies were just so GREAT! (attention: Mimi Pond )
Posted by Merrill Markoe on Tuesday, July 14, 2015
(h/t: Hidden Los Angeles )
Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly suggested that the videos were 20 years old, instead of nearly 30 years old. We apologize for the error.
