Located in Barracks Road Shopping Center, this place billed itself as "The South's most modern Cafeteria." If you ever ate there, is that how you remember it?
Thursday, December 7, 2006
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20 comments:
I ate there many times with my parents and I even worked there busing tables when I was 16. It was very popular because the food was good and it wasn't too costly. Like a lot of people I was sad to see it go.
Kevin Cox
Eating at the Ken Jonson was the big lunch treat my parents indulged in the middle of a long day of Christmas shopping. I remember their mac & cheese was especially good because it reminded me of Grandma's. (I was a kid; I didn't have refined tastes back then.)
I miss the Ken Johnson Cafeteria, the food was good and there was always a variety. My mother used to take my sister and I there every so often for an early dinner and I could never pass up the "spoon bread."
That's a great photo of KJ's cafeteria. We ate there regularly on thursday nights in the late 1970s when I was a kid. It was particularly cool because some of the UVa basketball players would eat there; I think they had some kind of meal plan for them. I remember the fried chicken and the guy who carved the roast beef who always wore an elegant chef's hat!
Blast from the past!!
For the record, Ken Jonson Cafeteria was our family business!! I was married in 1963(Alexandria, Va.) and my dad, Hubert Leonard Johnston (Bert), invited me down to work in his new cafeteria in Charlottesville. That was June 1963. He borrowed money from a Mr. Kenny, who lived in Roanoke, to open it. For some unknown reason they named it Ken Jonson. My guess it was a compromise so it would have both their names.
My dad had been a Regional Manager for Morrison's Cafeterias his entire career. He brought the best employees with him to staff the new cafeteria. He was VERY proud of his Mac & Cheese and had a secret recipe for making it. Spoon Bread was another feature. For some reason, I can remember prices in 1963: Salad was .15, pie was .10 (cream pie .15), all entries .69 except for carved beef .79, bread .05, all drinks .10.
Everything was made on site including Ketchup, mayo, mustard, bread and pies. All veggies were fresh. We got a RADAR RANGE (Microwave oven) one day and tried it out. Dad didn't like it so it was put on a shelf and never used!!
I left Ken Jonson and Charlottesville after about 3 years. My father sold his interest due to health issues in 1969 to Ralph Mustard who owned the Kenny Burger franchise in Charlottesville and Waynesboro. I lost contact with Ken Jonson since my dad moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. He died there in 1974.
I could share many more stories if anyone is interested. I would like to see a current picture of what is in that space and would like to know when Ken Johnson finally closed up.
Thanks for the memories.....
Neal Johnston
Does anyone know if Ralph Mustard is still living? I used to work for him at both Caravan and KennyBurger, way back in the day.
Ken G.
dmac82948@yahoo.com
My Dad was the manager there from the late '60's until it closed...many fond memories of visits to see Dad at work and samples from the kitchen...
My folks would take me there when I had to go into the UVa Hospital for surgery as a child; it was a special treat. Silver rolled in cloth napkins and a waiter to help you with your tray if you had trouble; and the food was great! We children often had "eyes bigger than our appetites."
Ate there many times. Such delicious spaghetti and yeast rolls!
Mom would take me to Ken Johnson's during the summer in the 1980s because we could sit and relax over a great meal in the air conditioning! We rotated through many favorites: loved tossed salad with thousand island dressing, the spaghetti with meat sauce, fried chicken with cranberry sauce on the side, roast beef and au jus carved by the charming gentleman in the chef's hat, mashed potatoes with gravy and yes... the amaxing yeast rolls with a pat of real butter! As a kid I loved getting the ketchup from a hidden shelf at the end of the row of booths in the middle of the dining room. I'm sure the waitstaff loved me! And when ready to leave, mom always gave me a nickle for chicklets from the gum machine near the coat room. Man.. I miss it so much. They don't make em like that anymore.
Amazing! I was running thru Google for some old memories of my childhood living in Cville in the late 1960's. I could not remember the names of the two cafeaterias at Barracks Road Shopping Center that my family would goto for lunch after services on Sunday afternoons. Great to read the other posts from visitors during this time. What great memories I have of lunches here. (The roast beef carving station was always on my list!).
Their whitefish was amazing ! I was only 12 years old but I was addicted to it. Baked in butter...tender...flaky...and the best tartar sauce ever!
Would know of anyone who has the spoon bread recipe? It was so yummy.
Used to be a manager for Kenny Burger and loved our meetings at Ken Johnson.
Spaghetti and yeast rolls were the best! My wife and I ate there many times. Was sad to see it go, but it had gone down hill near the end.
I had gone to Ken Johnson's a number of times when visiting Charlottesville as a kid, and ate there often when I was a student at U.Va. from 1984-1988. Its main rival had been the University Cafeteria ("UniCaf") on The Corner but that closed in 1983 so KJ reigned supreme for awhile until it too closed as cafeterias unfortunately became less and less popular. Like others I remember the spoonbread which was fantastic and went well with pot roast and gravy. I had a girlfriend who had never eaten at anything except a school type cafeteria so I took her there once and after that it was the only place she wanted to go on dates; she was a fussy eater and liked to select from what she decided looked best that day. Great food, a classy atmosphere and reasonable prices.
Ken Johnson Cafeteria, oh yea!! I worked there as a dishwasher and busboy while in high school. My favorite position was POTS...NOT!! Boy those pots being used for real home cooking would pile up fast!!The place was then managed by, and perhaps owned by also, Charlie Lofton. He was a great guy to work for as we often made friendly wagers on football games. He then had as his assistant managers Mr. Taylor, Mr. Gilbride, and Mr. Robinson. The wait staff there were a group of wonderful ladies, young and old, i had good times with them all. The food there was awesome, and everything was made from scratch right on location. The cornbread, made by Thomas Murphy, was my favorite!! Thomas and i actually went to high school together, but his dad worked there for many years so had gotten him a "gravy" job there way before i started. I remember Uva basketball players coming in to dine, particularly "Wonderful" Wally Walker and Gus Gerard. The gentleman with the exquisite chef's hat that carved the roastbeef was John, last name Burton perhaps, and then there was another jolly fella that worked on the serving line, also with a nice hat, "POPCORN" we called him. He passed back then near the closing of the restaurant or either right afterwards at too early of an age. His last name was Carr, and i cannot remember his first name right now. Whew, i am going deep into the memory banks right now as my mind is full of memories of the cafeteria.
I remember the restaurant myself going there with my parents my one and only brother and two sister's and me it was really delicious food. I wish they were still around..
Our family used to eat there for decades from the early/mid 1960s until they closed. I was a child in the 1960s. I loved the chicken with yellow rice and the tall man with the tall hat behind the counter who served it. I think I sometimes got the beef au jus too. But that chicken and yellow rice was my favorite! Thanks for this wonderful blog! Such good memories. I wish I could get pictures of the place inside.
My brother and I worked there in the mid 60's going to school. We started busing tables and then worked the line cashiered and even did some cooking. Made $20 a week!! Have fond memories of KJ Cafeteria. Still remember some of the folks we worked with.
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