Rolando's Roadside Roundup: Sept. 23
Nostalgia for a lost Brooklyn pharmacy; California pizza shop's new neon sign; neon from Long Island to Hong Kong; a Detroit 'darling' for sale -- and 2 things to see near it!
Our friends at Newsday have put together a list of restaurants to hit after a day of apple picking on Long Island. I share the link mainly because they give a shoutout to one of my favorite places out East — the Modern Snack Bar!
I love this place so much. You could easily build a whole day out there around a visit. On a trip back in August 2021, I stopped by around lunch time and visited again after dark. It has to be seen at different times of day to be truly appreciated!
However, if you want enjoy more than the neon, here’s what Newsday recommends you should eat:
Modern Snack Bar in Aquebogue is like a welcoming center on the North Fork, warm and reliable, as it has been since Truman was president. Recommended: fried soft-shell crabs; lobster salad; chicken croquettes; deep-fried flounder sandwich; fried chicken; roast loin of pork with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and apple sauce; roast turkey, with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce; meat loaf; New England-style clam chowder; sauerbraten with red cabbage, potato dumplings, and gingersnap gravy; all pies.
I’m building a list for my paid subscribers of classic places to visit on Long Island, one of many “Retrologist Recommendations” lists to come! Look out for that list soon, and please consider upgrading your subscription!
Historic California pizza shop gets new neon sign
In its 63rd year of serving up great pizza, Tony’s Pizzaria in Ventura, California, unveiled its new neon sign this week. Tony’s has long been on my list of places to hit in Ventura, and now I have an added inducement to visit. Learn more here!
Tony’s is run by the children of the late founder Johnny ‘Tony” Barrios. The restaurant talks about the new sign on its website:
The new sign, a throwback to the heyday of neon in the 1920s, uses six different colors of neon – 300 feet of neon glass tube was used in the making of the two-sided billboard. Originally installed in the 1940S, the old sign stopped working many years ago and the approval of a replacement sign was rejected by the city until 2017.
The design by Ventura based Chris Jensen Branding, harkens back an almost lost era of Americana art.
“Our father was a man who was loved and admired throughout Ventura. And now his name and legacy will brighten Ventura forever”, said owner Bruce Barrios.
Celebrating the old Hong Kong — and its neon
Lifestyle Asia takes a nostalgic look at the work of four photographers who have documented Hong Kong.
It’s all very impressive, but I wanted to share the work of Keith MacGregor in particular, who celebrates the breathtaking neon vistas of yore.
Shooting the city for over 50 years, Keith MacGregor (@keithmacgregorphotography) knows that nothing visually represents old Hong Kong more than the neon sign. In his photo series ‘Neon Fantasies’, Keith memorialises the eventual fade of the city’s mass fluorescence from the 1980s onwards. Much of his work similarly serves to highlight this tension between forces of preservation and necessary change.
Sorry, MLB: Iconic Seattle restaurant not giving up Rays.com
Ray’s Boathouse in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard is famous for its neon sign, its seafood and its resistance to selling its URL, rays.com, to Major League Baseball.
After the MLB finally acquired Twins.com for the Minnesota Twins, the purchase apparently just leaves two MLB teams without their name in their web addresses: The San Francisco Giants (good luck convincing the New York Giants football team to give up giants.com) and the Tampa Bay Rays, who are using tbrays.com.
None of this seems to concern the folks at Ray’s Boathouse much.
Geekwire points out that in 2015, MLB managed to secure Rangers.com for Texas for $315,000 which prompted KIRO Newsradio to ask Ray’s Boathouse, “Do you have a price? What would you hold out for?”
“No,” [co-owner Doug] Zellers insisted, “there’s no price. The ownership group is not interested in selling that off.”
‘Darling’ Detroit restaurant is on the market
I wish I had known about Rose’s Fine Food and Wine during my recent trip to Detroit. This place is an absolute charmer, with a wonderful counter, and its food is highly rated. Sadly, it’s on the market for $600,000, reports Eater Detroit. I hope somebody comes along and saves it.
If you happen to find yourself near Rose’s, here are two nearby spots you might want to visit, too, both of which I shot this summer.
About 15 minutes away is the Hygrade Deli, which opened in 1955 and recently underwent an ownership change, but fear not, nothing is expected to disrupt the nostalgic experience here.
And just four minutes away from Hygrade is the iconic Telway Hamburgers! Detroit is a wonderland for lovers of sliders, and this is one of the holiest sites!
Right near here is an amazing Dairy Queen that was closed, possibly for good, but totally intact on the inside. I’ll be sharing photos of it soon.
From the Retrologist archive!
I’m slowly moving over some of my favorite posts from my longtime Tumblr, The Retrologist, to Substack. These Substack posts are behind the pay wall, and I hope you’ll consider signing up for one of my very reasonable plans for this and other exclusive content. Support is always appreciated!
Here is today’s selection: An ode to one of New York’s most beautiful neon signs, on the 10th anniversary of its vanishing!
Well, that’s all for this edition.
See you soon — maybe on the road!
Rolando