Morrison's Downtown

[Bill Ectric]

Does anyone remember the buffet at Morrison's Cafeteria downtown? What store was it in? Do you remember a guy saying, "Short line on the main floor!"  ?  Someone said his name was Captain Jack?

[SunKing]

that was in the Dalton Agency building on Hemming Plaza.  There were a few of those guys and they would direct traffic between the two floors.

[Charles Hunter]

I heard there was only one floor, that was just a gimmick. 
And the Dalton Agency is in the Morrison's Cafeteria building ...  ;-)

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

And the Dalton Agency is in the Morrison's Cafeteria building ...  ;-)

+1

[billy]

if you found a gold* spoon wrapped up in your napkin, your meal was free

*not real gold

[Dog Walker]

There were two floors, each with their own serving line.  Can still remember the sing song phrase, "No waiting on the mezzanine!"

Always had their fried shrimp and the coconut custard pie.  Fond memories!

[Bill Ectric]

Thanks everyone! Good information. I know there were two floors because a friend of mine named Wanda says she used to go there when she was a kid. There's a CD by a band called the Crawfish of Love which mentions it, and one day Wanda heard the CD and said, "Hey, I remember that!" Later, the same friend was at Wal-Mart and got into a conversation with one of the greeters, who said, "Yeah, I knew this fellow called Cap'n Jack who would announce which line was shortest." Apparently, they said, "Short line on the main floor!" as well as, "No waiting on the mezzanine!"

[Seraphs]

Ahhhhh!  The good old days.

[Shwaz]

I remember the Morrison's Cafeteria in the Avenues Mall... awesome mash potatoes!

[billy]

Did Billy Joel ever go to the downtown Jacksonville Morrison's?

[billy]

"Captain Jack will get you high tonight,
and take you to Exchange Club Island"......

[Grew Up in Jax]

The doorman at the Morrison's Cafeteria at Hemming Park was Charlie McRoy.  I remember eating there as a child many times in the late 1950's and 1960's.  Charlie loved the children and knew most customers by name.  His shoutout trademark was "Short line on the main floor, no waiting in the Carriage Room."  The Carriage Room was the downstairs serving line and dining room.  The main floor had two separate serving lines and dining rooms.  They did quite a business in its heyday.  According to a Nov. 16, 1981 article in the Times Union, Charlie was hired in 1925 by J.A. Morrison himself and spent the vast majority of his Morrison's career at the Hemming Park cafeteria until he retired in 1975.  For those interested, I believe the TU and the old Jacksonville Journal both ran articles (one on June 26, 1975 and the other on July 8, 1975) at the time of Charlie's retirement.  Memories of a time long ago.     

[DDC]

Sorry for digging out an old thread but I thought it would be better than starting a new one. And forgive me if this has been posted but I haven't seen it. 

A cute little ditty about Morrison's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6DncEEmb_w

Sorry,  I haven't figured out how to embed the vid. If someone would like to, thanks 

[TheCat]

http://www.youtube.com/v/H6DncEEmb_w

[Overstreet]

Wasn't it on the second floor of the Independent Life Building, northeast corner?