Thompson's (restaurant)

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, pp. 133-134.

Note: The Newberry Library holds the personal papers of author John Drury.

THOMPSON'S, 27 West Randolph Street

Here is the surprise of your life. Used to eating your ham and eggs (country style) on one-arm chairs and amid the clatter of much crockery in any Thompson lunch room, you are totally unprepared for the scene of splendor and spaciousness and up-to-dateness that confronts you as you enter, for the first time, this newest of the Thompson restaurants. The "one-arm" chairs are gone. Considerably lessened, too, is the crazy symphony of dishes. All is changed. Nothing of the old-time Thompson atmosphere is here, with the exception of the service counter and the help-yourself system.

Instead, a unique and artistically designed eating place rises before you. The one-arm chairs are replaced by highly-carved and polished oak tables and chairs; the walls are of panelled oak; large colorful murals, rising from floor to ceiling and lit by hidden lights in prosceniums, depicting scenes in early American history, dominate the east wall; snappy girls in white frocks have replaced the men at the service counter; and a long soda fountain stands at the front.

The interesting part about it all, however, is that the Thompson prices have not changed in order to pay for this new elegance. Neither has the food deteriorated in quality. We know of no better place to eat during "lean days" than this Rialto establishment — and its sumptuousness is soothing to your pride.