Bickford's (restaurant)

Bickford's Restaurants and Cafeterias are a chain of eateries that has existed in various forms since 1921. From the 1920s through the 1970s the chain was a mainstay in the New York City area; from the 1970s through the 2000s the chain was primarily located in the New England area. Samuel Longley Bickford (1885–1959) began his restaurant career in 1902, and, in 1921, he established his quick-lunch Bickford's restaurant chain. In 1959, the company introduced the Bickford's Pancake House family restaurants. By 2012 the remaining locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were known as Bickford's Grille. As of 2016, four locations remain, all of them in Massachusetts, three of them, in Brockton, Burlington, and Woburn, named Bickford's Grille (sometimes shown without the apostrophe in advertising material) and one, in Acton, named Bickford's Family Restaurant. The company also owned Foster's Cafeterias, as well as restaurants operating under other names. Although very few Bickford's are left, the name—along with Foster's—lingers on in frequent mentions in notable American literature.

In 1921, the Bickford's "lunchrooms," as they were known, offered modestly priced fare and extended hours. Bickford's architect was F. Russell Stuckert, who had been associated with Samuel Bickford since 1917. Stuckert's father, J. Franklin Stuckert, had designed buildings for Horn & Hardart in the 1890s.

During the 1920s, the Bickford's chain expanded rapidly with 24 lunchrooms in the New York area and others around Boston. A letter with a company stock offering stated, "The lunchrooms operated are of the self-service type and serve a limited bill of fare, which makes possible the maximum use of equipment and a rapid turnover. Emphasis is placed on serving meals of high quality at moderate cost." A 1964 New York City guidebook noted:

With Bickford's restaurants opening in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Sam Bickford and his son, Harold, worked over four decades to expand their cafeteria chain throughout the Northeast. As their expansion continued with drive-in restaurants and associated locations in Florida, Pennsylvania and California, they ultimately opened 85 branches.

In the 1930s, union conflicts resulted in vandalism, as noted by Christopher Gray in The New York Times:

Bickford's son, Harold, was in charge of expanding their cafeteria chain into Florida and California. In 1959, Bickford's, Inc. had two geographical divisions: the North-East Coast Division and the South East Coast (M&M Cafeterias,Inc) and West Coast (Foster's Lunch System, Ltd.) Division.

...
Wikipedia