Ronnie's

In today's obituaries I saw that,Gladys Leckhart,  the wife of the owner of Ronnie's Restaurant died.  For over 40 years Ronnie's was an iconic, wildly popular, Jewish restaurant and delicatessen in Orlando, Florida.  It closed in 1995.

Folks still talk about it like it closed yesterday.  I'll bet you have restaurants in your history like that.

Everybody knows about the "rigid rules" and "abrupt" service.  What did that look like?  Whenever I used to see the Soup Nazi on "Seinfeld" it reminded me of Ronnie's.  For instance, you were only allowed two pats of butter and there was to be no sharing of food.  Also, no dividing checks.  Larry Leckhart and his waitstaff where infamous for offending customers.

So why did we keep going back?

I remember yummy items on the table even before we sat down.  Like pastries, pecan rolls, olives, pickles and coleslaw.  This was free - before you even ordered. Everything was mouthwatering.  The portions were huge.  But, remember, no sharing.

Sometimes we went with friends to Ronnie's after Sunday evening church services.  Usually we ordered this sundae they called The Extravaganza.  It served 8 to 12.  I remember it being about a foot and a half tall and covering most of the table.  It was several flavors of ice cream, nuts and fruit, and a big mound of whipped cream and cherries on top.  Everybody got a big spoon and dug in.  Not considered sanitary today - but then I guess the free food sitting on the table from one costumer to the next wasn't either.  

Gladys Leckart's Cabbage Soup 

But here's what I remember most.  There was always a line.  Absolutely no waiting inside.  The lines (two of them) formed outside.  A line of 3 or less on the left.  A line of 4 or more on the right.  Woe to you if you found yourself in the wrong line.  It usually brought on a severe tongue lashing from the gate keeper.

One of the most popular items on Ronnies menu was Gladys Leckart's cabbage soup.  You can still find the recipe on line.


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