sicsusan -- Great to know The Krebs is still dishing it up! Going to Woolworth's for lunch was an early treat for our DS. Our next door neighbors had a 'Summer Girl' two summers. They had one boy and boy and girl twins four years younger who were my DS's age. The girl and four kids would cut through our back yard, go out the gate, cross the churchyard, cross the street, and go into a small shopping plaza to Woolworth's. It was an *adventure*! It was tiring enough so that they all napped afterwards too! jannie -- When you mentioned the menu with photos of all the entrees that reminded me of going to NYC with my mother and eating at the Automat. (Horn & Hardart's?) One side of the dining area was a wall with small brass doors. It looked a lot like a post office but the brass doors had windows. Plates with different choices of food were on the other side of the doors. You'd put a tokan in a slot to unlock a door, then put what you'd chosen on a tray. When you had everything you wanted, you'd take your tray to a table to eat. If you looked through the glass you could see into the kitchen where the food was prepared to constantly replenish the selections. We went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes on that trip. I also vaguely remember meeting my mother's Aunt Mae, who still lived in a frame house on East 43rd St. -- where she had been since arriving from Scotland in the late 1800's. (I think the UN has buildings there now.)

I am very aware of the price of foi gras. Back in the '80s it was around $18 for an appetizer and $80 for a dinner. That was very pricey for my area. In the late '90s foi gras ran about $35-40 for an appetizer. This is the price of foi gras in a large midwestern city. I KNOW it is much more costly in huge metropolitan areas like Chicago just like everything else there. I have not seen it offered recently. It tends to be a verbal in restaurants due to it's unreliable availability. It is also more of a seasonal item becoming more abundant around xmas when the big slaughter takes place. Then of course it was banned for a while nearby. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/national/main1550028.shtml And then unbanned. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/us/15liver.html Restaurants still served it during the ban. You just had to "know someone". And of course pay the higher price a contraband product commands. How much foi gras do they really add to the milkshake??? The reviews of it I read say the milkshake tasted like peach.

Wildchild, cheese, egg and bacon aren't standard on a burger here but are commonly asked for as extras. If you get all three that's one "with the lot". Salad is generally mentioned because some people like it and some don't and it saves them asking if yours are with or without :-) The salad for a burger where I currently work is shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced pickled beet, fried onions, and shredded carrot. Some places include sliced cucumber but I don't like cucumber :-) Burgers "with the lot" often have a catchy name which varies from business to business (and often reflects the business name). For instance if the business was "Fred Flintstone's Burgers, it might be the "Bedrock Burger". I like the "Zen Burger"- one with everything :-)

Have a wonderful time! I love it when KTers get together. Now can't someone from New York or Jersey or Pennsylvania host one ?? I could bring my chicken salad and my mom's famous shrimp salad. I