Do you remember when Woolworth’s was one of the most popular department stores in the country? Many people probably remember shopping there for a multitude of items. Created in 1878, it quickly became the model for what department stores would shape into. It also helped coin the term “five and dime stores” because most items, in the beginning, were five or ten cents.
In Bakersfield, California, there is a place called the Five & Dime Antique Mall. In the back corner of the building, past all of the vintage trinkets, you’ll find something very nostalgic. There sits a full-functioning former Woolworth luncheonette counter. It has the 22 counter seats and an open kitchen. It looks just as it did in the past! The place is called Woolworth’s Diner.
Learn More About Woolworth’s Diner
Woolworth’s Diner holds the last functioning luncheonette counter in Ameria. Not only that, the Woolworth Diner wants to create an entire nostalgic experience. They offer a small selection of food items, but the menu contains things you would order back in the day. Think burgers, chili dogs, fries, potato salad, and milkshakes. Everything is under $10. It sounds so delicious!
The decor also aims to tug at your nostalgic heartstrings. They want to celebrate the old five and dime stores with signs for old five cent Coca-Colas and more. While the Woolworth company officially went under in 1997, the Woolworth Diner hopes to live on to remind others of the past. Some of the original signs are still up and the luncheonette, chairs, and other items are all original.
The Woolworth luncheonette counter isn’t just a nice memory, it also helped to shape history. There were many sit-ins at Woolworth’s during the times of segregation. At the time, Woolworth’s was so popular, protestors knew that having a sit-in there would gain attention. After sales started dipping, they finally desegregated the lunch counters. Do you remember when this happened?
Have you ever visited the Five & Dime Antique Mall and Woolworth’s Diner in Bakersfield? If not, do you plan to make a trip out there to see it for yourself and order a delicious chili dog? If you enjoyed this article, please SHARE with your friends and family who would love to see this place for themselves!
Check out the video below to learn more about Woolworth’s Diner and see it in action for yourself:
These two guys take a deep dive into the final Woolworth’s!
a week before my first daughter was born I went to Woolworths for a Hot Butterscotch Sundae. Best one I ever had. (Feb 1960)
Many great memories there and a wonderful piece of Americana the newer generations will ever known. So grateful that someone has taken the initiative to preserve this icon.
They had some good food ,they had the best patty melts burgers. And awesome rice pudding.
Where is Ameria? And the statement that this is “the last functioning luncheonette counter in Ameria.” (or America) is not accurate. The last WOOLWORTH’S luncheonette counter perhaps, but there are several hundred still function, both at chain restaurants (Silver Diner, Dennys, Freddies, Steak and Shake, etc.) and many smaller locations that have the same type of fare Woolworths had. I recommend a fact check along with a spell check, but mean that respectfully, since this article did bring up some great nostalgia for me, considering my lunches at the Fallbrook Center in Woodland Hills, CA, in the 1970s. Remembering the shakes well.
The article is referring to the last functioning Woolworth’s luncheonette which is located in Bakersfield, California. The antique mall is a former Woolsorth’s store. The lunch area was retained and antique booths were set up around the luncheonette area. There are three floor of booths. If you really want to step back in time, Bakersfield also has a county museum with a “town” comprised of buildings from the late 1800’s to the 1940s. It even has the boxcar that Merle Haggard and his family called home.
Do they have pizza on the menu 🍕
used to go the one in Ames at the Northgrand mall. took my grandmother there many times! wonderful memory!
I loved WoolWorth’s. !!! The best Patty Melt an fries in the world !!! I looked forward to eating there at least 2 or 3 time a week. I wish you could bring WoolWorth’s back here to Cincinnati, Ohio, Anderson would be a perfect area or even Eastgate. !!!
Went there as a kid I still remember the taste of the soda and fries !
Its funny, if you go to Australia there are Woolworth’s all over the place. But the sinage is green and they are more like grocery supermarkets.
Yes, I remember this when I visited and saw a Woolworth in Sydney and Brisbane? I grew up in Chicago and would often visit our local Woolworth and Walgreen’s, which were in the same shopping plaza almost next to each other. I bought black jelly bracelets at Woolworth’s in the early 80s, remember those?
Think someone did not do the research on these. There happens to be one in Ashville NC
you are right, I was there a few months ago.
I remember you could pick a balloon and take a chance on getting a banana split for between 1cent to 59cents 99cent cheeseburger deluxe,hot dogs cooked in butter.I could go on and on.
How about pie? I remember pie. Sorry though it won’t be the same without my Mom Sorry guys
I used to eat there and SS Kresge in Detroit. Get a chili dog fries and a chocolate shake. Downtown on Woodward…..and used to go to Saunders for their hot fudge sundae and a glass with the paper cone in a metal holder to go with the sundae……those were the days….indeed….
We have an original lunch counter, in an original Woolworth’s store on Elm Street (main street) in Greensboro, North Carolina. Now it’s a civil rights museum.
I remember this and i wish the store would reopen in America
Main Street in downtown Houston, TX. In the ’50’s and early 60’s I remember eating many a hot dog there with my grandparents. I loved Woolworth’s; though back then they practiced “separate but equal”. It was separate but far from equal. I was too young to understand it. My cousin and I were even denied service at the “colored” (their word, not mine) lunch counter. We were about 5 and 7 and just wanted a coke.