Army and Navy Review 1915 Panama-California Edition - Balboa Park

T H E ALH AM BR A C A FETER IA
Another illustration of California enterprise, is a physical demonstration of maximum
efficiency as shown by the Alhambra Cafeteria at the Panama-California Exposition,
which is in itself an exposition of processes rather than that of the finished
product.
The Alhambra is the largest Cafeteria in the world, and the only one on the
grounds, having a seating capacity of 1200 at any one time, with the possibility of serving
10,000 in a single day, to say nothing of catering to thousands of guests in some of
the States and County Buildings, when dates have been fixed for their entertainment.
The large airy dining-room is 250 feet long and 100 feet wide, in the center of
which are two long steam tables 75 feet long, so arranged that guests can be quickly
served from both sides at one time. The furniture is of old hickory and blends fittingly
with the rustic interior.
The well-ventilated kitchen is 60 feet long by 50 feet wide. The ranges are of
special design and was as well as electricity are used exclusively.
The steam tables are kept constantly replenished by means of ten ball-bearing bus
wagons. These little wagons carry thirty supply pans filled with hot food, and they
are also used for dishes to and from the washing tanks.
The meats are bought by the carcass and ripened in storage-rooms under the
proper temperature, and then taken out as required; by this method the public may be
assured of the most tender food.
Mr. Edward Fesser, the proprietor, who is a stickler on efficiency, has worked out
the problem of how to give the public the best foods and cooking obtainable at popular
prices, and still make enough to write off the cost of a $40,000 building and equipment,
in one year, besides giving the Exposition a percentage of the gross receipts.
His method is simply to combine strict business principles with the highest possible
efficiency in all departments. He says that, theoretically, there should be nothing
wasted in a well conducted cafeteria. He has instituted a system of accounts that are
a distictively new departure in the conduct of an ordinary cafeteria. The books are
closed once a week, and they can tell you to a fraction exactly what the profit or loss
may be, and adjustments made at once for future results.
The Cafeteria is a distinctly California institution, and has become so popular that
it is patronized by rich and poor alike. On long counters are displayed fifty varieties
of cooked foods prepared in the most tempting way, and the guest makes his choice
after a visual inspection, which is infinitely more satisfactory than ordering from a
Bill of Fare, and trusting to luck.