Photos of reconstructed Chesapeake House service plaza on I-95, Cecil Co., Md.

[lepidopteran]

I say that one reason that sit-down restaurants were replaced by food courts at the service plazas, is throughput.  You can serve a lot more customers per hour at quick-service stands than at a sit-down.  This is especially important when crowds of people come at once, like when a sports game or concert gets out, or a group of tour buses stop.  They might still have to wait in line, but everyone still has a chance of getting served within a reasonable time frame.

On the NJTP, back when every service plaza was a Howard Johnson's restaurant (plus the "snack bar" stands that still remain at some locations), the Molly Pitcher had a separate building just for "charter" buses.  Though I've never been there, and it was demolished sometime in the '90s, I suspect they had a cafeteria setup to handle the volumes of bus passengers that came in all at once; food courts didn't come into vogue, at least in my experience, until about 1980.  Some plazas seem to still have a common cafeteria line to serve the different vendors, though the good old-fashioned food court model seems to be preferred nowadays.

[mrsman]

I say that one reason that sit-down restaurants were replaced by food courts at the service plazas, is throughput.  You can serve a lot more customers per hour at quick-service stands than at a sit-down.  This is especially important when crowds of people come at once, like when a sports game or concert gets out, or a group of tour buses stop.  They might still have to wait in line, but everyone still has a chance of getting served within a reasonable time frame.

On the NJTP, back when every service plaza was a Howard Johnson's restaurant (plus the "snack bar" stands that still remain at some locations), the Molly Pitcher had a separate building just for "charter" buses.  Though I've never been there, and it was demolished sometime in the '90s, I suspect they had a cafeteria setup to handle the volumes of bus passengers that came in all at once; food courts didn't come into vogue, at least in my experience, until about 1980.  Some plazas seem to still have a common cafeteria line to serve the different vendors, though the good old-fashioned food court model seems to be preferred nowadays.

In the electronic toll collection era that we live in now, it isn't so much of a big deal to get off the turnpike to use a local business.  If you want a sit-down restaurant (and perhaps cheaper gas) just exit.

For the most part, I use the plazas just for bathroom pit stops.  I have to say that all of the turnpike rest stops I've been to (PA, NJ, DE, MD) have all had surprisingly clean bathrooms, much better than your typical gas station.

[GCrites]

I'm sure the existence of side and exit tolls made service plazas more popular in the past.

[cpzilliacus]

For the most part, I use the plazas just for bathroom pit stops.  I have to say that all of the turnpike rest stops I've been to (PA, NJ, DE, MD) have all had surprisingly clean bathrooms, much better than your typical gas station.

The old Maryland House had restroom facilities that were not in great condition, but the the new building has nice enough ones (at least on the male side).

[slorydn1]

The last time I went to the NYC area was in 2004, and I do remember stopping at the plaza on the NJTP SB just south of Exit 12 and it was sit down, I can't remember for the life of me what the restaurant was.


I was just on the WV Tpke last weekend and the plaza on the NB side at the 72 mile marker was a Burger King and a Starbucks. Nothing like a quick Whopper (no onions) and a hot Starbucks coffee to get ya back in the driver's seat quickly. I do, however, miss the days when one could kick back in a booth and "crunch the numbers" while sipping a coffee while waiting for the food.