Flashback Friday - The Ontra Cafeteria's Bottom Line

Looking west on Wilson from Sheridan, you can see the building where McDonald's is now located,
but where the Ontra Cafeteria was back in the day.  If you look closely, you can see the Ontra
Cafeteria sign.  On the left is the church that is now home to Uptown Baptist, and in the distance,
the Wilson L platform, the same one we use today that will be rehabbed as part of the
current Wilson Station rebuilding project.

click to enlarge

Last week #FlashbackFriday talked about the Ontra Cafeteria, which opened in Uptown's golden era and seated 1,226 fashionable diners at a time.  Despite its see-and-be-seen atmosphere, its founder, Miss Mary Dutton, prided herself on serving good food at affordable prices.

In this ad from March 1923, she reveals her profit margins and had them certified by CPAs. Her profit on each meal was one and four-tenths cents.  (In today's money, $1.92.)