In The
Business Streets Of New York The Eyes Are Greeted Continually With The
Words "Oyster Saloon," Painted In Large Letters On The Basement Story.
If
the stranger's curiosity is sufficient to induce him to dive down a flight
of steps into a subterranean abode, at the first glance rather suggestive
of robbery, one favourite amusement of the people may be seen in
perfection.
There is a counter at one side, where two or three persons,
frequently blacks, are busily engaged in opening oysters for their
customers, who swallow them with astonishing relish and rapidity. In a
room beyond, brightly lighted by gas, family groups are to be seen, seated
at round tables, and larger parties of friends, enjoying basins of stewed
oysters; while from some mysterious recess the process of cookery makes
itself distinctly audible. Some of these saloons are highly respectable,
while many are just the reverse. But the consumption of oysters is by no
means confined to the saloons; in private families an oyster supper is
frequently a nightly occurrence; the oysters are dressed in the parlour by
an ingenious and not inelegant apparatus. So great is the passion for this
luxury, that the consumption of it during the season is estimated at
3500l. a-day.
There are several restaurants in the city, on the model of those in the
Palais Royal. The most superb of these, but not by any means the most
respectable, is Taylor's, in Broadway. It combines Eastern magnificence
with Parisian taste, and strangers are always expected to visit it.
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