15 Vintage Menus From the 1950s

Written by Rachel Schneider on May 31, 2025

A waitress serves three smiling teenagers sitting at a diner counter. The teens have drinks, and a boy wears a sweater. Signs above advertise breakfast and hamburger specials. The scene appears to be from the 1950s.

In the 1950s, you could get a full meal for under a buck, eat filet mignon at a coffee shop, and order frog legs on a pizza without anyone batting an eye. Restaurants leaned into personality, with playful menu designs, over-the-top dish names, and some wildly ambitious culinary combos.

We rounded up some of our favorite vintage menus — from roadside staples to upscale establishments — to show what dining out was like during the 1950s.

1. Howard Johnson’s Children’s Menu

An illustrated vintage children's menu features cartoon animals and characters, with meal options named after nursery rhymes and fairy tales, such as Little Boy Blue and Humpty Dumpty, and prices listed in cents. — everydayasl

As one of the most iconic restaurant chains in the 1950s, Howard Johnson’s offered a fully equipped kids’ menu. This thing was like a mini activity book. Kids could check off the ice cream flavors as they tried them on one page, browse multiple-course meal options on another, and play various games on even more pages.

2. Holly’s Coffee Shop in Hawthorne, California

A vintage restaurant menu featuring a sketch of a mid-century building at the top. The menu lists sandwiches, salads, grill items, and specialties, with a photo of a burger and colorful sections for different food categories. — HelloSlowly

Can someone tell the coffee shops of today that we want filet mignon and Dreemburgers on the menu?

3. Kelbo’s Los Angeles Barbecue

A vintage menu featuring pit-barbecue plate dinners, including Hawaiian Style Spare Ribs, Ribs Ala Carte, mixed plates with beef, pork, or ham, sides, and prices from $1.00 to $1.75. Pineapple and fruit are included with dishes. — CryptographerKey2847

You can’t even smell a rib at a barbecue joint these days for $1.50, but at Kelbo’s in the ’50s, you could get a slab of them with a slew of sides for that price.

4. 1950’s Drive-In Menu

A woman in a blue coat and white hat stands in front of a vintage Coca-Cola sign and menu boards at an outdoor eatery, with menu items and prices for plates and sandwiches visible. — travio

Drive-ins ruled the 1950s, and this one offered everything from spaghetti and steak to hot dogs and club sandwiches. The kicker: Most menu options cost less than $1.

5. Sir Whoopee in Chicago

A vintage Sir Whoopee restaurant menu advertises burgers, hot dogs, dinners, desserts, and chicken, with prices listed. The design includes burger illustrations and promotional text about service and specialties. — jamesonandgingerbeer

We were drooling at the dinner options on this menu, and then we got to the dessert portion and let out an audible, “Oh, baby.”

6. Pizza Jungle Menu in the Newspaper

Black-and-white newspaper ad for Francine's Pizza Jungle, listing international pizza varieties with ingredients and prices, along with hours and location at 500 NW 21st Ave., corner Glisan, and their phone number. — frijolita_bonita

Pizza Jungle was a jungle indeed, with an assortment of eclectic spins on traditional pies. You could find cocktail fruit, apple sauce, and nuts on the jungle pizza, or smoked frog legs, French fried onions, and mushrooms on the French Pizza.

7. White House State Dinner Menu From 1959

A vintage dinner menu featuring dishes like melon with prosciutto ham, curry soup, roast young turkey, scalloped sweet potatoes, and lime glacé, with wines listed by year and the U.S. presidential seal at the top. — CryptographerKey2847

A White House Thanksgiving spread in the ’50s still sounds pretty posh more than 65 years later.

8. Wedding Menu From 1950

A vintage menu listing items such as gefilte fish, horseradish, rye and challah breads, chicken noodle soup, roast young stuffed chicken, sweet potato patty, assorted cakes, soda, sarsaparilla, and ginger ale. — CryptographerKey2847

If you ask us, the cutest thing about this wedding menu from 1950 is that after-dinner mints are listed at the bottom.

9. The Nite Owl in Glendale, California

Vintage restaurant menu with playful cartoon owls, listing hamburgers, shrimp, fried chicken, steaks, salads, pies, and drinks. Features illustrated food items and cheerful yellow owls in various poses. — Hooverpaul

Today’s restaurant menus are sleek and simple, but in the 1950s, restaurants leaned into busier designs with illustrations. The Nite Owl weaved adorable doodles throughout its menu, so your eyes jolted from one direction to the next when trying to figure out what to order.

10. China Inn in Tulsa, Oklahoma

A vintage menu from China Inn lists Mexican Plate (40¢), Tenderay Steaks (60¢), and Chicken Chow Mein (90¢), along with sides and coffee, featuring both Chinese and Mexican cuisine. — Msktb

Restaurants today could honestly take a cue from China Inn. Offer a couple of menu items and embrace variety. Genuine Chinese cooking and a Mexican cook? Sign us up for that experience immediately.

11. Walgreens in 1955

A vintage Walgreens menu featuring burgers, sandwiches, salads, desserts like hot fudge sundaes, drinks, and sides, with colorful images of select meals and desserts against a cream and pastel background. — SL13377

In the 1950s, Walgreens was more than just a pharmacy — it was a popular dining destination, thanks to its in-store lunch counters, soda fountains, and full ice cream menu.

12. The Beachcomber in Miami Beach

A vintage Miami Beach restaurant menu called "The Beachcomber," illustrated with a beach scene, and listing dinner options, wines, cocktails, and beverages, all in decorative 1950s-style fonts and colors. — joetrumps

Where else could you order lamb chops or chicken chow mein in Miami Beach? Beachcomber was the place to dine, obviously.

13. Cat’s Meow Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

A vintage menu titled "Cat's Meow's" with playful cartoon cats and sections for sandwiches, appetizers, and dinners. Prices and dish names are listed on a red and white striped background. — CincoDeMayoFan

We love that BLT is spelled out on a menu with so many shortened words.

14. KFC’s Original Menu

Black and white vintage ad for a new Kentucky Fried Chicken location. It lists meal deals like Thrift Box, Jumbo Box, Barrel, Bucket, and Queen Size, with prices and descriptions, plus a phone number and hours. — ASGfan

The O.G. Colonel Sanders lineup! It was essentially just different naming conventions for the various sizes that KFC offered.

15. Disneyland Hotel Menu

Dinner menu from the Disneyland Hotel featuring appetizers, gourmet chicken dishes, broiler items, pasta specialties, desserts, beverages, and prices, all presented in vintage black and pink fonts on a cream background. — Ebonystealth

The Disneyland Hotel menu was touted as gourmet, with menu items like veal scaloppini and roast young tom turkey (so you knew exactly how old and what gender your dinner was). They even tossed the word “gourmet” in front of their hamburger sandwich option so diners didn’t get it twisted.

Want a deeper look at menus back in the day?

Take a look at 11 Photos of School Lunch Menus Over the Years for a glimpse into what the kids were eating. We think you’ll also enjoy reading McFlation: How McDonald’s Menu Prices Changed From the 1950s to Now and These 19 Photos of McDonald’s in the ’70s Are a Serious Blast From the Past.