Ken Johnson’s Cafeteria
So many great businesses have come and gone since I first moved to Charlottesville in 1967. One of the first businesses I encountered was the Ken Johnson’s Cafeteria in the Barrack’s Road Shopping Center. I ate many meals there and I was always impressed with the quality of the food and their reasonable prices.
Cafeterias are not usually known for their culinary expertise. Rather, they dish out food and you eat it. But Ken Johnson’s was special. They always had a roast beef carving station, and the beef was excellent. They kept trays of hot, fried chicken coming and coming. They had fresh, crisp salads and their spoon bread was extraordinary. The mac and cheese was decadent. You had to be careful going through the line to save a little room for any number of great desserts – especially their homemade pies.
Ken Johnson’s made everything on site – even the ketchup and mayonnaise. Some of their prices in the mid-60s were 15c for a salad, 10c for a slice of pie, entrees were all 69c except for the roast beef, which was 79c. Breads were a nickel and drinks were a dime. The veggies were all fresh, not canned.
Old style cafeterias have largely vanished in the last 20 years, and Covid put the nail in the coffin of any that may have remained.
Ken Johnson’s Cafeteria, though, was a Charlottesville institution and will be long remembered by all those who ever ate there.
