Lunch at Paul’s Sweet Shop: Lillian’s Tuna and a Chocolate Egg Cream

July 28, 2026 - By admin

If you popped into Paul’s Sweet Shop for lunch in 1953, you might have ordered one of Lillian’s tuna sandwiches and washed it down with a frothy chocolate egg cream. Neither was fancy, but together they made the kind of simple neighborhood lunch people still remember.

Canned tuna had become an especially popular and economical American lunch food by the 1950s. Lunch-counter cooks mixed it with mayonnaise—or sometimes the sweeter “salad dressing” popular at the time—and frequently added finely chopped celery, onion, or pickle relish. Every cook had a slightly different version, which may be one reason customers remembered favorites like Lillian’s.

My mother-in-law, Lillian Rothman, once told me that her tuna sandwiches were very popular at the lunch counter.

She was the kind of cook who didn’t always rely on recipes. She would add a pinch of this and a pinch of that, mix everything together, and taste it. If it needed a little more flavor, she added something else.

a picture of Lillian serving lunch at Paul's Sweet Shop created my ChatGPT

Fortunately, Lillian did write down her tuna recipe, and I still have it in her own handwriting.

How does it compare with the tuna you make? What do you include that Lillian didn’t—and is there anything in her recipe that you would leave out?

Most customers probably ordered their tuna sandwich on soft white bread, usually untoasted. It might be served with a leaf of lettuce, while a slice of tomato could be added for a few cents more. A handful of crunchy potato chips—and perhaps a pickle—completed this simple lunch-counter meal.

a picture of a tuna sandwich create by ChatGPT

In 1953, Lillian’s tuna sandwich probably cost about 40 cents—the equivalent of approximately $5 today. Even with a slice of tomato for an extra nickel, it would be only about $5.50 in today’s money.

After a tuna sandwich, what could be better than a foamy chocolate egg cream? If you ordered one along with your sandwich, your lunch total would have been approximately 50 to 55 cents. But what exactly is a chocolate egg cream?

The egg cream is most closely associated with the Jewish neighborhoods of New York City and became a familiar soda-fountain drink during the early twentieth century. Exactly who invented it—and how it received its puzzling name—is still debated.

Despite its curious name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream—just cold milk, chocolate syrup, and a lively splash of plain seltzer.

The secret is in the mixing, which produces its characteristic frothy top.

a picture of 2 chocolate egg creams created by ChatGPT

For the most authentic taste, use plain seltzer rather than club soda or flavored sparkling water. Fox’s U-bet was the chocolate syrup traditionally associated with New York egg creams.

Here is a recipe to try at home. Be sure to follow the steps in order to create that wonderful foamy top.

Chocolate Egg Cream

Ingredients

¼ cup very cold whole milk
About ¾ cup very cold plain seltzer
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, preferably Fox’s U-bet

Directions

Pour the cold milk into a tall glass.
Slowly add the seltzer while stirring briskly with a long spoon. Allow a foamy head to form at the top.
Pour the chocolate syrup down the inside of the glass.
Stir the syrup gently into the liquid at the bottom, taking care not to disturb the frothy top.
Serve immediately with a straw.

Did you visit a lunch counter in the early 1950s? What was your favorite thing to order? I would also love to hear how you make your tuna salad—and whether you remember drinking chocolate egg creams. Sometimes the simplest foods bring back the sweetest memories—of spinning lunch-counter stools, familiar faces, and a neighborhood shop where everyone felt welcome.