Hi Muffy, I enjoyed your post on your favorite restaurants. It made me ruminate on my favorite clothing shops and how they are in close proximity to some of my favorite eating establishments. I thought I would run them by you.
1) J. Press (Cambridge, MA) is nothing short of Mecca. I can stay for hours soaking up the history. Then go one street over to John Harvard’s Brewhouse for great beer selection and good food.
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| Cambridge's J. Press |
3) Alvin-Dennis (Lexington, VA) is next door to the beautiful Washington & Lee campus, another childhood haunt. Then go two blocks to The Palms, a Lexington institution.
4) At J. Press (New York City), I bought my first blue ocbd w/flap pocket. Then take a cab to P.J. Clarke’s Bar on 55th with great food and even greater ambiance.
5) Murray’s (Nantucket) is a pilgrimage of sorts for me. Then walk over to Brotherhood of Thieves on Broad St., one of my all time favorites, with great sandwiches.
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| The Author's Photo |
6) I love The Admiral’s Buttons (Camden, ME). Then go around the corner to The Waterfront Restaurant on the deck for lobster, or up the street to Cappys for amazing chowder and a cold Geary’s.
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| Cappy's Chowder House |
8) George Dean’s (Athens, GA) is the quintessential college shop, one block from U of GA campus. Then walk across the street to The Grill, an Athens institution.
9) Landry’s (Oxford, MS) is cool shop near Ole Miss. Then go one door down to Square Books and browse, and finally a couple of more down to City Grocery, a legendary Oxford watering hole with outstanding food
10) Grady Ervin & Co (Charleston, SC) is in one of my favorite cities. Then walk over to Hank’s Seafood or take a short ride to Sullivan’s Island and eat at Poe’s Tavern, with great burgers followed by a walk on the beach.
Oh well, at the moment, I can only dream of being in one of these venerable establishments browsing and then over for a great meal.
Cheers, Chuck Ramsay, Murfreesboro, TN
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Old School Prep left this comment, and I thought I would add some of my own pictures and copy it here.
I was very impressed by Chuck Ramsay's interesting list of top notch Prep/Trad clothing stores and nearby noteworthy eateries. I would like to offer two more of each to make the list an even dozen.
11) J. Press (New Haven, CT) is the genesis of it all. It is conveniently located near the beautiful Yale campus and a short walk to Louis Lunch for a wonderful luncheon fare.
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| Inside New Haven's J. Press |
12) J. Press (Washington, DC), although it lacks the traditional ambiance of the Cambridge and New Haven stores, it is an oasis of Preppy clothing in our nation's capital and a short jaunt from the Old Ebbitt Grill for a hearty lunch of oysters and fine Kentucky Bourbon or other great food choices.
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| Washington, D.C. |
25 comments:
I am tickled you included Alvin Dennis, a store in my hometown I've shopped at my entire life. My father shopped there as a W&L student and basically never left! This list is perfection, and hits a lot of my family's favorites, from the NE to the Deep South.
Chin chin!
I am in Murfreesboro too, Chuck! Hello, Hello!!!
Although I did not grow up lovingly gazing in Eljos store front windows I have been known to frequented the store rather often.
Fantastic picks, esp. at Harvard & Charleston!
P. Channon
pchannon.blogspot.com
That photo is stunning. I worked in P.J. Clarke's while in college. Best burger and warm goat cheese salad.
Can't wait to go visit each and everyone of them.
I was especially pleased to see Eljo's listed. For nostalgia reasons, I wish it were still on The Corner.
The Virginian is wonderful. Restaurants there come and go, but The Virginian goes on unchanged forever.
--TJ
I was very impressed by Chuck Ramsay's interesting list of topnotch Prep/Trad clothing stores and nearby noteworthy eateries. I am humbled to admit I have visited eight of the ten haberdasheries and nine of the ten eateries over the years.
Would like to offer two more of each to make the list an even dozen.
J. Press - New Haven Connecticut - the genesis of it all. Conveniently located near the beautiful Yale campus and a short walk to Louis Lunch for a wonderful luncheon fare.
J. Press - Washington, DC - although it lacks the traditional ambiance of the Cambridge and New Have stores, it is an oasis of Preppy clothing in our nation's capital and a short jaunt from the Old Ebbitt Grill for a hearty lunch of oysters and fine Kentucky Bourbon or other great food choices.
Disclaimer - I have no business affiliation with J. Press. However, I have been an addicted customer for over thirty years and even visited their late San Francisco store prior to its closure. I cited the subject stores, primarily because Louis Lunch and the Old Ebbitt along with McSorely's in NYC are my favorite lunch dives on the East Coast!
Old School Prep
Ann Arbor, MI
What a wonderful photo.Have you ever had it enlarged for framing and displaying.
I now have an urge to shop and eat! I am 100% with James on the photo. What a wonderful piece of art! xoxo
Wish I lived on the East Coast!
"...John Harvard’s Brewhouse..."
They closed the one by me in Pittsburgh/Wilkins Twp. I agree they have good food and great craft beer. Unfortunately, no J.Press either.
@Old - Hope you don't mind my highlighting of your comment on Chuck's great list.
@James - You are most kind. I have thought about it, but he was always so skilled at making his own prints, that I hesitate to have anyone else touch it. But perhaps...
@Preppy 101 - Thank you!
This entry warmed my heart and brought a smile to my day !!
A few more thoughts.
New Haven: After shopping at J. Press, Louis' Lunch and Mory's (very grateful it reopened in 2010). Drinking beers there after an Old Testament exam. (very blasphemous)
Manhattan: Memories of purchasing my first professional wardrobe at Brooks in the early '90's during the winter sale in January on a bitter cold day, I was broke, right out of college but with a "real" job and taking my summer earnings to purchase 2 suits, 4 shirts, 3 ties. (Those shirts and ties have lasted, unlike the products one finds there today), afterwards, a friend treating me at the Oyster bar for dinner and then taking the subway to Astor Place for beer at McSorley's.
Murray's (Nantucket): Shopping there on my honeymoon, my beautiful wife introducing me to "Nantucket Reds", and realizing there was more to summer wear than old college rugby tees. Returning a decade later to celebrate our tenth anniversary, and stocking up on a few more items.
Manhattan: (15 years later), tenure awarded, a real suit purchased at JPress and drinks at the Algonquin and lunch at the Oyster Bar (this time I picked up the tab). The following Saturday, lamb sandwiches and beer at McSorely's after a Yankees game.
Superb article! Thank you.
This venue is one of the few places on the planet where virtually everyone viewing can immediately conjure up their our own recollections of most of the places described so well by the author.
Muffy,
Thanks for adding the photos
Old School Prep
This may no longer hold because one of the restaurants is no longer there and I'm 20 years older now, but nothing beats the now-defunct Tasty in Harvard Square or Frank Pepe Pizzeria in New Haven after picking up new clothes at J. Press. The fact that the pre-authorized use of my parent's credit card was usually in-play at J. Press, but certainly not allowed for a bite to eat afterwards might have had something to do with it too. Oh, how I miss my halcyon days as a college and then grdaute student.
Great list! Thanks for sharing! Nice to see Eljoe's mentioned, a Virginia Preppy mecca for years! Wow the old Ebbitt grille in DC! Great hamburgers! I met Celtics legend Larry Bird there years ago! don't forget Ben Silvers in Charleston, SC.
Thanks for the Washington, D.C. mention! And it is always nice to see suggestions for Virginia. I'm there a lot, but never know where to go.
I popped over to say hi from Suburban Princess and so glad that I did. I was even happier to see one of my favorite SC locales included in your post!!! Good reading, so glad to have found you.
May I add to this excellent list Julian's in Chapel Hill? I remember my first trip back to town for a noon football game, when I stopped in to Julian's to replace my old cream and Carolina blue repp tie. Alexander Julian himself was there, handing out homemade ham biscuits and glasses of champagne. Now that I'm back in the area, when I visit Julian's I make sure to have lunch at Suttons: burger with coleslaw, sweet tea with shaved ice.
I would like to offer an alternative to your Cambridge, MA listings. J. Press is great but I find the people at the Andover Shop to be more helpful. I agree on the beer selection at John Harvard's but the food is just franchise bar food. If you want real bar food go to Charlies Kitchen (Chuck I want a double burger).
For a quick meal near J. Press & the Andover Shop in Cambridge, I like the burgers, sweet-potato fries, & shakes @ b. good on Dunster St.
Dying to get to Murray's! I used to eat at the waterfront all the time the summer I lived in Camden
xoxo
SC
You mean the new "Old Ebbit Grill." My first job in the Washington area was next door at a savings & loan, next to Garfinkel's. I have this bad habit of working in industries that evaporate. After that I worked in photofinishing.
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