Stromberg's Restaurant Menu
Stromberg's was located by the Salem Beverly Bridge on Route 1-A in Salem, Massachusetts. There were two other Strombergs locations that opened. One in Salem Willows and the other on Dane Street Beach in Beverly. This restaurant was opened in 1929 and it started as a takeout window. (Stromberg’s Restaurant, n.d.) The menu itself was written close to start of the restaurant, ca. 1930, if not in 1929. This is based on the prices of the menu items and based on the four digit phone number that is on the cover of the menu. Strombergs is a local seafood restaurant but even though the menu is mainly seafood, chicken/fried chicken is included throughout the menu as well.
The menu is a green bi fold with a beige loose leaf page for the specials. The menu is a la carte, meaning the items can be ordered separately as opposed to a menu that lists 3 or 5 courses. The menu is written in English. The sections of the menu are Specials, Toasted Sandwiches, Plain Sandwiches, Desserts, and Drinks. There are 57 items on the menu, not including the different combinations to be made with the side dishes. 18 of the items are specials written on the bifold, 18 are toasted sandwiches, 5 are plain sandwiches, 6 are specials on the loose leaf page which provide more variety, 3 are side orders, 4 are desserts, and 4 are drinks.
The cover of the menu says “Food of Excellence” with two fancy waiters carrying a fancy dinner on silver tableware. However, the food on the menu seems to be less fancy and more traditional, local, New England food. A section of the specials on the bifold features many fried options such as fried shellfish, lobster, and fish choices. There are also choices of steak, frankfurters, chicken, and chowder/stew. The toasted sandwiches are varieties of meat and seafood sandwiches. The plain sandwiches include fried egg. The separate loose leaf specials menu consists of seafood chowders, lobster, steak, and chicken. Each option comes with many choices of dessert, sides, and drinks.The menu mentions that nothing under 10 cents will be served in the dining room and that single orders served for two people are ten cents extra.
The back of the bi fold menu includes a couple of paragraphs that describe the “history of Stromberg’s Landing”. It says that in October of 1626, Roger Conant landed in New England and that long before, Leif Erikson visited New England. The last paragraph is a detailed description of a journey at sea. It is not specified what exactly the connection is to the restaurant. Roger Conant was the founder of Salem, Massachusetts, creating the place where Stromberg’s would be built, centuries later. The original Stromberg's is no longer open. The restaurant was purchased by the Kastrinakis family in 1970, rebuilt, and in 2010 renamed The Black Lobster at Stromberg's Cove.