When you tell someone you’re going to the drugstore for breakfast, they may give you a funny look. But say that when you’re in Palm Beach and everyone will know you’re heading over to Green’s Pharmacy. After all, this drugstore has been filling prescriptions and bellies since 1938.
I’ve been going to Green’s for several years, whether it be for breakfast or lunch, and never leave hungry.
Now, let’s get a few things straight. There is nothing (and I mean NOTHING) fancy about Green’s Luncheonette. You walk in, seat yourself at one of the tables or head over to the counter and grab a stool. It’s probably the most casual eateries in Palm Beach.
The menu is your placemat, the entertainment is the cook working the grill, the specials are on a whiteboard hanging precariously on the wall, and the servers can be as grumpy or as pleasant as they want to be, it doesn’t matter.
For as casual and outdated as the place is, the prices are truly Palm Beach, so be forewarned. But hey, when in Rome…
One thing about Green’s, it’s always busy. On our recent Sunday visit, we grabbed one of the few stools at the counter left while a line started to form for an available table.
The breakfast menu has your usual items: pancakes, eggs, biscuits and gravy – all to be ordered by number. Sides include corned beef hash, bacon, breakfast potatoes and an assortment of muffins, bread and bagels.
On the lunch side: sandwiches, burgers, wraps, lots of fried things, homemade soups, salads (both the green kind and the tuna, chicken salad kind), and for those who love these things – a sardine platter.
If you’re ordering something cooked on the luncheonette’s grill, it’s cooked right in front of you. Other items come out of a small kitchen in the back. Your server works alongside the cooks and bussers playing double duty waiting on tables, toasting muffins and running food. It’s a well-oiled machine that works to crank the food out to hungry diners.
When the bill comes, it’s not tallied up, saving the sticker shock for when you take it over to the drugstore’s cash register where you can pay with cash or a credit card. If you’re paying with a credit card, they ask if you want the tip added on, and if you say “yes,” they hand you over the tip in cash that you take back to your server. A bit odd, but hey, they’ve been at this a long time.
Some of my favorites from Green’s Pharmacy in Palm Beach include their cheesesteak, which I say is the best this side of Philadelphia. Of course, it’s served with yellow American cheese, onions, and peppers on a sub roll. I get mine with a side of tater tots because after all, you can’t get those everywhere!
Another hit on the breakfast side of things is pretty traditional – scrambled eggs, toast and corned beef hash (ask for it crispy). Green’s uses real eggs that they crack right at the grill. The hash, however, is from a can, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Don’t overlook the burgers either, they’re pretty good and are a pleaser as well. However, no trip to Green’s would be complete without a milkshake, ice cream soda, malt or egg cream. For those who don’t know what an egg cream is it’s simply milk, seltzer water and chocolate syrup – no eggs in an egg cream.
I’d point you to their website to check them out, but alas they don’t have one! You’ll just have to stop by during your next trip to Palm Beach and experience this blast-from-the-past for yourself. Just remember, for as much as I would love to hit them up for dinner some night, they’re only open for breakfast and lunch.
P.S. Do yourself and walk through the store while you’re there… it’s a tad cluttered, but you’ll find some unique and vintage stuff still for sale as if it were 1982.