The Michigan and Majestic were the theaters to take dates to on Friday and Saturday nights. Jack Dobson remembered going to movies for 35¢ and then to Drake’s for a malted or a milk shake. Al Gallup started dating a little later; by that time, he recalls, “both the Majestic and the Michigan were forty cents.” But even with the price increase, “for a dollar you could have a date. You’d go to Drake’s after the show for a Coke.” Ted Palmer preferred the Betsy Ross restaurant in Nickels Arcade: “There were no college kids in the Betsy Ross. We’d get a lemon Coke or a cherry Coke--one Coke and two straws.”
State Street restaurants offered convenient places for a meal, for all those enjoying activities in the area. Students who attended high school and college in the early years of the 20th century have fond memories of places such as the Parrott, Betsy Ross, Drakes, and the M Den, ( where you could also dance). Radio personality Ted Heusel remembered often eating in the 1930s at Fingerle’s Cafeteria, on the second floor of the Arcade.
