List of terms

A
Adam & Eve on a log: two poached eggs with link sausage[2]
Adam & Eve on a raft: two poached eggs on toast[2]
Adam & Eve on a raft & wreck 'em: two scrambled eggs on toast[2]
Adam & Steve: two sausage links with toast[2]
Adam's ale: water[2]
All day: altogether[2]
All hot: baked potato[2]
All The Way: Hot Wiener with mustard, meat sauce, onions, and celery salt
Angels on Horseback: oysters rolled in bacon and served on toast[2]
Atlanta [Special]: Coca-Cola (since the company is based in Atlanta, Georgia)[2]
Arnold Palmer: Half sweet tea, half lemonade
Axle grease: butter[2] see also Cow paste and Skid grease
B
B & B: bread and butter[2]
B.L.T.: bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich
Baby: glass of milk
Baled hay: shredded wheat cereal[2]
Balloon juice/Belch water/Alka Seltzer: seltzer, soda water[2]
Battle Creek in a bowl: bowl of corn flakes cereal (from the hometown of the Kellogg
Company, Battle Creek, Michigan)[2]
Beagle Fingers: sausage links
Beef stick: bone[2]
Biddy board: french toast[2]
Billiard: buttermilk
Bird: chicken[2]
Birdseed: breakfast
Birds in a nest: a fried egg on toast with a hole cut out of the center[2]
Black and blue: a steak cooked quickly over very high heat so that it is seared (black) on
the outside and rare (blue) on the inside[2]
Black and white: chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream[2]
Black cow: (a) chocolate milk or (b) chocolate soda with chocolate ice cream (or) (c) a
soda made with chocolate ice cream and root beer[2]
Blindfolded: basted egg[2]
Bloodhounds in the hay: hot dogs and sauerkraut
Bloody: very rare
Blowout patches: pancakes[2]
Blue-plate special: a dish of meat, potato, and vegetable served on a plate (usually blue)
sectioned in three parts (can also refer to the daily special)
Boiled leaves: tea[2]
Bossy in a bowl: beef stew[2]
Bow-wow/Bun pup[2]/Tube steak/Groundhog: a hot dog
Bowl of red: a bowl of chili con carne (so called for its deep red color)[2]
Break it and shake it: add egg to a drink[2]
Breath: onion
Bridge/Bridge party: four of anything (from the card game bridge)
Bronx vanilla/Halitosis/Italian Garlic: garlic
Bubble Dancer: dishwasher
Bucket of cold mud: a bowl of chocolate ice cream
Bullets/Whistleberries/Saturday night: baked beans (so called because of the supposed
flatulence they cause)
Burn one: (a) put a hamburger on the grill, or (b) with a BLT, to cook the bacon very
crisp, as in "BLT, burn one"
Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it: hamburger with lettuce, tomato
and onion
Burn the British: toasted English muffin
C
C-board: prepared to take-out (in cardboard)[2]
C.J. Boston: cream cheese and jelly
C.J. White: cream cheese and jelly on white bread[2]
Cackle fruit/Cackleberries: eggs[2]
Cackleberries out west: western omelette[2]
Campers - customers who "camp out" at a table, taking it up for an extended amount of
time. This causes the servers to lose money because they cannot "turn the table."
Canned cow: evaporated milk[2]
Cats heads and easy diggins: biscuits and gravy[2]
Check the ice: look at the pretty girl who just came in
Checkerboard: waffle[2]
Chewed with fine breath: hamburger with onions
Chicks on a raft: Eggs on Toast
Chicago: pineapple sundae[2]
China: rice pudding
Chopper: a table knife
Chokies: artichokes[2]
Chortle Stew: Beef broth with olives[2]
Chuds: diners who take up an entire table and drink only coffee
Clean up the kitchen: hash
Coffee dry: coffee with sugar only (no cream)[2]
Coffee high and dry: coffee with no cream or sugar (a.k.a. "black")[2]
Coffee high: coffee with cream only (no sugar)[2]
Coffee regular: coffee with cream and sugar[2]
Coney Island chicken/Coney Island bloodhound/Coney Island:[2] a hot dog (so called
because hot dogs were popularly associated with the stands on Coney Island)
Cops & Robbers Donuts and Coffee.
Cow feed: a salad
Cow paste: butter[2] see also Axle grease and Skid grease
Cowboy coffee: coffee made with all chicory[2]
Cowboy Western: a western omelette or sandwich
Cowboy with spurs: western omelette with french fries[2]
Creep: draft beer
Cremate it: toast the bread[2]
Crowd: three of anything (possibly from the saying "Two's company, three's a crowd")
Cryin' Johnny: burger with extra onions
Cup o' joe:[2] a cup of coffee
Cup of mud: a cup of coffee
Customer Service: attractive table
Customer will take a chance: hash
D
Deadeye: poached egg[2]
Dog and maggot: cracker and cheese
Dog biscuit: a cracker
Dog soup: water
Don't cry over it: omit the onions[2]
Double black cow: double-thick chocolate shake[2]
Dough well done with cow to cover: bread and butter[2]
Down: on toast
Drag it through the garden: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar with all condiments
(vegetables) on it[2]
Drag one through Georgia: Coca-Cola with chocolate syrup
Drag one through Wisconsin: serve with cheese (e.g. a cheeseburger)[2]
Draw one/A cup of mud: a cup of coffee
Draw one in the dark/flowing Mississippi: a black coffee
Drop two: two poached eggs[2]
Drown the kids: boiled eggs[2]
Dry: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar without butter, mayonnaise or other
dressing (or an Italian beef sandwich without the meat juices)
Dry stack: pancakes without butter[2]
Dusty miller: chocolate pudding, sprinkled with powdered malt
Dish dog: dishwasher
E
Eggs up: two eggs fried on one side, unflipped with unbroken yolks which are generally
runny (i.e. sunny side up) see also Fry two, let the sun shine
Egg o' Biscuit: biscuit with egg
Eighty-six (86): remove a dish from an order or from the menu (as when the kitchen is
out of something)[2]
Eve with a lid on: apple pie (referring to the biblical Eve's tempting of Adam with an
apple, the "lid" is the pie crust)
Eve with a moldy lid: apple pie with a slice of cheese[2]
F
Fifty-five: a glass of root beer
Firehouse it: add chili sauce to a dish[2]
First lady: spare ribs (based on the creation of the biblical Eve from Adam's rib)[2]
Fish eyes or Cat's eyes: tapioca pudding
Flop two: two fried eggs, over easy[2]
Flop two, over easy: fried eggs, flipped over carefully, with the yolk very runny
Flop two, over medium: fried eggs, flipped over, with the yolk beginning to solidify
Flop two, over hard: fried eggs, flipped over, with the yolk solid all the way through
Fly cake/Roach cake: raisin cake or huckleberry pie
Foreign entanglements: spaghetti[2]
Four on two over easy: Two orders of eggs over easy
Frenchman's delight: pea soup
Frog sticks: french fries
Fry two, let the sun shine: two eggs fried on one side, unflipped with unbroken yolks
which are generally runny (i.e. sunny side up)[2] see also Eggs up
G
GAC: grilled American cheese sandwich (also called "jack", from the pronunciation of
"GAC")
GAC Tommy: grilled American cheese sandwich (also called "jack", from the
pronunciation of "GAC") with tomato
Gallery: booth
Gentleman will take a chance: Plate of hash
Georgia pie: peach pie[2]
Give it wings: To be served quickly "Coney Island, and give it wings!"
Gravel train: sugar bowl
Graveyard stew: milk toast (buttered toast, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, and
dropped into a bowl of warm milk)
Groundhog: hot dog[2]
Guess water: soup[2]
H
Hamlet's Problem: a Danish and 2 poached eggs with hot sauce
Hail: ice
Hatching it: a fried egg on toast with a hole cut out of the center[2] see also Birds in a
nest
Heart attack on rack: biscuits and gravy
Hemorrhage: tomato ketchup
Hen fruit or hen nuts: eggs[2] (sometimes boiled eggs)
High and dry: a plain sandwich without butter, mayonnaise, or lettuce
Hoboken special: pineapple soda with chocolate ice cream[2]
Hockey puck: a hamburger, well done
Hojack: buttered toast[2]
Hold the hail: no ice
Hold the grass: sandwich without lettuce[2]
Honeymoon salad: lettuce alone
Hope: oatmeal[2]
Hot balls: matzah ball soup
Hot blonde in sand: coffee with cream and sugar[2] see also Coffee regular
Hot one: bowl of chili con carne[2] see also Bowl of red
Hot top: hot chocolate[2]
Hounds on an island: franks and beans[2]
Houseboat[2]/Dagwood Special: a banana split
Hug one[2]/Squeeze one: a glass of orange juice
I
Ice the rice: rice pudding with ice cream
Indie/Indiana Jones/Indy J.: a table that arrives just before closing time; the name stems
from Indiana Jones grabbing his hat from under a closing door, as the customers snatch
their orders from a nearly closing restaurant.
In the alley: served as a side dish
In the weeds: a waitress/cook that cannot keep up with the tables or orders
Irish turkey: corned beef and cabbage
J
Jack Benny: cheese with bacon (named after Jack Benny, the comedian) [[3]]
Jackson Hole Shooters: potato cakes or tater tots covered in white gravy and chopped or
diced onion
Jawa/Java/Joe: coffee
Jewish Round: a bagel
Johnny Tremaine, Make It British: a chicken breast, covered with (or with a side of)
marinara
K
Keep off the grass: no lettuce
Kettle Ploppers: Vegetables fried in old grease
L
Ladybug: fountain man
LEO: lox, eggs and onion, usually served as an omelete. Common in New York City.
Let it walk/Go for a walk/On wheels/Give it shoes: an order to go, a takeaway order
Life preservers/Sinkers: doughnuts
Lighthouse: salt shaker
Lil' Scooters: small sausage patties
Looseners: prunes (so called because of their supposed laxative effect)
Love apples: tomatoes
LTO: lettuce, tomato, onion
Lumber: a toothpick
M
An M.D./Doc: a Dr Pepper
Machine oil: syrup
Magoo: custard pie
Maiden's delight: cherries
Make it cry: with onions
Marry: consolidate food in same containers, e.g. pouring ketchup from half-filled bottles
into other bottles to make full bottles
Mayo: mayonnaise
Midnight Whistleberries: black beans
Mike and Ike/The twins: salt and pepper shakers
Million on a platter: a plate of baked beans
Mississippi mud/Yellow paint: mustard
Moo/Moo juice/Cow juice/Baby juice/Sweet Alice: milk
Mother and child reunion: chicken and egg sandwich
Mouse trap: grilled cheese sandwich.
Muddy Moo: Chocolate Milk.
Mully/Bossy in a bowl: beef stew (so called because "Bossy" was a common name for a
cow)
A Murphy: a potato
Mystery in the alley: a side order of hash
N
Nervous pudding: American jelly
No cow: without milk
Noah's boy: a slice of ham (Ham was Noah's second son)
Noah's boy on bread: a ham sandwich
Noah's boy with Murphy carrying a wreath: ham and potatoes with cabbage
O
On a rail: fast (as in "Fries, on a rail!")
On the fly: as soon as possible
On the hoof: any kind of meat, cooked rare
One from the Alps: a Swiss cheese sandwich
One on the city: a glass of water
P
Paint it red: put ketchup on a sandwich or dish
Pair of drawers: two cups of coffee
Pearl Diver: dishwasher
Peel it off the wall: add a leaf of lettuce
Pigs in a blanket: sausages wrapped in pancakes
Pin a rose on it: add onion to a dish
Pittsburgh: something burning, toasted or charred
Plate o' dicks: a plate of sausages
Plop & Drop: a regular customer whose order is always the same
Pope Benedict: an eggs benedict
Put a hat on it: add ice cream
Put out the lights and cry: an order of liver and onions
Q
Quail: Hungarian goulash
R
Rabbit food: lettuce
Radio sandwich: tuna fish sandwich (From the joke: "You can tune a radio, but you can't
tune a {tuna} fish.")
Raft: toast, or when used with burgers, a toasted bun
Ram it & Cram it a hamburger with no bun
Run it through the garden: any sandwich, usually a hamburger, with lettuce, tomato and
onion added
S
Sad Babies: a table with no coffee creamer
Seaboard: to go
Sea dust: salt
Schmeer: cream cheese, usually on a bagel
Shake one in the hay: strawberry milkshake
Shingle with a shimmy and a shake: buttered toast with jam or jelly
Shit on a shingle/S.O.S.: minced dried beef with gravy on toast (it was a reviled and
loved standard fare in army messes)
Shivering hay: strawberry gelatin
Shoot from the south/Atlanta special: Coca-Cola (probably a reference to the fact that the
headquarters of Coca-Cola is in Atlanta, Georgia)
Shot out of the blue bottle: Bromo-Seltzer
Slab of moo, let him chew it: rare round steak
Sleigh ride special: vanilla pudding
Smear: margarine or butter
Soup jockey: waitress
Splash of red noise: a bowl of tomato soup
A spot with a twist: a cup of tea with lemon
Stack/Short stack: order of pancakes
A stack of Vermont: pancakes with maple syrup
Sun kiss/Oh jay (O.J.): orange juice
Sunny-side up: eggs fried without flipping them, so the yolk looks just like a sun on
white background
Sweep the kitchen/Sweepings/Clean up the kitchen: a plate of hash
T
Take it to Sloptown: combining multiple sides on a plate (e.g., adding corn to mashed
potatoes, gravy to carrots etc.)
The works: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar with all condiments on it
Throw it in the mud: add chocolate syrup
Throw One, Throw Two, etc.: to "throw" an egg (2 eggs, 3 eggs etc.) onto the grill (as in
"Throw two Over Easy)
To sell: to finish the plate
Toad in a hole: a fried egg on toast with a hole cut out of the center[4] see also Birds in a
nest
Tube steak: frankfurter
Twelve alive in a shell: a dozen raw oysters
Two cows, make them cry: Two hamburgers with onions
U
V
Vermont: maple syrup
W
Walk a cow through the garden: hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion
Walking: to go
Walking in: a new order just arriving in the kitchen.
Warts: olives
Wax: American cheese
Well-dressed diner: codfish
We've got a gambler in the house: Hash
Whiskey: rye bread
Whiskey down: rye toast
Whistle berries: baked beans
White cow: vanilla milkshake
Why bother: Decaffeinated coffee with non-fat milk
Winnie Palmer: Half sweet tea, half lemonade
Wreath: cabbage
Wreck 'em: scrambled eggs
Y
Yesterday, today, and forever: hash
Yum Yum/Sand: sugar
Yellow Paint: mustard
Z
Zeppelin: sausage
Zeppelins in a fog: sausages and mashed potatoes