Turning the Tables

I never watched the Sopranos. Still, this news story shared on TwitterX caught my eye.

Tony’s Booth from Sopranos Finale Sells for $82,600, Remy Tumin, New York Times

Why? It’s hardly a local story. No, it’s not. But this is:

One sentimental TwitterX user recently posted:

Hey @tacobell IDK if this is possible. But you're currently renovating the location on Minstrel Way in Columbia, MD, and I was wondering if it's possible that I could get a table me and my brother always sit at before you demolish it. It's a tall table with a star etched on it.

I’m familiar with the concept of having a particular place where you always sit at a favorite restaurant. “Oh, that was our booth,” you sigh, full of memories and feelings of times gone by. But - - Taco Bell? While I find the request kind of sweet, it also startled me.

I once (just once) entered the Minstrel Way Taco Bell. It had been raining. The floor was equal parts sticky, greasy, and slick with rain. I have never returned.

It’s clear, though, from the (wistful? bereft?) comments that keep turning up on social media that Columbia/HoCo folks love their Taco Bell and are alarmed at its recent closing. (Fear not; it’s only closed for renovations.)

And for one local fellow it’s not just the burritos he’s missing. It’s a special table: tall, with a star etched into the top. Hmm, I wonder how that star got there in the first place?

Do you have a special table in a local eatery or watering hole? I used to sit in more or less the same place at the now-departed Second Chance Saloon but I don’t think I’d want to own the table. The memories I have are of the place in its entirety - - one table just wouldn’t do it.

If you could have wangled a piece of a favorite Columbia/HoCo restaurant before it closed or was radically changed, what would it be? I’m not a huge Pizza Hut fan but that central fireplace was key to the overall ambiance. On the other hand, I have no idea where I’d put it. And I wouldn’t pay 82,000 dollars for it, either.

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