For 40 years, Ronnie’s dished up pickles, treats and rules
During tough times, and on special days, some longtime Orlandoans may find comfort in two magic words.
I was thinking of … “Mogambo Extravaganza.”
“We went here after a movie, and got something called a Mogambo,” a postcard correspondent wrote years ago from Orlando. “Seven flavors of ice cream with a topping of whipped cream 8 inches high & with caramel syrup, too!”
The postcard writer had been to Ronnie’s, the Orlando institution on east Colonial Drive that began in 1956 and ended in February 1995. Owner Larry Leckart closed his restaurant the same day that an Atlanta company bought the original Colonial Plaza Mall and began replacing it with Colonial Plaza’s current incarnation.
Liver to cheeseburgers
In its nearly 40 years, Ronnie’s served not only ice-cream creations but a variety of deli treats from borscht to blintzes, plus hot roast-beef sandwiches, cheeseburgers, cornedbeef hash — and on and on.
The “taste appealing appetizers” included chopped liver and jumbo shrimp cocktail, and the “daily specials” ranged from franks and beans to prime rib.
The Mogambo Extravaganza reigned as the ultimate ice cream sundae. “If you are alone … hesitate to order it,” the menu warned — which of course only egged on the pre-teen crowd, dropped off by their parents after dances to walk on the wild side with piles of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, coffee, butter pecan, orange and lime.
Names with a local twist
Some of Ronnie’s confections bore names with a local twist. The “Rollins Special” involved a cream-puff shell filled with ice cream and hot fudge, while “The Pinecastle” combined pineapple ice cream and marshmallow topping. The “Matador” and the “Apollo” honored the Space Coast.
Customers traveled from Cocoa or Melbourne to dine at Ronnie’s. They came in part for the rolls, fresh from the bakery. For diners who ordered platters or dinners, baskets of chewy pumpernickel, kaiser and other varieties could appear on your Formica table, with real butter.
As the menu pointed out, though, the rolls and butter were not included with everything — which reflects part of the Ronnie’s legend.
In fact, at one time it seemed that the best way to spark a loud feud in the middle of the Sentinel newsroom (and other area workplaces) would be to bring up the subject of Ronnie’s.
Declaim your love for the place, and someone would unleash a longnursed grudge about the time he or she had asked for more butter for their pancakes and been rebuffed, or the time they had stood in the wrong line to wait for a table and been told to move, or other affronts.
“They talk about the abrupt service, but that’s part of what we liked,” one longtime customer noted on Ronnie’s closing night. “It was like having your mother serve you,” another added.
That’s how many of us felt about it, except that our mothers would never have allowed us the indulgence of a Mogambo Extravaganza.
So let’s lift an ice-cream toast to Ronnie’s, and to all the restaurants that have served us good food and provided places for us to gather with family and friends. Here’s a souvenir from the Sentinel’s archives.
Ronnie’s Pickled Pepper Strips
About 4 sweet peppers sliced into strips, or enough to fill 1 quart
2 ½ cups water
2 ounces pickling spice
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar Add water to pepper strips, stir in sugar and pickling spices, finish with distilled white vinegar.
Shake well.
Refrigerate 24 hours before serving. Store under refrigeration as you would for any cold-pack pickle. Makes about 1 quart or 4 servings. Sounds dandy, but caramel sauce or hot fudge on a mountain of ice cream might be even better.