Ex-Employee Fondly Recalls Mall Eatery

Readers: The Harvest House saga won’t quit!
The March 29 column on the restaurant that operated inside the Woolworth’s at the Palm Beach Mall has prompted yet another note from a reader, this time a former employee.
Mark Botsford of Royal Palm Beach was an assistant manager on and off for a dozen years while in high school and college. At the time, he said, the West Palm Beach location was the biggest grossing unit in the chain.
“It was a very fun and also learning experience in my life at which many friends were made,” Botsford wrote. He even was able to name several of his co-workers after all these years.
“The food at the cafeteria was excellent (and) prepared from scratch, not commissary food sold by our competitors,” Botsford continued. “I can also still see the waiters with their talented tray-balancing act, literally running the guests’ food to the table and putting on quite a show.”
Botsford said he’s worked as a chef in some two dozen restaurants in places as diverse as Maine and South Carolina, “but Harvest House Cafeteria was one of the most wonderful experiences in my life. Thanks for reminding me of those great years.”