In 1875, The New York Times wrote of elaborate free lunches as a "custom peculiar to the Crescent City" (New Orleans), saying, "In every one of the drinking saloons which fill the city a meal of some sort is served free every day.
The repast included "immense dishes of butter," large baskets of bread, "a monster silver boiler filled with a most excellent oyster soup," "a round of beef that must have weighed at least forty pounds," vessels filled with potatoes, stewed mutton, stewed tomatoes, and macaroni à la Français.