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I attended Oakland High School in Oakland California in the late '50's. The lunches in the school cafateria were not really that bad. In particular I liked the hamburgers, they had a very distinct taste, a taste that I have not found in any hamburger I have eaten since. Something was added to the hamburger meat during preparation to give it the distinct taste, I suspect that it was a condiment but to this day I have been unable to recreate the taste. I have been looking for information on a cookbook that the Alameda County public schools may have been using at the time, perhaps it would have the recipe for the hamburgers.

My high school's food was unfathomably bad--rubbery chicken nuggets and pizza soaked in grease. College food, on the other hand, while tiresome, is much better. We have salmon, flank steak, ribs--all good stuff. :)

I ate hot lunches in grade school and thought they were exotic, since it was stuff I never got at home. Looking back, I can recall canned Chef Boyardee ravioli as the amazing highlight of the lunch menu. In high school, there was a hot lunch, but after eating what they referred to as a hamburger, I gave that up in favor of the "cold lunch" line which offered such delectables as the ubiquitous bologna sandwich with butter globs, and on a good day, Twinkies and Hostess apple pies.

Bisbee, I'm glad you posted this!!! As I read through the lunchbox thread (and having NO idea that it would evoke such memories) I thought about Wednesdays, the day that my 'lunchbox' Mom would let me buy lunch. Wednesday was pizza day. The dedicated lunch ladies in my school district made everything from scratch, including the incredible pizza. They served it with spinach, to make sure the dietary rules were adhered to. Anyway, the pizza was FABULOUS and I can still recall with anticipation, the deep-dish, homemade slices that were to come. The lunch ladies also made the best oatmeal/peanutbutter cookies. The cookies were so popular, people in the community would place orders for them on the day they were made! Imagine my surprise when I tasted the dorm food my first year at college, I expected it to be like the Lunch Ladies, NOT!! By the way, the Lunch Ladies made a killer salibury steak and mashed potatoes.

My high school did hot breakfast in the morning (neon egg sandwiches) followed by hot lunch. Wednesday was always nacho day: ground beef with minimal seasoning on toastios with melted slices of kraft and jarred salsa. yum.

@bonnie: my best friend's favorite late night raid the kitchen snack at sleepovers growing up was toasted bread with margarine and cool ranch doritos. She was from the originally from the south.

When I was in elementary/middle-school, I really liked the veggie soup and the tomato soup and grilled cheese days. That is pretty much all I can remember liking. I'd bring lunches most days; my mom would make up on the weekends a large number of roast beef and cheese on hamburger buns and wrap in foil and then heat them then freeze them. That was one of the best lunches. In high school there was a potato bar, but we were too cheap and would just take the crackers, bacon bits and chesse and make little crackers sandwiches. There were tasty.

I don't remember my elementary school food all that much, but then again, I wasn't much of an eater when I was a child, so whatever it was, I most likely barely touched it, if at all. It probably also means that it was not quite memorable.:-)

Come to think of it, I wasn't much better in high school, but I do recall eating beef stew and mash, and toasted BLT sandwiches, these were quite good.

As far as I recall, most of the food at my high school was pretty standard ...

with the very, VERY notable exception of the biscuits (45 cents!) they served for breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

OMG, were they amazing. Huge, flaky, moist, dripping with butter, with perfectly crispy crusts. Just salty enough. Un. Be. Lievable. I could live off them even now. Ten years later, those biscuits haunt my dreams.

At the end of my senior year (and this was before I had any notion of cooking whatsoever), I asked the lunch ladies for the recipe - and alas, they refused to give it to me! 'Twas a black, black day.

(And, by the way, if any of you happen to miraculously be in possession of the biscuit recipe used by the cafeteria staff at Clayton High School ... I beg you to share it!)

@bonnie- welcome to SE! That dorito thing is not "regional," it's "institutional." Inmates make something similar in their jail cells. I believe it is called a chalupa, and is made from ground doritos and uncooked ramen noodles with a tiny bit of water to make it a paste. It is then spread on white bread ith mayo. Not exactly the same, but a similar idea.

BTW, I used to work for an alternatives to incarceration program. Some of the guys would bring their jailhouse eating habits with them. And yes, I have tasted this scary concoction. Not as bad as one might think, but I don't think I'll be having one for lunch today.

School lunches were horrible. All institutional food of the lowest quality. I can still remember the smell of the cafeteria. I wonder if anything has gotten better in typical public schools. Any parents out there?

I feel really lucky after reading most of these comments!

In grammar school the food was certainly edible, if not really good. In junior high the cafeteria administrator/head cook was the grandmother of one of my classmates. Everything was served in heavy-duty Melamine trays with five sections-- one for silverware, one for milk, two small compartments for side dishes and a large one for the entree.

I wasn't wild about the mustard/mayo blend that was slathered on the hot dogs. And then there were the vile tuna buns. Imagine, hot tuna, (hot) mayonnaise and grated American cheese melting through the sandwich-in-a-hot-dog-bun which was then rolled up in foil, twisted closed on each end and baked. Just the smell of the cafeteria on tuna bun days made me want to retch. Oh, and grated cheddar cheese on spaghetti is just, plain weird! The gigantic, yeasty and hot white rolls were magnificent! The dishes we looked forward to each month were the fish sticks, oven-fried chicken, and of course, pizza.

Ok, in high school the cafeteria was pretty awful most days. The hot lunch was edible about three days per month. The rest of the time I subsisted on tuna sandwiches and junk food from the snack bar. Until I got my driver's license.

hahah agreed Alaina. I love when the cop says "she's pretty!" when pointing out the differences