I have fond memories of Highland Park Pharmacy from the college days. There was something understandably comforting about getting a grilled cheese sandwich (or two) at the counter, or chicken salad, or tuna. Nothing fancy. Kinda like home, except with white bread instead of the wheat I grew up on. And I liked the old-time feel of it and definitely the price, of course. I ventured over to see if it was how I remembered.
Yes and no. HP Pharmacy was purchased by Sonny and Gretchen Williams (dad is one of the Minyard founders) about three years ago, but the original menu was said to have been kept intact. Since I was on a budget, I got a chicken salad sandwich, and split a grilled cheese with my friend.
The place was packed. Kids everywhere. Of course, since school is out in most places and the food they serve at HPP is obviously very kid-friendly. We had a very nice server, looked about high school age but was nice and brought our food very quickly. I had heard from a couple people that service had gotten bad, but ours was fine.
Gotta say…I probably wouldn’t get the chicken salad again. There just wasn’t much flavor to it. There were some tiny slivers of white onion and hard-boiled egg white, but that was really it. I like a chicken salad that can be scooped and remain in a scooped form, with a generous amount of salt and pepper and mayo, of course, but just enough to hold it together, not so much that it makes the texture mushy. A little celery for crunch is nice, as is a squeeze of lemon. But the texture of this was quite mushy and almost could have been tuna salad. The buttery bread and the cold iceberg lettuce saved the sandwich, and the pickles spiked up the flavor.
The grilled cheese was like I remembered–American cheese, buttered and toasted white bread, pickle slices on the side. I like to pile the pickles on my grilled cheese. Is that strange? I just love pickles.
My friend had the ham salad. I don’t really love ham salad, so this one tasted like the others to me. Like the chicken in the chicken salad had been replaced by tiny chunks of ham. The filling of this sandwich really held together better than mine did though. Mine fell off the sandwich in plops. Okay, that’s probably enough describing of that.
I couldn’t afford a milkshake but I would definitely get one if I went back. Cherry, please. The waitstaff knew many people by name. It’s also worth noting that they have a working soda fountain so if you like Cokes, this is a good place to get one. The place has been open since 1912 and there’s definitely an old-fashioned feeling to it, in a good way.
Total cost (of my portion): $5.49. My friend left the tip. I was full. Final verdict: If you have kids, you will probably like it, because it’s the kind of place you could come after a trip to the pool or something. Very casual. And the food is basic and kids will dig it. Get the grilled cheese and a milkshake or malt. I’ve also heard the pimento cheese was good there but I didn’t get to try it. Skip the chicken salad.
