The food wasn't bad, but I saw no joy in eating in that kind of environment.
Half of the fun of going to Vic's Pizza was the sawdust on the floor and the opportunity to sit at the booth with your friends' older brother and his cool friends. The pizza was just a bonus.
Nobody seemed cool once they walked in the door of the 5 and Dime; the girls (!) didn't even seem all that alluring. Ever make a date at the butcher's shop? (what we used to call a "meat market" before that word was purloined)? Neither me. The same girls were almost irresistible at Vic's.
Context!
