How the Flying Fish Cafe Got Its Name

Recently, I wrote an article for the Allears.net newsletter about the Flying Fish CafÃ©. In it, I mentioned that I wasn’t exactly sure how the restaurant got its name. Two of my readers (Debbie and Mehran), did a much better job of research than I did and were able to find the answer. My thanks to them both.

This is an excerpt from “Nation’s Restaurant News” dated July 19, 1999 and authored by David Mack.

The inspiration for the Flying Fish Cafe came from a classic Coney Island roller coaster called the Flying Turns; one of the cars on that coaster was called the Flying Fish. The coaster was part of Coney Island’s heyday during the 1920’s, the so-called “Golden Age of roller coasters.” Coasters built during that time reflected a daredevil attitude on the part of their designers, and were integral to the spirit of Coney Island, which architect Martin Dorf described as “its heightened sense of reality, its sense of joy, its mystique, with grotesque shapes and rides like fish that swallowed you whole.”

To read the entire article, check out this website:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_29_33/ai_55221635