Howard Da Silva, who posts frequently on sites devoted to Old Austin, shared this sharp image of a split-level cafe photographed by Neal Douglass in 1950. A notation on the digital image from Portal to Texas History confused him: “Manhattan General Hotel Supply.”

Well, it’s certainly not a supply shop or warehouse. And so the discussion began. We offer selections, lightly edited.

Marian Smith: “Picadilly Cafeteria?

Lawrence Da Sliva: “Picadilly was a huge dining room and serving line.”

Teresa King: “Not the PIcadilly, but love the Picadilly when I was a kid!”

Carole Bennie Shay: “It sort of looks like where Billie Shakespeare’s was on Sixth Street. It was deep and narrow with an upstairs balcony like in this picture.”

Katie Lee: “Scarbrough downtone used to have a lunch counter. It seemed big to me but at the time I was small.”

Da Silva: “I worked in the advertising department at Scarbrough’s and ate at their tiny luncheonette, but it was tight quarters, not like the photo at all.”

Roland Shield: “This looks quite a bit like what is now occupied by Casino El Camino (517 E. Sixth St.), but I could be wrong.”

(Much back and forth about Sixth Street clubs.)

Da Silva: “One of the most likely candidates for this place is the aforementioned Casino El Camino. It looks very similar inside, with only a few changes. Surely there were others with the same layout.”

Sandy Thomas: “When I was very young, we ate at a place called the Manhattan. I believe it was on Congress. This looks familiar.”

(Now missing from the conversation published on Facebook are some entries on a place called the Manhattan Deli, located somewhere on Congress near Seventh or Eighth Street.)

Susan Craven-Moore: (Provides great shot of the one-level Picadilly) “Jes Garcia, my grandmother, worked at the Commodore Perry (Hotel) and we would eat at the Picadilly for lunch.”

Rosemary Moore: “My first thought was that it resembled Maggie Mae’s on Sixth.”

Lynn Schaffer Beaver: “My mom says: ‘Think it was the Milan cafeteria down about the 500 block of Congress. East side.”

Paul Mullen: “I am thinking that the upstairs gallery and overall narrow width reminds me of Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar, which was around the 200 or 300 block of East Sixth Street.

OJ Sanders: “Cool picture. Everyone looks so nice. Far cry from today!”