£1.30 for burger and fries - 1970s Captain America's menu sparks memories

Mike Howell opened the restaurant in 1972 and he took a gamble on our fine city appreciating tastes and atmosphere imported from the USA.

Mike Howell, Captain America'soriginal owner who created the restaurant. Date: 1974. (Image: Archant Library)

Captain America's, Norwich. Date: Dec 2001. Picture: EN Library (Image: EN Library)

A 1970s menu from the restaurant recently resurfaced online, bringing back a flood of memories.

Karen Waters, a travel agent from Hellesdon, unearthed the vintage menu while embarking on a lockdown declutter.

Karen Waters discovered an old Captain America's menu from the 1970s buried in a box while having a lockdown declutter. Date: January 27, 2021. (Image: Karen Waters)

“I don’t know why I kept it – I just liked the look of the menu and it reminded me of good times there,” she said.

Captain America's, Norwich. Pictured: Helen Flatt and Lee Whitehead. Date: Sep 1993. (Image: Archant Library)

Captain America's birthday advert posted in the Eastern Daily Press. Date: July 19, 1975. Accessed via Local Recall at localrecall.co.uk. (Image: Archant Library)

Mrs Waters moved to Norwich when she was 19 in 1976. Before she relocated, she remembered going to Captain America’s when visiting her aunt while on holiday in the Broads.

The iconic restaurant Captain America's. Date: 2015. (Image: Archant Library)

“We went as a family and from then on and whenever we had people to come to stay that was the go-to place because it was so unusual and had such a good atmosphere.

Captain America's, Norwich. Date: Sep 1993. Picture: EN Library (Image: EN Library)

“The barman at the time was just brilliant we had never seen anything like it before in Norwich. He was quite a showman with it – and that was before Tom Cruise.

“I think that it's good to have somewhere that remains the same in a way because its worked well up to now. Why change a good thing?”

The iconic restaurant Captain America's. Date: 2015. (Image: Archant Library)

Mrs Waters shared a photo of the menu on Facebook, and the floodgates opened and the memories poured out.

Here are a handful of the responses:

Pamela Powell

This is the first restaurant I went to without parents. My niece and I were about 15. I ordered blackened steak not realising really what it was. I was so disappointed as it tasted burnt. We felt really grown up though - would have been 1975. It then became a regular place to visit for many years.

Julie Morgan

Took my daughter there about 5 years ago after about a 30-year gap and it was just as I remembered it. I mentioned that they used to have a corn relish and the waitress found some for me. It was the first place as a youngster that I had a proper burger and thought it was amazing.

Paul Bryans

Had my 21st bash there with fellow UEA students. Great Manhattans and exotic American bottled beers in 1981.

Tony Kemp

Used to go every Saturday night. Always a 2 hour wait for table they use to send you up to the cocktail lounge and call you when table was ready. Burgers were brilliant. Happy days.

What are your memories of Captain America’s? Let us know in the comments below.

Captain America's in Exchange Street, celebrating its 40th birthday. Date: 2012. (Image: Archant Library)

Captain America's in Exchange Street, celebrating it's 40th birthday. Pictures, old menus and American car plates on the walls. Date: 2012. (Image: Archant Library)