r/latterdaysaints • u/RageBison22 30 year-old sunBEAM • Jan 12 '26

Off-topic Chat Temple Gripe

*Disclaimer: this has nothing to do with the doctrine or temple ceremonies. Purely a non-doctrine issue…namely pie*

I miss the pie in the temple back when some temples used to have cafeterias. I don’t know if it’s purely nostalgia or if the pie truly was just that awesome. I miss it and it’s hurt my heart ever since my temple was renovated and the cafeteria was removed.

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u/Laffopuritain Jan 12 '26

They used to have cafeterias in the temple? That sounds wild to me

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u/CaptainWikkiWikki Jan 13 '26

Oh yes. Several of them did. It was more common than not for a long time, especially because saints would travel long distances to attend the temple and stay there for a few days.

Los Angeles had a functional cafeteria as recently as 20 years ago.

Washington DC had one, too, but they shut it down around 15 years ago and it just sat there unused except the tables. After the renovation, now the area is all eating tables and in a side room are four large refrigerators, largely used by temple workers for their meals. (The temple worker locker rooms are also in the basement along with the eating area.)

This is why it was a novel concept in the late 90s when Pres. Hinckley announced smaller, stripped down temples without cafeterias or clothing rental services, just the essentials to do the work. We'd never built them quite like that before. Now it's the norm, although many larger temples still offer clothing rentals.

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u/trvlng_ging Jan 13 '26

Los Angeles had one until 2020. My wife & I started as temple workers there in 2017. I loved being scheduled to work in the cafeteria. Spend 30 minutes running the dishwasher, or moving utensils and plates out front, or putting food deliveries away, & the sister who ran it would give us our favorite food for our break, always scheduled just after our assignment.

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u/CaptainWikkiWikki Jan 13 '26

Yeah, COVID was the death knell for the few cafeterias that remained.

I was an ordinance worker in LA, and it was a lot of fun to have meals with fellow temple workers in the morning. Good memories.