buffet flat
n.— «From Twenty-second street south in Michigan avenue, Wabash avenue, State street, and the cross streets as far south as Thirty-first street is a rich district of the so-called buffet flats. There, too, can be found hundreds of handbooks, gaming houses, and all night saloons of the most vicious character.» —“Veteran Gambler Says Vice Grows With Police Aid” Chicago Daily Tribune Jan. 24, 1911. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A magnificent new book celebrates the richness and diversity of 450 years of written and spoken English in what is now the United States. It’s called The People’s Tongue, and it’s a sumptuous collection of essays, letters, poems...
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