No, the KC Matchgirl is not suggesting you should pay your own way- but that you should stop at the windmill restaurant once known as The Zuider Zee. (Pronounced Z-eye-der Zee.)
Located in the larger cities of Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, this once-popular seafood restaurant chain was founded in 1957. Restaurantuer Bill Martin opened the first location in Ft. Worth, TX and named it The Zuider Zee, using the name for the Netherlands "Southern Sea". Also known as Holland, this small European country is known more for its tulips and windmills than its cuisine- so having dinner at The Zuider Zee was not like having an actual Dutch meal.
While this matchbook clearly states it was an "Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant", apparently the menu also featured popular non-Dutch items like gumbo and hush puppies.
Just as the namesake Zuider Zee sea is no more- all those windmills removed the sea water so the land could be used for farming- The Zuider Zee is no more also. After growing the chain to twenty locations, Martin sold them off to another company in 1968, which in turn sold them again in 1971.
In their efforts to make the quaint windmill restaurants bigger and better, the menu was changed, customer traffic slowed, and eventually all the restaurants were shuttered and sold off, one by one.
Bill Martin opened a few more seafood restaurants in Ft. Worth- without windmills or big corporations.
Note: This front-strike matchbook dates to the early 1970's and lists 2 locations in the Kansas City area at that time. One was in Independence at 3800 Noland Rd, the other near 103rd & State Line Rd. Did you have a Zuider Zee in your hometown?
