It seems that the era of having an eatery where the home cooking reminded you of just that... home and everyone knew your name is fast fading. I had a couple of these places and sadly they are both gone now. The first was a family owned diner that had the best corned beef hash omelette you could ever imagine and the staff took pride in greeting you by your first name as you entered. It is gone and I miss it already.

The other diner was an Atlanta institution since 1929. Southern home cooking 24/7. A true "greasy spoon" if there ever was one , it has been bought out by a young couple who cater to the midtown yuppie crowd instead of taxi drivers, delivery drivers .... and yes .... police (like me)...etc. No more homemade pies and coffee that you could stand a spoon up in at 3am.....

They actually serve granola and fresh fruit now!

Best,
Charles

Isn't there something you can charge them with for that?

Less and less greaser spoons, no more cheeseburger deluxe too. No western omlets. You can't beat the castiron grill for flavor.

The place we look for is where the truckers eat.

Mickey's Dining Car is still there. The seedy neighborhood it used to inhabit on the fringe of downtown St. Paul has been pretty much urban-redeveloped out of existence, although there is still a homeless shelter a couple of blocks away.

It is a tourist attraction now, on the Historic Register, but the food is still the same. My favorite breakfast order was a couple of poached eggs, an English muffin, and a bowl of navy bean soup. I don't get in there too much any more, since I moved to the exurbs.

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Not in jail.

There was a place in Western Mass (Hadley) called the Route 9 Diner which was a pretty good version of the old time diner, except it was about as big as two or three of the classic diners. But still good, fast service, pretty good food, large portions, very reasonable prices.

Unfortunately they had a problem with some of the cook staff (?) sexually harassing the waitresses and ended up closing.

About a year or so later a family who owned several up-scale restaurants bought the property and re-opened it as Johnny's Roadside Diner. The old atmosphere is still kinda there but the menu is smaller, no more discounts of any kind, food is still good. Prices are about the same as the average restaurant which is to say higher than the average diner.

We still go but it's not the same.

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

Wake up, times have changed. If you want a place that you are familiar in, you've got to patronize it regularly. That means at least once a week. If you don't, it'll eventually go out of business. They aren't the cause, you are.

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Dick Burg

Our patronage is important, but not always the reason these places go out of business. Many such diners are family owned and operated but the younger generation simply doesn't want to work that hard to continue the tradition.

We went to one such place Friday evening for supper . . . could hardly get in the place but well worth the wait. The business is for sale due to health issues of the aging founding generation. If they don't find a buyer by June, they will be forced to close the doors. What a shame to waste forty years of building a very successful business with still loyal customers.

Russ

Thankfully we still have a couple in my area but they are fast becoming a dying breed. I agree the younger generation doesn't seem to want to work as hard. The ones that do are changing the menu to appeal to a wider range of customers. I guess I can't blame them for that. The restaurant business isn't what it used to be.

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I reckon so

Exactly!! This is what happened to the 1st place I mentioned.

If you liked the Route 9 diner try the Blue Bonnet in Northampton. Same as I remember from 25 years ago.

Casper's in Springfield MO.
In a old Quonset hut, so you old grunts know the kitchen is tiny.
Bugers smashed, great chili and old fashion hand made shakes.
Counter and tables.

I have also noticed the demise of the diners.
Everywhere you go, There just aren't as many as there used to be.
Here in Albuquerque we have a few left.
One popular local chain is Weck's.
I think they have 7 places, breakfast and lunch only.
I ate at one last week, had the chicken Green Chile Stew.
I hope you can get green Chile Stew that good where you live!

Menu - Weck's

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

45 years ago I had an instructor in college. He was a business administration guy, and one of his case studies was his family business. It was a deli and had been started by his grandfather. The instructor was working on his PHD. He readily admitted he had no interest in taking over the business. Nor did any of his siblings or cousins. They all went to college and didn't want to go to work about 0500 to get everything ready for the lunch crowd. And working till 1900 wasn't very exciting. Even if the place provided the income to send the sorry lot of them to school. Back in the day, it was a prime lunch place for the courthouse crowd.

So the business plan was for the old man to work himself nearly to death to build the business. The next generation very reluctantly took over to keep it running. and the young generation wanted nothing to do with hard work.

I've read that 4 out of 5 new restaurants fail in the first 2 years. But established firms fail because there are no buyers.

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Dick Burg

There was a little family owned joint in Lexington, TX back in the 90's. It was our Saturday night meal on the weekends we spent out at the ranch my room mate's grandfather owned. It had the best country fried steak I ever had. Quite different than chicken fried steak. There was also all-you-can-eat popcorn shrimp and stuffed crab. And in those days I could still chow.

I went to Wooster (sp)Mass some years ago. There I saw my first real diner. It was called "Alice and the Hat". It was smashed apparently when a big brick building fell on it. ( one of the members here filled me in). The Other was Georges Coney Island Dogs.

Happily, we still have three good café/ diners in my home town (of 3500)
but none are 24 hrs.

There's still a few in Corpus Christi. Two are genuine "Cop diners".

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Halfway and one more step

They are getting fewer and fewer.Fast food where everything taste the same generic thing killed them all.Guess I've retired at the right time.
Qc

I'll be up there for the March show. Hope there's a Wecks nearby, but I usually patronize The Owl.

When I drove to Windsor (Ontario) to pick up my new to me 55 Chevy, it was shorter to drive through the States and up through Detroit. My buddy and I stopped on our way back at a "50's" diner in Wisconsin? because it looked cool/retro/vintage. Aluminum Airstream type diner with lots of vinyl on the walls and Elvis/Marilyn paraphernalia.

Our waitress was completely enamored with the car on the trailer and actually asked if she could hop in and come with us wherever we were going because she said her life sucked and wanted a fresh start in a nice place.

We told her we were from western Canada and she would probably be disappointed with her destination if she was trying to escape the cold. We actually couldn't enjoy our meal because she kept pestering us to let her come with. She stood at the door of the truck when we were leaving, we had to shoo her away.

This is a true story and it reminded me of 2 Lane Blacktop when the girl invites herself along for the ride (if any of you remember that film).

Sorry, the topic of diners jogged my memory and I thought I'd post even if it wasn't adding anything relevant.

As an aside, she was a really cute redhead, but I'm a very lucky married man. That fact was a major factor in telling her she couldn't come with us.

Very hard to find the old diners wnd greasy spoons. If anyone is ever in Grand Rapids MI check out my two favorite places. Yesterdog and Choo Choo Grill. You can thank me after you eat

I am a fan of the "Diners, drive-ins and dives" show more for the food than the host. I gain weight just being a viewer. I think there is a large number of diner fans since many of the featured places become difficult to get in to after their "moment of fame".

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Old Guys Rule!

When my family moved from the Gulf Coast to San Diego in 78, I was a teenager. There was only one place in the area that we could find that served a decent bowl of grits. A Southerner was outta luck looking for grits in SoCal back then, but The Flamingo Diner on Broadway in Chula Vista Ca served them and had really good breakfast menu. It closed down sometime in the 90s I believe. I still remember after I was of age, going there many times after playing pool all night at local bars for an early breakfast.

Frank's Grill in Houston area. Several locations, no late hours but diner type food and large portions. Diners are a dying institution and it's sad. hardcase60

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You want me to do what?

Was this the place?

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Not in jail.

In my neck of the woods Diners (at least the well run ones) flourish and almost always have a waiting list. It is not uncommon to wait at least 15 - 20 minutes for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is usually a 2 - 5 minute wait at my Fav's.

They are getting pretty expensive now-days too! A standard Breakfast or Lunch will run me around $20 - $22 bucks a head and Dinner somewhere's around $30 - $35 /person with a tip.

working in a steel mill in the 60's, 70's & 80's, swing shift, there were several diners in the Burgh area. after stopping for a few beers at the small milltown bars, it was like meeting family at the diners 3 or 4 am. roast beef or turkey sand. covered w/ gravy and fries @ the Norwin diner, now closed. one diner still open in Murrsyville during hunting season was where the guys met early am. still jammed breakfast and lunch. another, now closed , off the turnpike, was a diner, breakfast meeting stop when driving north to fishing destinations. one in New Alexanderia, had the best apple dumplings and beef barley soup on wed., now closed. Blairesvlle diner still open, last time I was there, the windows were hard to see through because of age. another still open in Somerset county off the turnpike, haven't been there for years.

Not a diner but there was a mom and pop restaurant across the river from me. It's the first place I took my now wife to. They opened at 9PM til ? A lot of night shift from the mill heading in to work, drunks, partiers, etc. They had the best cheeseburger I ever had, and that's saying something. In the 80s a large cheeseburger with probably 1/2 of fresh ground beef on French bread with fries and a salad was under $5. When my daughter was an infant we went in and my wife was making her diaper bag into a cosy little bed for my daughter. Our waitress (Nancy) came over and told my wife "You are not putting that baby in there! Give her to me ) She took her around and showed her off to all there including the cooks. Made us proud since she was a beautiful baby. I heard that their son took over and it was the beginning of the end. They moved up the river a bit but they didn't last long. I sure miss the old "Blue Bird Restaurant". I drive past the old location now and again and always look at it and remember good food and good times.

There's a few diners around my area. Popular places, especially on Friday and Saturday nights after midnight. However.....Food......BLEH! I stopped eating at diners when I stopped going to clubs every weekend. I'd rather have some good food than something that relies on copious amounts of grease and gravy to make up the taste. That's not to say there aren't any diners with amazing food but most are simply reselling microwave dinners

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Nothing like a good diner cheeseburger with tomato and onion and crinkle cut fries . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Travelers of US Route 22 eastbound near Blairsville, PA have been stopping by Dean's Diner since it moved from downtown Blairsville to its new stainless steel Diner in the mid 1950's. A modern addition was added in the late 1980's but the original diner section is still open 24 hours a day. Photos attached.

The food is OK, however the pies are really good.

My favorite family Diner type restaurant is Kosta's Restaurant in the Ebensburg Mini Mall, Ebensburg, PA about a quarter mile of US Route 22. The still have a lunch counter where you can sit and listen to the kitchen banter. The place is quite large, has excellent service and makes the best darn 1/3 or 1/2 pound fresh beef burgers! Great liver and onions too.My wife loves the three piece honey fried chicken dinner. Don't miss Kosta's if you are traveling route 22.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

I have better luck hunting for dinner fare in small town America off the interstate than in the city or at interstate exits.

VFW posts often run dinner like restaurants.

Local cafes in small towns are also good bets.

We had the Kreme House just down the road. Great family diner. It was closed because the mother died, father was 79 and ready to retire, one of the daughters was ready to retire too and the other daughter will continue to operate their family diner across town. The other reason is property values have soared. One of the daughters is quoted as saying "the offer from the bank was a great opportunity for our family."

I haven't been inside Southeast Bank and Trust or the other 8 banks that sprouted up along with the new VW plant.

I'm not sure exactly what the term "Diner" means, but you won't find many small towns in Texas which don't have at least one restaurant which has been there for many years, often operated by the same family. And there are many in the larger towns and cities also. Probably the same in most other states. In the little town where I have a second home (Brackettville TX, east of Del Rio, population about 1600) there are four of them, all of which are pretty good. And no chain fast food places (except for a Subway in the local gas station/convenience store which mainly serves the traffic passing through town on Highway 90).

Well, the true definition is a railroad dining car or a restaurant that looks like one. There's a couple of posts above with pictures of true diners. Over the years, the definition has morphed to include non-chain small restaurants who serve breakfast, plate lunches and great hamburgers, and are rarely open for supper. Around here, it's also not a diner if it doesn't allow smoking . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

We only have small Mom and Pop diners in our town, the next town over has an Applebee's and that's the last chain joint for about another half hour drive.

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Don

This thread brings to mind Edward Hopper's Nighthawks: Nighthawks - Wikipedia

in days of yore, when i was in the game, i had lunch at "FAT JOHNNIES" quite often.......there was only one table...you had to get there early...there were no reservations taken.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Any of you Rebs ever been to a Toddle House?
I have to them in Memphis, Jackson and Biloxi for sure.
Probably other places, can't remember exactly where.
Was surprised to see that FedEx Fred Smith's Dad was Toddle House Prez.
We once had one here in Albuquerque, down on Central, Route 66.
The buildings are very distinctive and mostly look alike.

Toddle House - Wikipedia

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Seems like the days of old fashioned Diners and LGS's with squeaky wood floors are numbered. New antiseptic soulless restaurants and well ordered "blister pack" LGS's seem to be winning.

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Stay safe people!

I remember a small restaurant in Kermit TX that you knew you had really arrived when they let you eat at a single table back in the stockroom. Their specialty was Frito Pie. About two pounds of it.

Case in point, just yesterday, a friend of mine invited me to eat w him at Twin Peaks. He was buying said amount no issue. He actually talked me into getting a $15.00 chicken-fried steak. I was just going to order a bowel of Bison chili. I had water w/ slice of lemon-he had their "$1" beers-which turned out to be $2 beers. Then his son, daughter and boyfriend arrived--grand total including tip $105.00. Had the other three not arrived-our bill would have been at least $50 including a several dollar tip.

They had 3 Johnny's ""Good Eats"" here in town-two npow closed. Their food was all bad and everything fried. I love fried food-just NOT their food. The person who took me there ranted and raved about their food. I tried a """"""""""chili-covered-bean burrito"""""""""" and it was the lousiest of lousy burritos ive had in my life INCLUDING those greasy-bad as heck for you two for $1 burritos you can get at a Circle K.

I was sick for two days after eating about half the lousy burrito I had from Johnny's. Spent most of the time in any near restroom.

Never heard of the place, and I enjoy being called a Reb.

BTW, I think the "new" diner-are those food trucks appearing everywhere these days. Many of them have small tables set up near-under a cover-for diners wanting to sit. I ate at one once in Houston--a grape-snow cone. One in Austin, but cant remember what I ate.

The Delaware Valley and South Jersey had a great number of diners. The definition of a diner would be a pre-assembled trailer like building. Lots of sheets stainless steel and original imitation naugahyde upholstered booths and stools at the counter.

Another good greasy spoon in Adams MA is Izzy's. I stop there whenever I am up that way

Sure glad we still have this one. Right up the street from the gunsmithing school:

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We had one on Bissonnet St, a couple miles west of the Southwest Fwy in Houston. It was down the road from the pool hall we inhabited almost every night and was a favorite stop on the way home after the bar closed. It closed down and was taken over by our present greasy spoon breakfast house, IHOP. Mom likes to go to IHOP when she needs a pancake fix, and who am I to argue with Mom? When she wants her fried catfish fix we go to Cracker Barrel and I get the Sirloin and eggs, with a side of gravy to dip the sirloin in. Eggs over easy to cut up and mix with the hashbrowns.

I guess one could say that Denny's and IHOP approximate being diners, except they are chains. I think IHOP has better burgers than Denny's and vice-versa for pancakes. I remember there were Toddle House restaurants when I lived in the Washington DC area, but that was long ago, and I remember little about them.

Ahh yes, ye olde barf wagon or roach coach has become the modern replacement for the diner in many areas. The Tarentum and Pittsburgh area even has The Pierogi Truck!

One reason diners and small family restaurants are going away is the enormous minimum orders required by most restaurant supply companies the last few years. Sisco, US Foods and many other now require well over $1,500 per week to keep a diner on their route. Lower tier vendors will deliver less, but the food quaility sucks causing the restaurants customers to quit dining there. The only alternative is for the owners to drive into a city every few days to buy their food ingredients.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Here in Iowa two diners which were named "5 and Diner" opened in two fairly good spots. We patronized both which were brand new 50s style with juke box stations in each booth. They both failed in less than 5 years.
Obviously they didn't draw enough customers but I don't pretend to know why.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821