The DINER.

Dinerman · Sep 26, 2007

I second that opinion of the Main. Great little '20's place. Not very much left that's original, (though you can still see the wheelwells from the wagon wheels it was brought to the site on) but it's got a great small town diner vibe. Nice town, as well. Some great antique shops.

Mr. K.L.Bowers · Oct 10, 2007

We had lunch here last week. Frost’s Diner in Warrenton VA. on Business US17.

KittyT · Oct 10, 2007

My boy and I went to the Agawam Diner in Rowley, MA this weekend. It's a 1954 Fodero. There's no shortage of great diners around MA, though most of them are Worcester dining cars, made an hour outside of Boston.

The Rosebud, Worcester 1941, located in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. The best place for brunch, as they have a full bar.

Kelly's Diner, O'Mahoney 1948. Somerville, MA

The Boulevard, my favorite place for a late night bite after a show in Worcester. Worcester #730 1936

The Miss Florence, in Western MA. Worcester, 1930s.

And my favorite diner ever, the Whately Diner (technically named the Fillin' Station) in Western MA, Kullman 1960. It's the first diner I ever remember going to, as a college student, as it's the only place around that area that's open 24 hours.

For an interesting look at the history of diners (and an interesting piece of Massachusetts history), visit http://www.dinermuseum.org/dinerhistory.php For a photo guide to diners all over the country, visit http://www.dinercity.com/index.html

Dinerman · Oct 11, 2007

The Frost diner's a nice place. Good food, and pretty much original.

KittyT: Dont you love those old Worcesters?

And if you don't mind- I'll plug the new dinerfinder here
Go to roadsideonline.com and there's a link on the right hand side that says diner finder. You have to register to use it, but it's got close to every diner in the country listed. It's a great resource.

Dinerman · Oct 11, 2007

Tastee Diner Bethesda, MD A 1930s Jerry O'Mahony.
Very original with the exception of 70 years or paint on the exterior. I'd love to know what the enamel looks like under all that.

KittyT · Oct 11, 2007

Dinerman said:
And if you don't mind- I'll plug the new dinerfinder here
Go to roadsideonline.com and there's a link on the right hand side that says diner finder.

Thanks! I'm impressed that even Jonquille's (right near my house - a common breakfast spot for us on weekends, sadly in a poor state of repair) and Phyllis's (nearly invisible place I drove by a million times before I noticed it - haven't been yet) were included.

There are a lot of diners within close driving distance to me that I've been wanting to check out and the guide is super helpful! There are a few on there, I noticed, that don't have pictures and one (Buddy's) that's been completely overhauled on the outside. Are you interested in getting photos or updated photos for any of these diners, if I happen to take them?

Dinerman · Oct 11, 2007

Of course I'm interested. If you send them to me, I'll pop them off to Randy and they'll get edited in.

Gingerella72 · Oct 12, 2007

Envious!

Dinerman said:
And if you don't mind- I'll plug the new dinerfinder here
Go to roadsideonline.com and there's a link on the right hand side that says diner finder. You have to register to use it, but it's got close to every diner in the country listed. It's a great resource.

I'm green with envy for anyone that lives where these diners are in abundance! Heck, for anyone that even has only ONE! :rage:

There are several old "greasy spoons" and old small-town, non-chain eateries in my area, but nothing that has the classic building architecture and character of the classic diner in the photos above. That's what I get for living in Nebraska. [huh]

lyburnum · Oct 17, 2007

I guess it doesn't exactly classify as a 'diner' per se, as England doesn't exactly see many of those. But the sadest thing for me recently was the passing of the 'New Picadilly' in...erm... Picadilly. The landlord sold off the block of shops and restaurants to be knocked down and turned into a 'mixed use block'

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gLVFamzUElV0p2itHFn6Uxq-zJlg

*sigh*

imoldfashioned · Oct 18, 2007

Great pictures all but I especially love the way this guy looks!

Such sad news about that "diner equivilent" closing.

SamMarlowPI · Oct 18, 2007

imoldfashioned said:
Great pictures all but I especially love the way this guy looks!

Such sad news about that "diner equivilent" closing.

looks like Buddy Holly lol lol

I'd sure like to find a diner like the one in "Road To Perdition" that Hanks and the kid stop in, or the one in "Forever Young" where Mel Gibson and his girl ate blueberry pie...

dhermann1 · Oct 18, 2007

Salv

We met Salv when he was in NYC with his lovely family a few months ago. Had a great time, and what you say is totally correct, Paddy.
Re: The Piccadilly: I think it's mentioned previously in this thread. I think you should persuade the owner to sell the contents, maybe on auction, or preferably all together, so someone can recycle as much of the place as possible.

imoldfashioned · Oct 20, 2007

Hmm, I'll have to look up some photos of Salv...

cookie · Oct 20, 2007

Wonderful Lighting and Cafe Noir Atmosphere

lyburnum said:
I guess it doesn't exactly classify as a 'diner' per se, as England doesn't exactly see many of those. But the sadest thing for me recently was the passing of the 'New Picadilly' in...erm... Picadilly. The landlord sold off the block of shops and restaurants to be knocked down and turned into a 'mixed use block'

*sigh*

Fantastic photos from a disappearing Britain...:rage: :rage:

The real Henry · Oct 20, 2007

When I see all these great pictures, I really start to miss Diners here in Germany. All you see in my region are modern bars and restaurants.

Regards,
Henrik

dhermann1 · Oct 20, 2007

Henrik: I was in Munich in spring of 2004, and you may not have mid-century diners, but you certainly have great traditional German restaurants, like Hacker Haus and the Hofbrauhaus. I enjoyed myself immensely in those places. We have great big phoney "German" places, you have the real thing. Enjoy and support your authentic cultural heritage. Send us some pix of the authentic types of places in your country.

Mike in Seattle · Oct 21, 2007

Dinerman said:
The Frost diner's a nice place. Good food, and pretty much original.

KittyT: Dont you love those old Worcesters?

And if you don't mind- I'll plug the new dinerfinder here
Go to roadsideonline.com and there's a link on the right hand side that says diner finder. You have to register to use it, but it's got close to every diner in the country listed. It's a great resource.

That "Spencer's Roadside" guy looks awfully familiar for some reason...

Larry C · Dec 18, 2007

Fat Boys Diners

Salv said:
A few original diners have been imported into the UK and are still in use.

This one was originally known as the Riverside Diner, and was located on the banks of the Susquehanna River, just north of Harrisburg, PA.

It was moved to London in the early 90s after a complete refurbishment, and it was in Covent Garden for a few years. It was put into storage when the site it was on was due to be redeveloped, and it finally ended up in a garden centre in Ashford, Kent, to the south-east of London.

There are some photos of the interior here.

This second diner was bought by the same company that bought the Riverview. As far as I know it was originally in Jersey and came to London just after the Riverview. It was first situated near Liverpool Street railway station, then moved 400 yards into the Spitalfields Market, then finally moved again to its present site at Trinity Buoy Wharf, directly across the River Thames from the Milennium Dome:

Interior photos here.

The company that owned these two had a third diner, which they put up in Golders Green in north London. That one was also moved some years ago, but I haven't managed to track it down.

Just so you know, I use to be an occasional patron at the Riverview Diner when it was in Harrisburg, PA, also I have photos of it in Falmouth, Maine when it was being restored. The red colored Fat Boys was originally the Georgetown Diner of Georgetown, Massachusetts (Worcester Lunch Car # 849). I use to patronize this diner as well when it was called Randy's Roast Beef at the Georgetown location prior to it moving in the 1980's. It was in storage for 7 or 8 years before it was bought, restored and resold to go over to England.

Dinerman · Dec 18, 2007

Larry? That you?

Salv · Dec 18, 2007

I haven't checked this thread for a while so I missed this:

lyburnum said:
I guess it doesn't exactly classify as a 'diner' per se, as England doesn't exactly see many of those. But the sadest thing for me recently was the passing of the 'New Picadilly' in...erm... Picadilly. The landlord sold off the block of shops and restaurants to be knocked down and turned into a 'mixed use block'

<...snip some beautiful photos...>

*sigh*

Lovely photos lyburnum - did you take them?

Paddy said:
My favourite 50's member on the Lounge, has still got to be Salv from London. He just oozes that 'cool' from 'that decade.' And would look GREAT sitting in an American diner.

dhermann1 said:
We met Salv when he was in NYC with his lovely family a few months ago. Had a great time, and what you say is totally correct, Paddy.

Thanks gents - you're both very kind

Larry C said:
Just so you know, I use to be an occasional patron at the Riverview Diner when it was in Harrisburg, PA, also I have photos of it in Falmouth, Maine when it was being restored. The red colored Fat Boys was originally the Georgetown Diner of Georgetown, Massachusetts (Worcester Lunch Car # 849). I use to patronize this diner as well when it was called Randy's Roast Beef at the Georgetown location prior to it moving in the 1980's. It was in storage for 7 or 8 years before it was bought, restored and resold to go over to England.

Thanks for posting this Larry. I like knowing the history of these diners, and it's great that you've actually been in them as well.

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