Living the American Dream
For years now I've had a love affair with diners. And, while I do enjoy pretty much any old diner with retro attitude, what I really lerve is the real deal--the prefab dining car with a counter and stools, and stainless steel so shiny you can see it a mile away. Sit me down there, pour me a tall chocolate Coke, and serve up some pie à la mode!
Since about 2001 I've entertained the notion of writing a book on classic diners. During my "vacation" after the dot-com bust, I scoured the web and made an authoritative listing of all existing classic diner cars, broken down by region. My original intent was to do a road trip and chronicle the foods, designs, and cultures found at these places. Thoughts of money and cholesterol held me back, and then, alas, Amazon.com came calling. So, now I just enjoy the diners on vacations, working them into the roads we travel.
This morning I thought I'd check in on the American Diner Museum website and I discovered that they list classic diners that are for sale. How cool is that? I could just buy a diner (with my spare lunch money), ship it off to Seattle, and set up shop. I'm ready to live the American Dream! In fact, I'm kind of eying the Sunrise Diner in Pennsylvania. Seriously--check out the slide show and tell me that wouldn't be cool!
Got a favorite classic diner in your area? Add a comment and tell me about it! I'll stop by next time I'm in your neck of the woods.
--KitchenMaus
p.s. Check out this cool diner blog. And don't miss Diner City.
Barb Hayes on April 11, 2008 at 04:37 PM
No longer in my neck of the woods, because I live in the Seattle area now, but back when I lived in Colorado, it was well worthwhile to make the trek up to the Luxury Diner in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
It's a real place - no retro kitsch - it's the real thing. They make their own bread and biscuits, some of the biggest, fluffiest biscuits I've ever seen, and a cinnamon roll takes up an entire plate. The food is well done and just plain real.
Anne on April 11, 2008 at 04:43 PM
I love Mustache Bill's in Long Beach Island, NJ. The best blueberry pancakes ever!
Jersey Man on April 11, 2008 at 04:52 PM
If you like diners, you need to come to New Jersey. We have more of them here than any other state, and some are truly legendary. I would recommend the Miss America Diner in Jersey City and the Tick Tock in Clifton. New Jersey Monthly magazine actually devoted a whole issue to our beloved diners. You can check out some of the stories if you search Yahoo for "New Jersey Monthly Magazine diners"
gary whelchel on April 13, 2008 at 11:20 PM
have you not seen "diners, drive-ins and dives" on the food channel?