Diners #46-50

  Just returned from a two day trip into mostly New Hampshire to see some new diners (eight more) and photograph some that I have not photographed since roughly 2000 with a non digital camera.  I'll include three of the diners I saw today and a couple others.

Located in Brattleboro, Vermont, this "diner" does not serve diner food.  Their website says it all. http://www.tjbuckleys.com/  T.J. Buckley's is housed in the shell of an old Worcester diner.  The diner has been completely gutted and the exterior has been fixed up to look less like an older diner and more like a nicely kept small diner.  I heard never heard from anyone who has eaten at the place, but maybe one day, if I hit the lottery, I will have to stop.

A Kullman diner in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.  After my third time passing this diner, I was finally able to eat here.  This is a regular model, not a Challenger, which means it has booths along the windows.  The inside is mostly original.  The floor tile-work is amazing. You really do need to see it.  You can tell where the original door is located on the front, but it is not in use anymore, as you enter through the side, into an addition.  They do a good job with their food, and a couple of days a week, they reopen from 5pm to 8pm for dinner.

The former Remember When Diner of Rochester, New Hampshire is now a Mexican restaurant.  It was very difficult getting a photo of the Starlite diner, which seems to be made up of six sections, due to the angle of the sun and the clouds.  There are actually more than a few Mexican restaurants located inside of an authentic diner.  I ate at another Starlite in Iowa which changed to a Mexican restaurant, but this was just a photo stop as there were many other places to eat at farther north.

This 1959 Kullman, with a little bit of space age flair along the roof sits on the outer edge of downtown Canton along the old Lincoln Highway.  Today, the US Rt 30 has bypassed downtown Canton, taking much of the business from this diner.  The diner sits in front of a downtown motel, still in business.  The diner, interior and exterior are still in good shape. Being a two piece diner(excluding the entryway) the kitchen is in one back corner of the diner and the dining room extends in an L shape inside.

While traveling through Yonkers with Glenn Wells of roadsidefans.com, we found this diner by chance.  I think I may have had an inkling that it might have been still there, but this diner did not make the book, Diners of New York.  We were on our way to the DeRaffele factory.  The diner is your typical mansard Mediterranean environmental diner with curved windows and stone on the exterior.  The diner has been updated with a metal mansard roof and the inside has been updated over time, though it still sports its cantilevered stools at the counter.

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners #41-45

Five more diners before I head out to increase the number with a trip into New Hampshire.

El Greco in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn is your classic Environmental diner. Many call this style, Mansard Mediterranean.  The terra cotta roof tiles on the mansard roof are more of a fashion statement than anything else.  It is nearly the opposite of a stainless steel diner.  The large foyer sits prominently on the front corner of the diner, welcoming guests up a small flight of stairs, which today would not be ADA complaint. At the same time, the diner is still very original to its origins as a 1974 DeRaffele.  As I remember, the food was typical to your Greek run diner in a metropolitan area. 

The D-K Diner in West Chester, Pennsylvania is a 1953 Mountain View diner. Mountain View diners had serial numbers right by the inside of the front door and this diner is #361.  This Mountain View does not have its typical famous "cow catcher" corners.  Other than the canopy over the top roofline of the diner, the interior and exterior of the D-K Diner is very original.  The D-K is a popular place in the populated region of south east Pennsylvania.

The Amphora DeLuxe Diner, as it used to be called before it was shot down, may have been built by DeRaffele.  The newspapers articles about this diner are a little cloudy on who built it, but they do mention DeRaffele.  The inside of this building hints at being a diner, but really does not come out and say diner even like 1970s diners.  They still do have a counter and still serve your diner favorites, but it is more like a restaurant than a typical diner.  also, check how much metal? is above the windows. It is not stainless steel like on your typical retro diner.

I took this photo of a closed diner in Syosset, Long Island very close to the Celebrity Diner on the opposite side of the Jericho Turnpike, a popular diner highway.  Shortly after the photo, Patsy's Pizzeria took over the diner.  The diner seems to be a DeRaffele, but it could easily be from a different manufacturer copying the reverse step roof line that DeRaffele used for a few years.  I would assume there was a sign advertising the diner at one time on the right front corner of the roof line.

 The Moonlight Diner in Hollywood, Florida is part of a small chain of Starlite diners in southern Florida.  I did not eat at this one, but snapped this photo of one of the larger Starlites.  The diner sits on the outer circle of a mall property in Hollywood.  Being in Florida, this diner had seating on an outside deck which is open up nearly all year.  This diner started as a diner called Starlite Diner, most likely run by the company, but two of their diners were soon bought out by the independent Moonlight Diner chain, which now has three locations, two of which are Starlites.

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diner #36-40

Lets take a look at five more diners.

This Worcester diner in Spencer, Massachusetts is one I wish I got to more.  This is an old time diner where there are not booths for four, but tables for two along the windows.  The Kenmore Diner was serving swedish meatballs on the day I stopped in.  Something I do not get often, but they were especially good on that day.  The diner sits on the edge of the main business section in Spencer.  i often go past this diner, but I am either heading somewhere else, or the diner is closed for the day.

I am giving a rare interior shot instead of the typical exterior shot for Heisey's Diner just north of Lebanon, Pennsylvania on PA Rt 72.  The exterior, of what you can see is in good shape, but it has a new roof, and a good sized brick foyer so that you can get an entire shot of the diner.  I somehow doubt this O'Mahony diner originally came with a wood (formica  / laminate??) counter.  Otherwise, the diner is mostly original, and the food is a good mix of diner and Pennsylvania Dutch.  This is another diner which I would like to get back to more, and have only eaten at once, but passed more than once.

 the shot isn't the best, because the look of the diner isn't the best.  Supposedly there was a real diner here at one time, but it was butchered so much, that it now looks like this.  This would be Curley's Diner in downtown Stamford, Connecticut.  The interior of the diner also bears no resemblance to an authentic diner.  Going entirely off memory, I think this was originally a Mountain View diner.

The fourth diner would go nicely with our last photo.  I swear this used to be a nicely looking Starlite on the outside, but then the owners of the hotel next door bought the diner and remodeled the exterior to match the hotel.  so if you want to know what the hotel looks like, here you go.  At least the interior is quite original to a Starlite. The diner is the Pine Island Diner in Corolla, North Carolina which is a little north of Kill Devil Hills on the coast.

I've eaten at all five of the diners on this list today, though the food at George & Sally's Blue Moon Diner.  The Silk City diner is more of a showpiece at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, but they do serve a few food items, like hot dogs.  The waitresses dress up in that lovable 50s style.  Steve Harwin restored this diner, and it was sold to the museum and sits not too far from a restored Shell gas station. 

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners #31-35

I added four more diners to the list.  Got to eat three diner meals, with the highlight being the big portions and affordable prices at the City Star Diner in Manheim, PA.  This is a DeRaffele Environmental diner.  It is a very boxy diner, which seems to be what DeRaffele went after later in the environmental phase.  Diners of Pennsylvania by Stackpole books says this is a 1990 DeRaffele.  The inside reminded me of the Monk episode where the San Francisco sanitary workers are on strike, and he goes into the white room and smiles.  The dining room has a lot of white.   The food was quite affordable, as I said earlier.  Got a full meal for $9 and had to take more than half of the main course home with me.

Kyle Weaver works at Stackpole, and took on the job of re-editing the second version of Diners of Pennsylvania.  I went on two trips in northeast Pennsylvania to check in with diner owners.  Kay's was a stop for dinner with Kyle.  While the O'Mahony diner does not sport a counter, at least it was saved.  The current owner found the diner in a scrapyard and saved it.  The diner acts as additional seating for his hugely popular Italian restaurant.  Also, the baked goods are insanely good.  Like I have told people. The Scranton area really has some good food, and if you go hungry in this region, you're either sick, or not trying.

  I had been by Al's diner once, quite a few moons ago, but I finally got to eat at this O'Mahony Diner now named Nick & Ivy's Country Diner in October of 2011.  Al Sloan brought his and three other diners up to Alpena, Michigan and decided to get this one open for the residents to enjoy.  The diner was quiet when I stopped in, on a Thursday.  The interior is pretty much original and sports an L shape customer area with the kitchen in behind the counter area.  The women's room door was open and showed that the diner had pink tiles on the floor in the women's room.

Moving farther west, the Band Box Diner was built by Butler Mfg just before World War 2.  Over a dozen of these little diners were placed all over Minneapols - St. Paul, with this one in the Dinkytown section of Minneapolis the final Band Box.  The interior has been enlarged, which may be why this diner was able to survive.  Today, the diner is an iconic part of the neighborhood, whereas one time, it was rumor to have been a hang out for mobsters.  When I ate here with Gordon Tindall, I asked the owner if the fries were real and he said they were and that the stools, and the water were also real.

We will end in the southwest in Arlington, Texas, at the only diner I have eaten at in Texas so far.  I ate here with my cousin Wendi S. just before heading out towards Colorado.  This Starlite diner started out as a Denny's, but was discontinued and sold to an independent owner.  My cousin did not know about this place and said the food was good and she hopes to go back.  The interior has forest green trim, which is rare for Starlites as the vast majority have red trim.  I could not find a tag for this diner.

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners #26-30

Five more diners before I take a few days off to head to Lancaster, PA for an apple grafting event.  hoping to hit at least one more new diner in New Jersey on way down. My total is at 891, so I still need to get over 100 more diners documented.

If you are reading this,  my internet is acting up, so I will finish this later. 

The 50's Diner on Broadway in Depew is only in its third owner.  The Silk City is from roughly 1954 as Silk City only built this model for a short period.  The current owner told me that the diner vestibule on this ran the owner an extra $4000.  The diner is mostly original on the inside, except that the counter on the right hand side was removed for the addition of two rows of booths.  So for us counter people, there is only half the counter there used to be.

This photo of the New College Diner on NY Rt 299 in New Paltz shows Mario Monti  getting ready to head inside.  The diner was a featured diner in our book, Diners of New York.  We like the idea that the owner does not want to remodel.  He wanted the diner to celebrate the "Spirit of '76" so he intends to keep the diner in the style of the 1970s.  While the 1970s diners will never ever have the nostalgia like the 1950s diners, if you are a true diner fan, you need to visit this diner and relive the 1970s.  The longer you wait, the more and more these diners disappear or get remodeled.

 Yes, this is a Silk City diner.  Snoopy's Diner on Quaker Lane in North Kingstown was simply remodeled on the exterior by Erfed.  The interior does still sport its Silk City-ness.  The owners say the diner is a circa 1941 diner and it was shipped from Pennsylvania in 1969 and opened for business in Rhode Island in 1971.  On this trip, I visited the diner with Glenn Wells, a frequent road trip associate.  it was nice to get to visit another Erfed creation, as so few of them exist anymore.

Montclair State University hosts a Kullman diner. News at 11.  It did make news when Montlair State University in New Jersey contracted(or maybe a third party?) with Kullman to put a new diner on the campus.  This was another diner that I visited while traveling with Glenn Wells.  I had gone by this diner twice before in the past, once at night as the construction was going on and never ate there before this trip.  I don't remember much about the food.

North of Elmsford, there are now a bunch of big box stores where one sat a diner.  Roughly, a 1961 Swingle plied the trade until the early 2000s.  I am unsure why they closed, but they did, and the diner sat abandoned. you could tell it was being used for shelter when I photographed the diner with Mario Monti around 2006.  The diner did have a Swingle tag, and this model was popular with Swngle for a short amount of time.  The style was probably Swingle's move from stainless steel into the Environmental movement with their fake brick and large picture windows.


Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners #21-25

We will continue with our posts with five more diners.

 This Valentine diner on North Hudson in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has been remodeled.  The current name is Foodies, an Asian American Diner.  This is one of five Valentines I found in Oklahoma City. This one sits in what they call Mid-Town, but to me it seems like the outskirts of the heart of downtown. The food seems to get good reviews on the internet, but I caught the place not yet open.  not much historical information is available on the internet about this diner.

Our next diner is seen at the factory, so to speak. LaBeau Enterprises has so far built two diners to my knowledge.  This is the second, as the first has been bought.  To my knowledge, it has not opened up for business.  This diner, last I knew, was for sale.  They are in Lexington, North Carolina, and I believe they build trailers, but don't hold me to that.

  Hopefully come this summer, Susie Q's in Mason City, Iowa will sport a remodeled exterior, thanks to a grant.  The venerable valentine is still in very good shape and still packs them in, in Mason city.  They are known for their Spic 'n Span breaded Pork Chops, which are quite huge!  Unfortunately, a good amount of the time when I go through Mason City, this diner is closed, or I would be a more frequent visitor.  The owner also does magic on the side, so you can always ask for a little magic to go with your meal.

 This diner in Bridgeport, Connecticut may not be with us anymore.  It was known as the El Moderno before it closed down in 2007. I believe this is on old US Rt 1 going into downtown Bridgeport from the west.  The make of the Environmental diner is a guess, unless another diner fan out there knows the builder.  Connecticut has its fair share of environmental diners, and more than a few are still sporting much, if not all of their original facade.

The Neptune Diner in Oneonta, New york was built by Kullman in 2000.  the diner is a replacement for the older Environmental diner that was the first Neptune Diner. This diner is much bigger with a horseshoe counter an additional dining room seen on he left and a fish tank splitting the dining room from the diner's main dining room.  The Neptune Diner sports its own brand of coffee that other diners even purchase.  They also serve smaller more affordable meals which are popular with senior citizens or travelers who want to eat in as many diners as possible, on their road trips.


Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners #16-20

Five more diners to look at.  Lets start on Long Island.

The Moriches Bay Diner is located at 62 Montauk Hightway in Moriches. The diner is conveniently located to the west of the Moriches Bypass, a typical retail location after a bypass is put in.  I am unsure of the year of this diner, but it does sport a DeRaffele tag by the door.  One could guess it is a 1970s diner with a new roof and marble under the windows, or that it was built later in the 1980s or even 1990s as an environmental diner with more durable materials.  Either way, I remember the food being decent.

Betsy's Diner is a Mountain View located on Main Street in Falmouth, Massachusetts.  This diner came from Allentown, Pennsylvania around 1992.  My photo was taken on one of my two trips to the east side of the Cape.  Mountain View numbers their diners, and Betsy's is number #498.  Randy Garbin's book, "Diners of New England gives the diner high praises.  With the two handicap spaces in front, it is easier to get a good shot of the diner, but the bushes in front negate any chances for a good photo.

  In Waverly, Ohio, one can find the highly successful Diner 23.  Mike Corwin comes from a family of diner owners.  His father ran a small chain of Valentine diners in central Ohio, including one that was on the location of a former Mulholland in Marion, Ohio.  Mike was influential in getting other Starlites sold in southern Ohio.  His diner was the first built in 2000 and the 148th diner for Starlite, a former Florida based builder.  Diner 23 is known for good diner food and is also closed on Sundays.

The Fort Westbrookville Diner on US Rt 209 has been closed for quite a few years.  to make things worse, this Master diner was ran into by a car, whose front fender reaches the stools by the counter.   The diner is located in between Wurtsboro(NY Rt 17) and Port Jervis.  I have not been by this diner in probably 3-5 years, so I do not know the latest on the diner, but one would guess it is still lamenting.

  The Club Diner in Bellmawr is typical of many diners in New Jersey.  They get renovated often.  From their web site, the Club Diner started out as a horse drawn wagon, then was replaced by a Ward & Dickinson which was moved to Paulsboro.  A second diner was added for additional space.  The diner you see in this photo is from a 2006 remodeling.  I visited the diner on the Society for Commercial Archeology's southern New Jersey diner tour.  We did not eat at this diner, but it was packed, as seems to be the usual for these large diners on the weekends.

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

Diners 11-15

 The first diner is a 1970s Paramount on Upper Front Street in Binghamton.  The Spot is an iconic restaurant in the lore of Binghamton.  The restaurant started out as a stick built building in the 1950s on what was the outskirts of Binghamton.  Over the years, the area was built up, with the addition of Broome Community College to the vicinity.  The diner is pretty much original to the 1970s on the interior.

This 1970s DeRaffele has been remodeled over the years, as many Long Island diners have.  Not as extreme as others, this diner still sports a fair amount of bling and plenty of polished stone on the exterior.  The original diner from the late 1950s is now in Phoenicia, NY and goes by the name, Phoenicia Diner.  As with many long Island diners, this one sits on the busy Old Country Road.  And serves locals and shoppers alike. 

 The USA Diner is located on Merrick Blvd, Rosedale, which is a part of Queens.   The diner is not far from the start of Nassau County and also close to the Kennedy Airport.  Again, the diner sits on a well traveled road but is considered one of the minor traveling roads of the area.  With this in mind, the US gets more locals than many of the shopping area diners.  I have this diner listed as a DeRaffele that was remodeled in 1991.  Note the mix of stone and flaired out windows.  The style seems to be consistent with a remodeled diner, which seems to be the norm metro New York City.

Our next diner is the Silk City Diner of Philadelphia.  Not always the case, but this diner shares the name with the manufacturer of the diner.  This was a photo session with Glenn Wells of roadsidefans dot com.  The diner has mostly evening and late night hours as they are more of a Bar and Lounge that happens to use a diner as part of the space.  Fortunately, they do keep up the exterior of the diner.  The do have brunch on the weekend, but if you are looking for a simple diner meal, this may not be your place to go.

That darned pole gets in the way of a nice photo of a downtown Valentine in New Albany, Indiana.  Valentine diners, built in Kansas were by far more popular in the midwest.  This diner was sold to new ownership in the last two years and it is unknown if they have reopened.  Being a small diner, and allowing smoking for all these years has made an intense cleaning of the diner a necessity.  The interior sports very original fixtures, and when it reopens, is a perfect place to visit for diner fans.

ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency."
-Thanks to Bob Marville

Diners #6-10

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

 One of my all time favorite places to eat.  The Glider is such a popular place, that the diner has a much larger addition placed on the side and wrapping around the back of the diner.  The story goes that after WW2, two servicemen purchased a glider.  No, the glider was not used to build the diner, but the wood from the five crates which housed pieces of the glider were used to build the first diner.  This home made diner was replaced by a Mountain View diner that you see today.  Their food is excellent and is just one of many Mountain View diners to call the Lackawanna Valley home.  I could take up two pages extolling this diner, so make Scranton, PA a roadtrip in the near future.  If you like chicken Caesar salad, this is the place to go!

The Cutting Board in Fairfield, NJ is set up on the edge of a plaza shopping area.  Today it acts more like a deli, and has had the interior remodeled.  This was just a photographic stop, as the place was closed for the diner when I went by, on one of my earlier trips in New Jersey.  I am unsure of the make, so I hesitate to make a guess without ever being inside of this diner.  One photo of the diner shows a gutted diner with only the ceiling in original condition on the inside.

From Smyrna, Delaware. This diner was replaced by an onsite diner and was taken by Steve Harwin to Ohio in order to restore and resell this diner.  By the looks of what this diner looked like in this photograph, the diner needed some attention to bring it back to its former glory.  The diner was built by Paramount. I did not get to eat at this diner as I had just eaten at the Hollywood Diner up the road. 

The first Starlite on this list.  Starlite was a later model, lower priced "retro" diner built in Florida.  I have unofficially taken over the reins of documenting Starlites from John Shoaf. Somehow I am missing the story that tells of this diner moving into downtown Sioux City, SD, so even thought I believe this was elsewhere in the city, I can not guarantee it.  The current owners run this place like a sports pub slash restaurant.  In the summer there is ample seating outdoors and with their new entryway, getting a good photo is an impossibility.

Finally for today is a recent entry.  Another trip with Andrea L. to see the AIC YellowJackets play Sacred Heart in Bridgeport. This diner is on the old main road into downtown Bridgeport and is located in what is now a marginal neighborhood.  The diner acts as a place for the community to come together and serves typical diner food for a metropolitan area.   To the left of the door you can see a hint of a foundation on this Environmental styled diner sporting a mansard roof with terra cotta tiles.

Until next time I get a chance to post....

Diners #1-5

Here is the first random look at the diners that I have visited, five at a time.  Currently, I have visited 891 diners.

Disclaimer for all photos posted here: ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. These are copyrighted photos, and I own that copyright. My photos may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way, in any format, in any media without my written permission. Any other use will constitute an agreement to pay me (Michael Engle) $50.00 (US) per day/per image, plus a $200.00 (US) administrative fee per photo, plus any other money generated through the use of my images. I will bill you for this amount when I find my photos being used without my written permission. When you are billed, you will also be instructed to immediately return all physical image copies, delete all digital images, and delete all links to my photos. Even after you have returned and deleted the images, you must still pay me for the previous unauthorized use. Any bills unpaid after 60 days will be referred to a collection agency. (thank you to Bob Marville)

 The first diner has to be the Miss Troy Diner.  This is my favorite diner due to what it meant to me.  This is the closest a diner came to being a regular thing to me.  When the owners allowed this diner to be demolished, it was a sad day for me.  They didn't have to let it be demolished, there were people willing to run the place.  The diner was a Brill, remodeled by Swingle around 1969.  Swingle put on a fake mansard roof and a fake front and replaced the windows with the windows you see in this photo.  The diner had room only for a counter and tables for two.

The next diner I do not have a photograph of.  I either went to the Village Diner in Whitehall very early in my diner insanity or before that even existed.  Me and a friend Heather C. went to the diner one night for dinner.  I vaguely remember thinking there was not much of a diner in it, as it had an addition built on to it.  The diner was sold to the Sherburne Museum in Vermont, and after it languished up there, Dan Rundell picked up the pieces of the diner and used it to help him restore his diner in Spencertown, NY  So I guess the diner does still live on.  The diner turns out to be an old barrel roof O'Mahony.  I believe someone knows the number of the diner, but don't hold me on that.

The next diner is the Four Aces Diner in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, just across the border from Vermont.  After a few failed attempts at finding the diner open for the days business, the third time was the charm.  I believe I visited this diner with my friend Andrea L. and we both had really good food.  The interior of this Worcester Diner #837, built in 1952, is very well preserved while the front of the exterior is in view, with the rest of the diner encased in the surrounding building.   This is a later model Worcester that is well worth visiting.

 It was tough to get a good photo of this diner, but I passed this Manno diner, now a pizza place, on my way to yogi Berra stadium on the campus of Montclair State.   One wishes there were more of these smaller diners in the landscape.  The zig zag style is something that is vastly under appreciated except for the rabid diner fanatics.  I got a slice of pizza. It was decent, but it is not the same as if one could sit down and get a good breakfast at this place.  You can find this diner in Little Falls, NJ at the corner of East Main St. and Van Ness Ave.

We will end with a recent photo, at a place where you can not get a bite to eat, unless you brought some food in yourself.  Closed on a sunday, and it didn't matter, this diner in Warren, Ohio is now Agree Auto Sales.  I guess the diner is still there, but it is a shame this diner, on a main thoroughfare, is not serving hash and homefries and all that sort of breakfast fare.  The diner is believed to be a DeRaffele.