Diners #111-115

Five more diners.

Occasionally, chains take over diners.  Often the diner is totally buggered up.  Fortunately, the franchise owner of this Subway has fought the corporate honchos and requested this former diner to stay as original as possible.  The inside has been changed; no counter, but the ceiling is original, and one day, who knows, maybe someone will rebuild a counter and bring back the diner days.  The only bad news is that the diner isn't in the best of neighborhoods, which usually isn't good for independent businesses.  This is a Mountain View diner, as they were aggressive in Indiana in the 1950s

A Worcester diner in Portland, Maine.  The Miss Portland was recently moved and an addition dining room and kitchen etc was added to the diner.  The diner is also surrounded by some new development.  Fortunately, the interior and exterior of this diner is in good shape.  I was only here once.  The diner was at its first location from 1949 to 1964. The diner stayed at its next location until 2004 when it was donated to the city of Portland, which ensured its safety.  The diner was sold in 2007 and moved to its current location in 2008.

Mel's Diner in Fremont sits right off of a four land limited assess highway which is known as US Rt 30.  Mel's is actually the second Starlite diner in Fremont as there is another one off of a different exit.  This diner started out in Jacksonville, Illinois as the Rocket Diner and then moved to Carter Lake, Iowa, a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska before moving to Fremont.

The Landmark Diner in Ossining, New York was remodeled by DeRaffele in a post modern style.  I do not know any of the diner's history, so I can not tell you how old this diner is, but it does seem to have a 1970's environmental diner footprint.  Ossining was home to a Bixler diner in the 1930s.  This diner sits on busy US Rt 9 between Peekskill and the Tappan Zee Bridge.  DeRaffele remodeled a handful of diners in their typical retro style with plenty of right angles.

There are two trolley diners in Chatham, Virginia, a little village on US RT 29 almost into North Carolina.  This streetcar from Reidsville, North Carolina was brought to Chatham in 1937 and operated by the same owner until the 1970s.  It operated for a short time in the 1980s, but has sat idle since that time.  Fortunately it is historically recognized for its significance to the community.  Today, the diner is registered on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.  It would be nice to see the diner working once again, but hopefully at the very least, it will be preserved.


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 #106-110

Wow, a new post and it's not too long since the last.  Lets keep this up!  No trips in the immediate future planned, but I do want to some time get down to northern New Jersey and get to the Miss America Diner.   God willing, in a month or so, I am headed to Minnesota, and will get to visit some great diners along the way.  A restored Suzie Q's in Mason City, Iowa.  and the famed Spud Boy Lunch in Lanesboro, Minnesota.  Plus a new diner for me in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin which will have me once again completing all the diners of Wisconsin!

This diner, the Miss Wakefield Diner in eastern New Hampshire originally lived just outside of Rensselaer, New York on US Rt 9.  The diner was owned by the Carpinello family before they sold the diner and it was trucked to New Hampshire.  I have not eaten here yet, as I have been distracted by too many other diners along the way.   This O'Mahony started out in 1949 and moved shortly after closing up in 1981.  They are not open for dinner, which does complicate things for me.

The Aero Diner in Willimantic, Connecticut has also moved around.  Their website tells about the two other locations in Connecticut, and how the diner needed a lot of restoration, which seems to be a similar story.  The diner was only one of two diners built by Bramson Engineering of Long Island, New York.  Mario Monti believes the other stayed on the island.  This diner sits by the Windham Airport on the famous US Rt 6, a popular coast to coast highway.  So far, the Aero is a popular place.

A rare Valentine diner on the east coast, it is one of four still left standing in Virginia.  Stone's Downtown diner sits in Hopewell, Virginia.  At the time of my one visit, the diner was open, and I was able to eat here.  I did hear that currently the diner is closed and the owners are just doing catering.  This Valentine diner is in very good condition and does seem to sit in a safe location, as it is off of main street.  I do not know any of the history of this diner, but Valentines are one of the easiest diners to move.

My first diner in Maryland that I have posted to this blog.  A rare Comac sits in Laurel, Maryland on US Rt 1, across the street from a former Little Tavern restaurant.  The Tastee diners are a chain of three diners in the northern suburbs of Washington D.C.  This diner is the youngest of the three.  I think I have only been here once, back in 2008, but somehow I feel like I have been there twice.  Comac made diners from roughly 1947 to 1951, so this was a short lived company.  The diner is in fair shape and sports a weathered Comac tag.

Clayton, North Carolina is where we will end this trip.  The diner sits on the Business route of US Rt 70 in front of a shopping center.  The diner is built by Diner Mite diners, and seeing some of the other diners, this is one of their better diners. The foyer does add something to the view, even if it does not add any color to the facade of the diner.  There are a few Diner mites in North Carolina as a few restaurant owners have tried to take advantage of the diner fad of the 1990s in the mid-Atlantic. This photo was from my only visit.


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 #101-105

It's been a long long long time.  No new diners have been visited.  Both chances to get up to the New Hampshire/Maine area were failures due to weather and health related issues.

So where have I been lately, diner wise.   Here is the last diner I have visited in recent times.

Johnny B's Diner in Glenmont, just south of Albany on US Rt 9W is a late model Silk City Diner that is a replacement for an older diner which burnt down.  Johnny B's will be celebrating 10 years this year.   The owner has done some consistently good stuff with the diner, and it is a must visit for a nice diner breakfast.  The interior is pristine, but does sport a lot of knick knacks.  Some diner purists are not fond of them, but for many others, they add to the flair and the image of each diner being individualized.  When in Albany, there are far too many good choices for diners to visit, and here is one of them.

The Pleasantville Colonial Diner sits in Pleasantville, home of Readers Digest.  The diner sits on a corner in the downtown square and has been the site of a diner since the early 1930s.  The first diner here was a Bixler, which was followed by an O'Mahony diner around 1950.  That O'Mahony was replaced by the current DeRaffele.  There is not much stainless steel, and really there is not much colonial architecture.  Inside is classic postmodern DeRaffele from the late 1990s.A few touches of stainless and formica to make note of the place being a diner.

Skip's Blue Moon Diner in Gardiner, Massachusetts is your typical barrel roof Worcester Diner.  It's just in good condition.  Fortunately many of them are, but just as many are not.  Skips serves breakfast and lunch, like most New England diners are relegated to by the stomachs of New Englanders.  You can't go wrong at Skips. and you can't go wrong in a Worcester diner.  Nothing fancy, just a simple diner with simple diner food.

The Kennett Square Diner is a 1920s O'Mahony Diner.  The diner sits in front of a creek on old US Rt 30 in Pennsylvania.  The diner was closed both times I have passed it so I have yet to eat at the place.  Even though it is on the old highway, it still can be quite busy as it is not too far outside of Philadelphia.

I have less to add about the Ragin Cajun Diner on the north side of Hartford, Connecticut.  I have not eaten here yet, though I have been by the area far too many times to have not eaten here.  Hopefully this upcoming winter I will make time to partake in a meal at the Ragin.  The diner is a classic Paramount diner from the 1940s, but I am not too sure how original the interior of the place is looking these days.  Though, the outside does still look nice, so you never know.


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)