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Lou-Roc Award: Dolts deep-six Deepwater Diner

deepwater2012extIn what reality is a plain white stucco box more attractive than finely-crafted, streamlined stainless steel?

Roadside first published more than twenty years ago. The Lou-Roc award debuted about two years later. The grapevine revealed to me a few years after that the term transformed into a verb — as in, "I won't lou-roc my diner."

deepwater1995The Deepwater Diner as it appeared in 1997.

All along the way, this publication and many others have spread the good word that diners offer both good food and a dynamic restaurant concept for entrepreneurs. People like diners. Actually, they love them. They feel good just to see them around.

Read more: Lou-Roc Award: Dolts deep-six Deepwater Diner

Skee's Diner slow destruction

skeesrotting

Closed since 2001, Skee's Diner has fallen victim to time, weather, greed, and now idiocy. Slated to be "restored" and moved to a parking lot nearby, the 90-year-old diner has gone from a minor to a seriously major restoration project thanks to stupid neglect.

It would take four guys and a six-wheeler flatbed and about six hours to lift and cart away this rare antique structure, but instead its owner Joanne Ryan goes about seeking to raise a half-million dollars to realize her ill-conceived idea to plant this diner in a remote parking lot to serve as a visitor information dispensary. 

Ms. Ryan, move this diner NOW! There is no excuse for this travesty. 

Read more: Skee's Diner slow destruction

New photos: Broad Street Diner, Philadelphia

broadstreetdiner


My first exploration of Philadelphia occurred well over twenty years ago, and the Broad Street Diner was one of the first diners I personally documented. However, for whatever reason, it became just last week the last one I finally visited. Sadly, I got in there after Michael Petrogiannis completed his renovations to the diner.

Mainstream America might appreciate all the modern touches, but I know from peering inside during the three years it remained shuttered that this mid-1960s Fodero still had most of its original features. "Could be worse, I suppose" is the new mantra of those such as myself who fully appreciate diners as perfect food service structures. A good cleaning would have been enough, in my estimation, but so be it. 

Petrogiannis also owns the Mayfair, Melrose, Country Club, Tiffany, and Warminster West diners in and around the city making him the undisputed diner king of the Delaware Valley. I can fault him for his aethetic sensibilities and his needless changes to iconic diners, but can't find much fault in the food or service, not for diners of this scale in this region. 

Read more: New photos: Broad Street Diner, Philadelphia

More Articles...

  1. New photos: Four Sisters Owl Diner
  2. The Cap City closes
  3. Burlington's Taco Hell

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Riding Shotgun

Diner Finder Updates

Miss Washington Diner
Miss Washington Diner
Name: Miss Washington Diner
State: CT
Jigger's Diner
Jigger's Diner
Name: Jigger's Diner
State: RI
Garfield Diner
Garfield Diner
Name: Garfield Diner
State: PA
Saratoga Diner and...
Saratoga Diner and Restaurant
Name: Saratoga Diner and Restaurant
State: NY
Talk of the Town Diner
Talk of the Town Diner
Name: Talk of the Town Diner
State: NJ
Show more...

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Roadside Wire

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Miss Albany closes -- Diner in danger

02-03-2012

Miss Albany closes -- Diner in danger

Fans of the now former Miss Albany Diner or of diners in general will not be happy about this news.... Read more

Chagrin Falls shows soft heart for its hardware store

01-29-2012

Chagrin Falls shows soft heart for its hardware store

Who says that the internet hasn't helped the local business? It's all in how you use it.  In the Era of... Read more

Hollywood to theaters: Upgrade or die

01-26-2012

As if small, independent and historic theaters have enough to worry about. Soon they won't even have any films to... Read more

Classic downtown theater preserved and repurposed

01-24-2012

Classic downtown theater preserved and repurposed

When one thinks of Los Angeles, the notion of a traditional downtown isn't the first image to come to mind.... Read more

Pittsfield diner stays in the family

01-17-2012

Pittsfield diner stays in the family

Good to see this diner stalwart still going strong. 55 years later, Pittsfield diner is still all in the family By Dick... Read more

Libby's goes Greek

01-17-2012

Libby's goes Greek

Would it be too much to ask that the new owners simply preserve this rare Worcester diner and keep it... Read more

New hardware for Amtrak

01-13-2012

For all the money that Congress and the President tossed around since 2009, you'd think Amtrak would have all-new-everything by... Read more

Single screens reviving in traditional neighborhoods

01-13-2012

Single screens reviving in traditional neighborhoods

It's worth mentioning that The Cinema on Clinton Avenue sits right across the street from the fantastic Highland Park Diner... Read more

Washington Post ten years late to our Pittsburgh party

01-06-2012

Washington Post ten years late to our Pittsburgh party

The Washington Post declares Pittsburgh hip. Welcome to the party, Post. We called this one over ten years ago. We've... Read more

Experts discuss Amtrak's prospects for profit

01-06-2012

The folks over at Freakonomics (which has a podcast I listen to almost religiously) have weighed in on the prospects... Read more

Diners are Everywhere!

0282 DinerFinderCover2012-02

The Diner Finder 2012 edition is now available at Lulu.com. Full color listing of nearly 2000 diners from around the world. Order yours today!

Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu.

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Another site upgrade

Visitors will notice some subtle changes to the site since Monday night. Because the upgrade and redesign that I implemented last November didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, I opted to start from scratch instead. Two months later, the site looks pretty solid so far, and had the added bonus of a new, easier-to-use system for our Riding Shotgun bloggers. 

We hope that you can now use the site without any further technical issues. If you do, by all means, write me immediately and let This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Feature Stories

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Pittsburgh: Third place victorious

Pittsburgh: Third place victorious

The Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century by Brian O'NeillCarnegie-Mellon University PressPittsburgh, PA. $16.95 Back in 2001, right after... Read more

Into the Land of the Large

Into the Land of the Large

Rough Draft Roadtrip, Sixth Day North of Cave City along Route 31E, you will find plenty of pleasant scenic countryside, but... Read more

My Nashville Pilgrimage - Intro

Let the record show that I, Randy Garbin, publisher of Roadside Magazine and RoadsideOnline.com, two of the finest documents of... Read more

Yankee Diner inspires ‘Currymania’

Yankee Diner inspires ‘Currymania’

Update: The Yankee Diner closed in the fall of 2010 and reopened in January, 2011 with new ownership. We understand... Read more

Two breakfasts, two wrong turns, and too many Rout…

Rough Draft Roadtrip, Third day  Gotta keep it short tonight. I got in late, and after two pints of McSorley's at... Read more

Charlie's Reopens!

    Kicked off its long-time location by a greedy landlord, Charlie's Diner sat on blocks for three years as owner... Read more

Frank's Way or the Highway

Frank's Way or the Highway

Franklin Davis and his wife Linda run a tight ship at their Jessup, Maryland, diner. Maintaining Frank’s Diner, a 1959... Read more

Customer pays bill with loving video tribute

Customer pays bill with loving video tribute

It's a rather dizzying tour of Daddypop's Tumble Inn Diner in Claremont, New Hampshire, but if you want to see... Read more

Worcester Deluxe 101

Worcester Deluxe 101

Update, July 2011: This story actually has a happy ending. In 2007, Chris Blanchard purchased the Worcester Deluxe 101 from... Read more

Buffalo to Butler: Birthdays, Baseball, and Buggie…

Buffalo to Butler: Birthdays, Baseball, and Buggies

Arcade Restaurant in Titusville, Pennsylvania — one of several stops on our road trip from Grand Island, New York to... Read more

Hot Roast Beef with Mashed

Hot Roast Beef with Mashed

Nostalgia can take you back, but it can’t take you all the way back. Not in Salem, Illinois. They tore... Read more

A1 Diner: Real Food, Recipes, & Recollections

A1 Diner: Real Food, Recipes, & Recollections

by Sarah Rolph Tilbury House Publishers, Gardiner, MaineSoft cover, 120 pages, $20.00 In A1 Diner, Sarah Rolph compiles the best recipes from... Read more

Atlantic City Gamble: A fine idea on paper

Atlantic City Gamble: A fine idea on paper

Every Father's Day, I like to take my daughter on a train ride. This year I had the bright idea... Read more

My Brothers' Place: The New Lord of the Rings

My Brothers' Place: The New Lord of the Rings

Onion rings. Thanks to some genius, most places now serve those awful, bloated, pillow-like "beer-battered" onion rings. Everywhere from Applebee's... Read more

Gotta Get Goetta

Gotta Get Goetta

Rough Draft Roadtrip, Seventh Day Try as I may, I could not seem to tune in WKRP. No matter, after another... Read more