Golden arches to spread to retail
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that everyone's favorite evil empire may soon venture into selling more than just food. Given that 46 million customers a day visit more than 30,000 locations around the globe, it might make some sense to expand the scope. Given this country's insane addiction to shopping, a move into retail should make McDonald's shareholders downright giddy.
On the other hand, McDonald's got as big as it is through a relentless pursuit of simplicity. Still, we wonder now what took them so long to come to this idea.
In the WSJ article, McDonald's CFO is quoted as saying: "We need to think of ourselves as a retailer. What else can we do on that real estate and that can make us a whole lot of money?"
So far, the corporation has remained "super secretive" about its plans, but given its paltry revenue growth in the past five years, it obviously feels it needs to do something.
Springfield honors the good Doctor
Yesterday's Boston Globe reported that Springfield, Massachusetts will honor a native son with a sculpture garden. Dr. Seuss started life as Theodore Geisel, but after he graduated from high school, he left for Dartmouth College and a career as an illustrator in New York.
Still, according to the report, many of Geisel's found inspiration for his work in his experiences in his home town. Now, he will have himself inspired a new Dr. Seuss National Memorial.
Springfield has wisely managed to market its Dr. Seuss connection to the hilt. Like many other downtrodden northeastern industrial towns, this New England crossroads city has used its popular culture heritage to maximum advantage. Springfield has placed the new national memorial in a jewel of a space known as the Quadrangle, a public square bordered by two art museums, a Carnegie-donated library, a science museum, a historical museum, and a Victorian era Episcopal church.
The sculpture garden will include large figures representing Yertle the Turtle, Horton the elephant, the Grinch, the Lorax and others. Yertle stands on a ten-foot high stack of turtles.
This weekend, the city will host a series of events to commemorate the opening of the garden featuring parades, read-a-thons, and face painting. For more details, visit www.catinthehat.org.
Roadside recommends
We spent an inordinate amount of time this past weekend on the road in search of cool places. Here's a few of our finds:
Top: The Northvale Diner hearkens back to the days of bell-bottoms and Pet Rocks, while (above), the People's Pint refreshes the palate and warms the soul in downtown Greenfield, Mass.
It may sit off the beaten path, but the Northvale Diner in Northvale, New Jersey gives plenty of incentive to take a side trip well off the Interstate. Located in a quiet, bedroom community setting, this early 1970s Kullman does its best to remind patrons of its golden age roots, while retaining its Greek/Mediterranean splendor. Purists may quibble with the diner's style, but the food should keep them quiet. We've developed a growing appreciation for these places, because in the next ten years, enthusiasts will begin to notice their disappearance. We had an excellent pasta dish and an open hot turkey sandwich with a heap of roast turkey.
We've long wanted to feature the People's Pint in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and we still plan to better introduce you to this gem of a tavern. Having visited on numerous occasions, every time we take a sip of any of its fresh-brewed ales or a bite of its tasty menu choices, in its simple, comfortable, and smoke-free atmosphere, it further establishes itself as Roadside's favorite brew pub.
It's hard for us to overstate our affection for this place. While the trend has taken hold across the nation, the advent of the chain brewpub looms before us now. Some of these places, such as John Harvard's Brewery in New England or Iron Hill in southeastern Pennsylvania do serve very good ales and fine meals as well. However, this trend started with the little places founded by those with a passion for brewing and a healthy disgust for the homogeneity of the mass-marketed brands. The arrival of these pubs marked a new and welcome direction for the appreciation of real ale. On top of that, most of these pubs -- at least in the Northeast -- set up in downtown locations and helped to make their host cities destinations again. Though we have to acknowledge the inevitability of the "chain-ification" of brewpubs, we hope we'll always have places like the People's Pint to patronize. And we will if you keep giving them the business.
If you go, try the ESB. Find the People's Pint at 24 Federal Street Greenfield, Mass. Tel: (413) 773-0333. The Northvale Diner is on 247 Livingston Street, Northvale, New Jersey. Tel.: 201-767-6267.
Woonsocket to get Diner-Mited
Diner-Mite Diners, the diner building upstart based in Atlanta, Georgia will ship its second unit to New England soon. Several readers tipped us off to this story that first appeared in the Woonsocket Call that reported the intentions of developer Ray Roy to attach the diner to a planned new Holiday Inn hotel for the venerable Rhode Island mill town. Roy plans to call the diner the Blue Onion. Read the full report by clicking here.
USA Today names 10 motels
Last Friday, guests staying in the millions of bland hotel rooms in bland business hotel chains across the country awoke to find a copy of USA Today at their doors recommending ten interesting motels for their next road trip.
Many of these hotels, from the Hampton Inns to Guest Quarters leave USA Today as a freebies for their guests, and though we're somewhat grateful for the gesture, if I'm in Lansing, Michigan, I prefer to read about what's going on in Lansing. But I digress...
The author of the website www.motelamericana.com, Andy Wood, gave the paper the following top-10 picks for a cool roadside overnight:
Wigwam Village, Cave City, Ky.
Austin Motel, Austin
Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Munger Moss Motel, Lebanon, Mo.
Route 66 Motel, Barstow, Calif.
El Vado Motel, Albuquerque
South of the Border, Dillon, S.C.
Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, N.M.
Flamingo Motel, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Sandman Motel, Reno
On USA Today's website, you'll also read the comments accompanying these recommendations. If you have any experiences yourself with any of these motels, we'd love to hear about them here.
Read the USA Today article by clicking here.
May 19, 2002
Elephants with elevators
Today's Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Lucy the Margate Elephant must now comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Unfortunately, plans to make the 121-year-old zoomorphic structure compliant might also run afoul of the local communities zoning regulations governing ocean views.
Because an elevator into the elephant itself would essentially destroy the integrity of the landmark, architects have proposed expanding the existing gift shop to include a second story "ADA Interpretive Center" which would provide an alternative virtual tour of Lucy's innards.
According to the Save Lucy Committee:
Lucy's ADA Interpretive Center will bring Lucy the Elephant, the gift shop building, and adjacent connections around the site to the disabled population. The improvements consist of a two-story addition to the current two-story gift shop building, placement of accessible paths around the site, seating areas, and handicap ramps for access to the ADA Interpretive Center and Gift Shop.
Learn more about this landmark at their website www.lucytheelephant.org.
Take it from Joe
Intrepid Roadside Reporter Joe Manning wrote in with what sounds like a great tip from his recent travels:
Went to Four Leaf Clover restaurant on Route 5 in Bernardston -- just north of Greenfield. A lot of folks in Turners recommended this place. It's a typical roadside place, once a drive-in back in the 50s, now with two nonsmoking dining rooms and an L-shaped lunch counter where smoking is allowed. The dining rooms are pretty, sort of rustic looking. It's been in the same family since it opened in 1949. The food is superb and service and prices excellent. I had broiled salmon with rolls and two sides, and my wife had fish and chips. I had a tasty piece of chocolate cream pie and she had strawberry cheesecake. With coffee and soda, it came to $29.00. Nice menu, too. We ate at 4:30, which was smart. It was already crowded with the early bird senior citizens. When we left, there was a line out the door. We'll be going back soon. It's only a mile off Route 91.
Read Joe's profile of the Shady Glen Restaurant on this site and visit Joe's website at www.sevensteeples.com.
Downeaster sets another record
For all of Amtrak's woes, its new Downeaster train continues to be a bright spot for the beleaguered passenger rail service. According to the Boston Globe, the train carried 29,628 passengers in April, far exceeding expectations.
According to the article:
Thus far, the Downeaster has earned a total of $1.77 million in revenue. Cafe cars are having to be restocked sometimes twice in one trip. In addition, Amtrak officials are planning to add an additional car to each three-car train to help with the increasing demand.
Read the full article by clicking here.
Can this town be saved?
All across the midwest, small towns are dying. With fewer people willing to take up farming and various industries taking flight for cheaper economic climes, many of the heartland's communities have entered a perilous spiral of population shrinkage. Often, the only thing that remains in some of these places is the Wal-Mart out by the interstate exit.
Today's Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the troubles of Oxford Junction, Iowa, which has seen a population decline so precipitous, that it currently uses an old gas station with only 220 square feet for its city hall. Now numbering 573, O.J. has lost its stores, a chemical plant, a seed and fertilizer concern, and a poultry-and-egg concern. Oxford Junction experience reflects the larger statewide trend that has seen Iowa's farm population shrink from 917,000 in 1940 to 257,000 today.
To read the full report, click here.
Diners in transition
Some quick diner-related roundups:
Post card few of the Town 30 Diner in Canton, Ohio shows the diner in its original condition. Now it's for sale for $89,000.
The Corner Lunch in Worcester closed up again, barely a month after reopening. No word on why Michael Rinaldo couldn't make it go.
George's Diner in Canton, Ohio must make way for a road widening. This Kullman "Princess" model looks to be in pretty good shape. Details can be found on our Diner for Sale listing. (Thanks to Brian Butko)
El Faro also formerly known as the Top Hat Diner and half a dozen other names during its tortured existence in Providence has been removed and put in storage by a preservation group in that city. Kullman built this "Challenger" model in 1947. The birthplace of the diner now only has three left in operation, the Seaplane, the Prairie, and Haven Brothers.
May 14, 2002
Country Club cited for excellence
The Country Club Din-(ahem) Restaurant in Philadelphia always impressed us with its scale and its quality of product. Though we bristle at its latest attempts to shake its "diner" heritage and call itself simply a "restaurant," it can't escape the fact that in 1968, Fodero DINERS built the sprawling structure for the Perloff family. It's prefab. It was built in New Jersey. It has a counter. It's a diner.
This gripe aside, we'd like to send our congratulations to the Perloffs for the rave review the Country Club received in last week's Inquirer Magazine. Reviewer Craig LaBan bestowed a rare three bells citing its blintzes, matzo ball soup, potato pancakes, meat loaf, and clown sundae.
LaBan writes:
In a region at risk of losing its chreished diner culture, this Northeast [Philly] institution is a stadar-bearer of excellence, from the friendly old-time servers to the uotsanding menu noted for its quality ingredients and wonderful Jewish comfort food.
LaBan also notes that the Perloffs have recently hired a new chef, Marco Carrozza, formerly of Marco's in Old City.
In a side bar, LaBan also kindly praises Mustache Bill's Diner in Barnegat Light, New Jersey; the Mayfair Diner in Philadelphia; and the Melrose Diner also in Philly. LaBan's reviews can be accessed at www.philly.com.
No comment
"Stop local government from using eminent domain law to take private property (outside their municipality) to build a municipal golf course and golf related facilities. And stop the threat of eminent domain law to be used to build other businesses (bowling alley, restaurant, ice rink, theater, batting cages, go-carts, hotel, conference center, boat, canoeing, and rock climbing). Help save our farm and fight future eminent domain abuse."
Learn more at www.saveourfarm.com.
Okay, one comment: We oppose in no uncertain terms the use of emminent domain to transfer, grant, or sell property to another individual or private concern, or to develop it for any purpose outside of an absolutely vital civic use. The attempts by the City of Coatesville, Pennsylvania to take a family farm and turn it into a golf course and entertainment complex represents a grevious threat to the liberties protected by our Constitution.
The Trolley Car Diner makes a breakfast that's hard to beat. The owners also get high marks for that amazing neon sign that begs to be seen at night.
May 7, 2002
Trolley Car rings our bell
Wilke-Barre's loss brought great gains to the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. We first visited Mountain View #315 when it was still called Palooka's Diner, but it never became a place we could rave about to our readers. Now, as the Trolley Car Diner, we can't praise it enough.
From the late 1980s to about 1999, the diner served as an anchor of sorts to an overly ambitious scheme to turn a former rail yard into a tourist attraction, complete with a collection of old Pullman cars lined up and fashioned into a hotel. The diner sat on the site's most prominent corner, but a succession of owners and the cool neon sign of Joe Palooka himself failed to attract the necessary business.
Then by 2000, Ken Weinstein, owner of a charming little restaurant called the Cresheim Cottage Cafe on Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy purchased the diner and moved it just down the road near a railroad crossing where an Arby's once stood. Ken had the diner attached to the original Arby's structure and proceeded to renovate the entire place in the classic fashion of the Mountain View itself.
On a series of visits starting from last year, we came away with a very favorable impression that Ken had found the right formula to make the venerable diner hum again. This past weekend, we had a breakfast that firmly places the Trolley Car Diner in the "don't miss" category. Omelets came large and well prepared with fresh vegetables, and we thought the home fries had exactly the right texture and amount of crispiness.
Find the Trolley Car at 7619 Germantown Ave in Philadelphia. Call (215) 753-1500 for more info and directions.
This lucky traveler takes a ride on one of the items in Mr. Ed's extensive collection of elephants.
Summer issue preview:
Lincoln Highway highlight
We briefly mentioned Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum and Gift Shop in issue 19 of Roadside, a place we discovered on our way out to Michigan for our first visit to Dinerland. Ever since, we hoped to return soon and bring to our readers the charms of this classic roadside attraction made even more classic by its location on the Lincoln Highway.
Mr. Ed's has a collection of over 6,000 elephant figurines, posters, and other collectibles in a tidy building market by Miss Ellie Phunt, an 8 foot fiberglass mechanical elephant Mr. Ed purchased from a closing Cincinnati amusement park.
We'll tell you more about our visit in Issue 3 of By The Way, but in the meantime, stop by Mr. Ed's website at www.mistereds.com, and tell him By The Way sent you!
Unadilla to reopen next week
Several readers have informed us that the Unadilla Diner in pastoral Unadilla, New York should reopen on May 15. New owner Dennis Moseman has taken over the diner, closed since the end of 1999. According to reports, both in the newspapers and from devoted reader Mike Engle, the town can hardly wait. Unadilla typifies your classic small town with its slower pace of life and down-home attitudes. The closing of the diner deprived Unadilla of its unofficial town hall, a role served by diners and luncheonettes across the country. We wish Dennis the best of luck and promise to visit soon.
To former Roadside subscribers:
We have received word from one former Roadside subscriber that Ball Publishing has returned an uncashed subscription check sent in April 2000(!). Whether or not this means that the company has begun to issue refunds remains unknown, but the letter claims that Coffee Cup Publishing (our former moniker) remains the property of Burpee Seeds of Warminster, Pennsylvania.
All gone... Ted's Diner ca. 1996.
May 1, 2002
Town demolishes diner
Ted, we hardly knew ye. The reports have just come in that the town of Milford, Massachusetts moved forward with their plans to demolish Ted's Diner, a rare 1920s vintage O'Mahony that stood on Main Street for much of its existence. Unable to find a use quickly enough, the diner fell victim to vandals as it sat in an open field. Reports claimed that it didn't take much to push the structure over, leaving little, if anything, to salvage.
But in the immortal words of preservationists everywhere, at least we have a picture.
Conversation with Gordon
Earlier this week, we had breakfast with Gordon Tindall, the owner and restorer of the Red Rose Diner, a 1920s Tierney formerly known as the Lackawanna Trail Diner in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. While following the Clarksville Diner on its way to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey after its sale to a French television network, Gordon learned that this tired but well-preserved gem needed a new home, so he picked it up and proceeded to fix it up.
Perhaps Gordon had put the lunch cart before the horse, but he took the very risky step of purchasing a diner without first securing a location for its installation. Gordon told us that he has visited nearly every town in Pennsylvania and many in New York in search of a sliver of land to place this beautifully restored gem. In Carlisle, Gordon found himself confronting local merchants who felt the diner was not needed. Though armed with letters from noted historians such as Richard Gutman, Brian Butko and others, Gordon was not allowed to read them at hearings because despite their reputations, they weren't from Carlisle.
The Red Rose awaits a new home.
At one point, Gordon explained, he considered trying to set the diner up in Centralia, the site of the lingering coal mine fires that forced the state to clear out all its residents. "I new there'd be no one there to oppose me then!"
Now Gordon's prospects of setting up in Bethlehem (as previously reported here) look bleak. Again, the surrounding restaurant owners have spoken up in opposition with the red herring argument that the city would unfairly give away "green space' to accommodate the diner. In actuality, Gordon seeks to lease a lot barely large enough for a 24-seat diner with an option to buy. Green by virtue of only a small patch of lawn, the location abuts a railroad line that Norfolk Southern seeks to abandon.
We share in Gordon's frustration, but his story hardly surprises us. In these situations, a business proposal quickly becomes a political situation, and Gordon desperately needs to garner allies. He claims that the president of Lehigh University and the head of the South Bethlehem Main Street Program both support this plan. In order to succeed, he needs to rally the troops and prevent another situation where it's him against an ignorant mob.
You'll be hard pressed to find better ice cream than you will find here at the Caffe Gelato in Newark, Delaware.
In Delaware, we scream for Gelato's
Newark (pronounced noo-ark) Delaware looks and feels like many typical college towns, meaning that these locales often serve as the last bastions for real Main Street activity. Indeed, Newark's diner, the Korner Diner, occupies a very prominent spot on Main Street. Though this diner provided the reason to make this drive, the real find here lay just up the road a ways in a place called the Caffe Gelato. Though it looks like a handsome little Italian bistro, we were initially drawn to it because of the big sign that claimed it served its own homemade ice cream.
Inside, the Caffe welcomes the lucky patron with a dazzling array of fresh made ice cream, and the friendly staff immediately offered samples. One small taste of the espresso ice cream, and I had attained a creamy nirvana. After the espresso, I tried the peach, and the flavor seemed to explode across my tongue. Finally settling on the old classic, chocolate, I devoured the stuff, proclaiming this ice cream firmly within the top ten best I've ever tried. We give the Caffe Gelato our highest praises, and that's only for the ice cream. It's likely the rest of the menu will live up to the expectations set by this dessert, but that will have to wait for another visit.
Meanwhile, we didn't add the Korner Diner to our list of 500 simply because of the unwelcoming odor of stale cigarettes in the diner's vestibule. For coffee and a fresh piece of pie, try Brewed Awakenings a few doors down from Gelato's.