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In 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."
The 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.

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.
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.

Taking the Family Roadside into the Catskills for some R&R reveals a sad diner situation and a café for the... Read more

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Explore the Philadelphia's Mayfair section back in 1997 and how the once-great Mayfair Diner helped to bring about a revival... Read more
Five day road rip to Boston. Combining my two loves – boxing and diners – made for the near-perfect working... Read more

Rough Draft Roadtrip, Day 4 Here's the thing about GPS units. They only work if you actually listen to them. So,... Read more

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

Westfield, Massachusetts also known as the "Whip City" still has an architecturally intact downtown, and in the heart of it,... Read more
We interviewed Mr. Ed from Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum in Orrtanna, Pennsylvania in May 2002. We hoped to put together... Read more
Scott Kingley was kind enough to allow this embedding of his wonderful video vignette of the Liberty Elm Diner on... Read more
Despite consolidation, a 1930's-era regional dairy makes transition into 21st century intact "Gosh, they just like 'em all, you know?" That's how... Read more

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