Eater has rolled out a multi-article section on diners - looks like all articles are on this page, and if you scroll down the collection is grouped by region:
5 Likes
They really hate the Midwest 
Not sure what happened when they were young.
2 Likes
In L.A. Norm’s, Rae’s, and Pann’s are all great. Mel’s… not so much.
1 Like
OMG. The Bendix Diner on Rte. 17 in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ! Was there YEARS AGO as a senior in HS.
They missed out on so many diner car diners in the MA area, like the Agawam Diner in Rowley, MA.
3 Likes
FTA:
Okay, so this is probably blasphemous, but as a New Yorker, when I was asked to think of the best diners in Texas, my gut response was, “There are none.” But when I sat down to really think about it (especially as I near my 10-years-in-Austin anniversary), I realized that there is only one true answer for Texas: the legendary Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop.
…in Austin.
Way to do your research carpetbagger.
3 Likes
I was just in NJ, where I grew up, for a family event. I can’t tell you how happy it made me to go to one diner for breakfast (Sweet Lew’s in Freehold) and another one for dinner (All Seasons II in Manalapan). The 2nd one was EXACTLY my Jersey diner archetype–all-day breakfast, enormous menu, a case for the mile-high pies and cakes, etc. etc.–and the 1st one had those breakfast specials that include juice and coffee, which no breakfast place in the Bay Area seems to have.
7 Likes
I love the Phoenicia Diner, but it’s not really a diner. It’s a restaurant in a dining car. And Golden Diner is a “diner.” That I don’t love.
1 Like
i frequented this one growing up and it definitely hit on those archetypal characteristics that you note. some of the more greasy spoon diners didn’t have reliable food beyond breakfast, and that was certainly the case with this one IMO. but breakfast at 1AM, why not? always worked for me. the one thing i would add to the archetype was Greek ownership. but i’m sure there’s more diversity of ownership now. looks like it’s still in business and the menu is monumental: https://www.hightstowndiner.online/menu
3 Likes
My two faves growing up:
4 Likes
1 Like
Calling something a “diner” doesn’t make it a diner. In my view, a critical criterion for a diner is that it be open 24 hours. Failing that it needs to be open late enough for a late night/early morning after going out too late meal. That’s the whole point of a diner. A place that serves food at a time that isn’t a regular meal hour. When most normal people are doing something else like sleeping. Many on the list fail. A place that closes at 10 isn’t a dinner but a run of the mill restaurant.
2 Likes
With all respect, that’s an extreme east coast view.
Lots of areas don’t have the population or the jobs to support 24 hour places.
This is reminiscent of the arguments we used to have on the old Roadfood.
Good times!
2 Likes
I look at a diner as a place where there are booths for seating as well as a long counter with fixed stools overlooking the open kitchen. MAJOR bonus points if they’re in an actual modified railroad car.
You get can get breakfast almost all day if they’re open that long; OR it opens early for breakfast just into the lunch time, then closes. The waitstaff (usually women) have been there for decades, call you “hon” or “sweetie”, refill your coffee cup without asking, they know all the regulars including what they usually order, and they get you in and out of there in a short period of time.
Then there are what I call truck stop diners, usually right off a highway, and has all of the above, but food is available all day/night, as you noted.
4 Likes
I’m good with that as diners started in the northeast. The essential DNA until unfortunate mutations happened. lol
3 Likes
Is anyone familiar with a popular “diner” near Lake Tahoe? I seem to recall it was in Truckee, and you couldn’t miss it, at least if you took the route we usually took. I know that’s not much to go on, but we always went a few times a year, and I can’t believe I can’t remember the name! We haven’t been since our kids went to college many years ago, and I’m not sure it’s still there.
Triple D may have visited, so maybe I can search with that.
1 Like
Is this the place?
Jax at the Tracks
2 Likes
Thanks! I found that one, and I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my family.
ETA I just looked at some pictures and I think that’s it! I don’t remember the Jax at the Trax part. I think we called it the Truckee Diner.
2 Likes
Sadly, the pandemic put an end to all our 24 hour diners, as far as I can tell. Closing hours for them all now range from 9pm (!) to 12 or 1 am on the weekends only.
2 Likes
There’s always Tom’s Diner
And, of course, Tom’s Diner with cats
Edited to add the lyrics:
I am sitting in the morning
At the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter
For the man to pour the coffee
And he fills it only halfway
And before I even argue
He is looking out the window
At somebody coming in
“It is always nice to see you”
Says the man behind the counter
To the woman who has come in
She is shaking her umbrella
And I look the other way
As they are kissing their hellos
And I’m pretending not to see them
And instead I pour the milk
I open up the paper
There’s a story of an actor
Who had died while he was drinking
It was no one I had heard of
And I’m turning to the horoscope
And looking for the funnies
When I’m feeling someone watching me
And so I raise my head
There’s a woman on the outside
Looking inside, does she see me?
No, she does not really see me
'Cause she sees her own reflection
And I’m trying not to notice
That she’s hitching up her skirt
And while she’s straightening her stockings
Her hair has gotten wet
Oh, this rain, it will continue
Through the morning as I’m listening
To the bells of the cathedral
I am thinking of your voice
And of the midnight picnic once upon a time
Before the rain began…
And I finish up my coffee
And it’s time to catch the train
Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da
2 Likes
