nest and fried wontons with complete with a mysterious dunking sauce. Strictly speaking, adiner is a prefabricated food-service structure with counter service and tables. And some fan favoriteslike Burger Chef, G.D. Ritzy's, and Howard Johnson'sfell by the wayside. So why do I miss the dirty, second-rate downtown I grew up in? Jim Clark: You must be referring to Port Richmonds long-standing Aramingo Diner. Ask ANYONE who remembers. Palumbo's, 9/Catharine: Decent gravy joint, but the ambience was sooo 1950s. And so on. Formerly known as Mil-Lees Luv-In, the diner did indeed have something of a hippie vibe during that era with its love beads and trippy menu graphics. It was another amazing Paramount-built diner, similar to the Oak Lane. Ride Trains. The restaurants 2002 Within the Philadelphia city limits, if you want the true, blue-collar, meat-and-mashed experience inside the real McCoy of vintage American diners, staffed with seasoned, fast-talking, tough-but-tender, maternal waitresses, you will find it in exactly one place: Bobs Diner in Roxborough. Developers are breaking ground on skyscrapers. There is a broad variety of dishes, but not its not overwhelming. Ace Diner on Lancaster Avenue serves a good breakfast in a clean, but heavily renovated space. Du Bois (1868-1963) documented life in this densely packed neighborhood in his seminal 1899 study, The Philadelphia Negro. I want a good meal at a reasonable price, but I also want to connect with actual peoplestaff and customers. I also remember the great food in diners. My lastvisit did nothing to change that general impression. All things considered, one has to appreciate Stephen Starrs imaginative updating of The Continental. The diner offers a basic, no-frills menu. Next time Ill have to get the sauce on the side to be sure. At one time, the mere word diner meant among other things that it never closed. I ended up working in the factory after high school from 81 to around 84 and the diner was still going strong. Even though nations first automat restaurant made its debut in Sad. Bringing the spirit of the decade to life with quintessential . But theres something about the national retail chains, about the people in teal, about the loss of diners and movie theaters in all their sticky-floored glory that makes me feel Center City has edged a bit too far toward the post-Giuliani NYC model of moneyed, sterilized urbanity. The diner was likely built by either OMahony or Mountain View, but, except for the terrazzo floor, youll find almost no features that would indicate pedigree. Kyrie Irving added 40 and . You might take drugs. Modo MioClosed in: 2017Peter McAndrewss Modo Mio didnt feel like an Italian restaurant it felt like eating in Italy. The original porcelain panels with Oak Lane Diner painted on them survive underneath the brick. Huntingdon Valley (7 miles) Abington (7 miles) Jenkintown (8 miles) Feasterville Trevose (8 miles) Bensalem (9 miles) Glenside (11 miles) Willow Grove (11 miles) Pennsauken (11 miles) Southampton (12 miles) Moorestown (14 miles) Cherry Hill (15 miles) This was where we went to try new things to kiss, to reveal secrets, to drink, to smoke. $$. Find out more about his work and writings at www.randygarbin.com. That beautiful buildings courtyard was the kind of place you either avoided or walked through as quickly as possible, dodging mysterious puddles and smells, with soot or something like it crunching beneath your feet. In the city, diversity and relatively cheap real estate prices in many neighborhoods along with increasing demand for an authentic cultural experiences allowentrepreneurial restaurateurs to set up shop and flourish here. Both Olexy and Sikora have since gone on to better things: heowns conceptsin Wilmington and Kennett Square, and shesbecome an iconic restaurateurinPhilly. Turf, i.e. a diner is a prefabricated food-service structure. Airys continued revival. 2023 BygonelyPrivacy policyTerms of ServiceContact us. Required fields are marked *. Joe Palookas sports bar was to serve as one of several attractions in an ambitious heritage tourist development in Wilkes-Barre called Market Square that included the Lehigh Valley train depot, the Stegmaier brewery, a nightclub, and a collection of Pullman sleeper cars repurposed as a hotel. interested in a peak at early aughts dining, the restaurants Once the quarters were spent, or stolen, we could head over to Days Deli at 18th and Spruce to get fries. Hard core diner fans feel tingles up their inseams upon such discoveries. January 29, 2015. It is a bona fide, old-school diner in continuous operation since it opened in 1947. They live on in the form of dead Yelp pages and in our memories. Just for the nostalgia and reminiscing those good old days. Great article !! At the time, we felt our conversations were only a shade less sophisticated than My Dinner With Andre. The pillars around the fountain were chipping, like teeth losing their enamel. PhillyVoice Contributor, 6 great places to break up with someone in Philly, 5 Philly hoods you wouldnt have recognized 60 years ago, a particularly damning review from Craig Laban, Jason Kelce could make a 'Saturday Night Live' cameo with his brother Travis hosting, School District of Philadelphia to relocate Building 21 students following asbestos exposure, Eagles wide receiver Zach Pascal robbed at gunpoint in Maryland, Eli Lilly slashed insulin prices, starting a race to the bottom. McD's in Montreal used to as late as 1980 (and the Quarter Pounder could actually turn out medium rare ..)-bebopper. 1310 Drury Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. You see nothing from the outside, but walk through the door and the early 1950s Silk City in very original condition reveals itself. Check out this slice of life story from the World War II era, compliments of Curbed Philly. last May, no late night in Rittenhouse Square was complete without a trip to this This is a stock, late-1960s Fodero diner similar to Lancers Diner in Easton Road in Horsham. I maintain a very high regard for Bobs because it represents one of the last of a dying breed. Weinstein and his wife traveled all over the northeast checking on leads for available diners, settling on Palookas days if not hours before the dinersowner planned to bulldoze it. Levis Hot Dogs. In my high-school years, street crime was so commonplace that we hardly took note of it. Brunch: 12-3pm Dinner: 4-10pm Happy Hour: 4-6pm. The third being the current location at 1501 Snyder Ave. Did anyone mention STENTON DINER? MONDAY - FRIDAY. thriving dining scene. ET. I give the food here very high marks, and youll find items on the menu you dont expect to find in a traditional diner which always works for me. Although it didn't hold up against Chili's, TGI Fridays, and Applebee's, there was a time when it was fairly ubiquitous throughout the states. Greater Philadelphia. Children playing in the Art Museum fountains in August 1973. the end, hosting lavish breakfasts and brunches, power lunches and dinners Manage Settings Meme posted that she thought it was a place called DeDes and I believe that was the one I was thinking of. Northern Liberties was the land located north of the original 1682 boundary of Philadelphia and early purchasers of land in Philadelphia would also be granted a lot in Northern Liberties. Life unfolded there. Paul Devitt brought the Empire Diner concept to Philadelphia withhis first American Diner at 42nd and Chestnut Streets (see Kabobeesh) and then his reimagining ofthe Silk City Diner Bar & Lounge. The Red Robin Diner represents the transitional style of diners popular in the mid-to-late 1960s when stainless steel had lost its shine. Today, the Dining Car still keeps those traditional hours, but it attractscompany infewer and fewer numbers. Finally, I go because I know that, especially within a vintage diner, I will sit in a space of uniquely American quality, craftsmanship, ingenuity, and exuberance. Yet another Petrogiannis acquisition. Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password. We knew every corner of each others homes, including whose Rittenhouse Square rooftop made for the best water-balloon launching pad. Horn & Hardarts 54th & City Ave. | 818 Chestnut Red Robin on Frankford Avenue was well liked. There was always a lot of food and drink, and no one noticed the kids whod sneak in and out, grabbing rolled salami off of linen-draped deli trays. like something straight out of the Star Trek commissary. The eggs were so-so, the homefries were lame, and the bacon was the thinnest cut Id ever seen, it was literally transparent. Weinsteinand his then-partner Bob Elfant brainstormed an idea to bring a family-style restaurant to the former Roy Rogers location on Germantown. But problems with the logistics of the space and rent hikes got to be too much for the chef, whosstill got Paesanos, Monsu,and Heffe Tacos. Not a Philadelphia native, my first visits to the Melrose in 1991 left me bewildered by the citys reverence for the restaurant. Disingenuousness aside, the Melrose earned a reputation for its baked goods and sterling service. DNA evidence linked Herman Lee Hobbs to the August 1980 death of 21-year-old Holly Ann Campiglia, the Solano County Sheriff's Office said in a statement this week. If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. Sep 13, 2019 - Restaurants that I ate at as a child..most no longer exist. On Sun, 17 Sep 2000 19:33:55 -0400, Ruth Savitz Thank you meme. I also waitressed at Oak Lane Diner when I was in grad school in the late 70s (Hmm, tuition=extra money=diner job). A diner renovation nightmare in West Philly | Photo: Randy Garbin. Great photos on the wall. Beau Monde. Diners in center city that have vanished since 1990 I guess he wasnt here in 1976, when KAP the Bicentennial Kid tagged the Art Museum and the Liberty Bell. My grandfather, Peter, built the heritage diner and then my dad, Steve, changed it to Sophias Diner and Stacys Pub. Former St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chair Butch . Photograph by the Associated Press, SEPTAs Broad Street Line, as pictured in Philadelphia magazine in 1980. There was no single grown-up world, no monolith. I only ate there once and the food was so-so, but I had made the mistake of ordering from the dinner menu, when everyone knows the best food at any diner is breakfast food. From the looks of things, it has also seen several makeovers, the last one happening a year ago, making any effort to detect original features futile. Le Bec-Fin was a French restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that first opened in 1970.Owner and founder Georges Perrier named the restaurant after the French colloquialism for "fine palate". Thomas Hawk, Flickr // CC BY-NC 2.0. The old-school guys who built up these businesses now have kids with college degrees who dont see themselves working 18-hour days for two-percent margins. This roundup features what I believe to be the citys best and most significant examples of the the classic American diner. Finelli had two places, one on Tenth Street above Chestnut, and another on Chestnut east side of Broad. Retro restaurant enthusiasts might be familiar with The Pub, a salad bar PEOPLE OFTEN FEEL sorry for me because they assume Center City wasnt a real neighborhood. 1983 The Food Marketing Institute reports that 2/3 of all fish consumed in the U.S. is eaten in restaurants. Days Deli was my favorite, until it closed; the rumor was that someone affiliated with the restaurant had put the profits up his nose. It adjoined a convenience store, and in back were rows of booths where you could while away hours smoking cigarettes with Jasons, Jennifers and Michaels. But even with incredible eating options debuting on My favorite diners get creative, while still serving up the classics and preferably with fresh ingredients. | Photo: Randy Garbin. After closing Mm,chef-owner David Katz hasbeen a culinary director at Honeygrow and is now spearheading Capogiros nationwide expansion. Notably, the Big Greek Diner has become less and less Greek. http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-updated-7611752, You would be better served by using classic instead of real, Another great diner is 4 Seasons on Cottman and Blvd. Put a porch on your house. 182059211. Sad on both counts. I liked its gritty spirit. Eagle II You might expect to get dental work inside rather than a good breakfast. (215) 735-5562. Pepsi Joe's (AKA Happy Paradise) (10th, above Race). We were married for 27 years before he died too young of cancer. Long gone, now. The place had a well earned reputation for great food and friendly wait staff, and it was ruined, just like that. One of the first major restaurant chains, it went public in 1961 with 605 . ONE BOY WHO accompanied our Bellevue wanderings was the son of a South Street fortune-teller. | Photo: Randy Garbin. I was just starting to understand that Id have to become a grown-up, and I didnt really know what that meant. At Peter Dooner's one met the epicure element, les bon vivants of the town. Of those, around200 were built before 1965 and are still in original condition. Good soups and lunch. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. We love this, especially in the suburbs. Up until about 1996 the Penrose was a spectacular example of quasi-Googie diner styling. One of Philadelphia's most historic neighborhoods The History Northern Liberties is as old as Philadelphia itself, founded by Philadelphia's founder, William Penn in 1682. Also, I didnt have an omelet at the Oregon, but I can say with some authority after trying dozens of times in places just like these, the Big Greek Diner cant make a proper omelet to save their lives. pleasure of visiting the Queen Village location know that theres nothing Rating 15/20. Your email address will not be published. All-in-all, the Melrose still mostly looks and feels like the Melrose. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art in August 1973. A place that shows you what all the locals are about. Seen here in 1993 during a bus tour of the region's diners sponsored by the Society of Commercial Archeology, the sale of the 1940 Paramount attracted a great deal of interest, but ultimately no takers. Howard johnson's. Although younger generations may know of Howard Johnson's thanks to Mad Men, '70s kids will remember actually visiting the orange-roofed restaurant chain. Whether or not hes actually improved on any of them depends on who you ask. They were like little homemade chicken cutlets rather than obviously frozen fare that are like sinkers now. These days, the legend lived on in Abington, until just a few days ago. He gave me my first French kiss at the TLA, back when it was a movie theater that showed cartoons during the day, repertory film at night, and Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight. SEPTA PCC car 2710 (refurbished 1980) on Girard Ave. approaching Lancaster Ave., West Philadelphia, 1985 5 The Philadelphia Police Department was using both the mid-size Ford LTD and full-size Crown Victoria platforms at that time, Philadelphia, 1985 I used to work at the Ritz diner mainly as a busboy in the late 80s early nineties. until 2011. SATURDAY - SUNDAY. Its likely thatno other builder constructed more diners than Jerry OMahony. THERE WERE A PAIR of arcades on Chestnut Street between 15th and 17th: the dark, dirty Zounds, and the shiny new Supercade. I can say i have a lot of respect for these structures. Quaker Diner in Five Points on Rising Sun Avenue. Philly has been in the midst of a long-lived restaurant boom that shows no signs of slowing. Thank you so much. Boulevard Diner is now part of a car dealer. website lives in perpetuity. The family also owned Alexanders restaurant in Abington up the road. And at this haute moment, dining out is what passes for a night's entertainment. Four Seasons is a restaurant not a diner. The Kubach family, for whatever reason, apparently had a long-standing no photography policy in-or-outside of the diner. Since the 1950s, the Perloff family ran the Country Club in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood catering to its Jewish community. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Before Stephen Starr oversaw a national empire of more than 35 restaurants, Out of respect for the people who run and staff them, I never refer to diners as greasy spoons, but I revere any sign that the kitchen expresses a love of cooking. French Restaurants Continental Restaurants Restaurants. The last time I wandered in I found an angry looking man in a suit managing the place, and very scared looking waitstaff scurrying about everywhere. When my sister and I were kids, we always looked forward to a meal at Littletons. I dont want a Rittenhouse Square ringed by abandoned construction sites rather than beautiful hotels. chilled slices of melon for dessert. Someone must have noticed this, because Bobs signage highlights the proximity with the joke that dining there is a monumental experience. I was only passing through and didnt have time to stop, but the diner caught my eyemaybe it had something to do with the two giant billboards next to it? Philadelphia Fish & Co. 207 Chestnut. Youll find only three stainless steel diners in near-original condition (Trolley Car, Silk City, and Bobs Diner), and two more (Melrose and Mayfair Diner) with renovations that, while they could have been much worse, still stripped away classic features. 6. After its rise, fall, and rediscovery, the American diner may indeed serve up its last plate of meatloaf well within the lifetime of anyone born since 1980. In July 1928, 681 Cleveland restaurants were feeding an average of 300,000 people daily. In the case of the Broad Street Diner, they also replaced a shoddy vinyl awning that adorned the restaurantfor years. 9/Washington: The first Vietnamese restaurant in Philly, I believe (ca. Some great diners in S. Jersey. The end result should be a bright yellow, fluffy egg turnover that snugly blankets the filling. What is going on with this cemeterybillboards, a diner? Fond memories. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Only a couple of years later Swingle would close up shop, but Morozins request pushed diner manufacturers to fashion restaurants in various styles dictated by the often-dubious tastes of the operator. On Market Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, is a block of buildings in the Renaissance Revival Victorian style. There is alot of history to that piece of property. Bucks a must-win for Philly? Kids discussed open marriages in art class, and the 2000 block of Sansom Street was the bohemian center of the west-of-Broad universe, with head shops, cafes and clubs that leaked strains of poetry, jazz, disco, and the smoke of that natural plant. | Photo: Randy Garbin. And they did. You could come out boasting that your waitress was a thirty-year veteran which is no small thing in a business known for its employee turnover. A proper omelet is carefully fried in a well-seasoned aluminum pan with the filling folded in. Enjoying our content? The Domino Diner facts were about 99% correct with the exception of the operating name at its original location in Medford, Massachusetts. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Thank you. That would be so bad for me some 50 years later. Last summer, Kurt Vile played a concert in that now clean, bright courtyard, and I looked at the people in line at food trucks, friends meeting up and hugging each other, people dancing, and I thought, What the hell happened to this place? That courtyard has gone from 12 Monkeys to Frank Capra on Ecstasy. One thing remains the same, though: the rats. Stephen Starr converted a mid-1960s Fodero diner and appropriately swanked the joint up making it one of the citys best known martini lounges. 1. The story of Philadelphias finest French restaurant unraveled into The Frazer was built in the mid-1930s. MILLER III / File Photograph. In 2000, he openly declared that love when he slipped on its fingerone shiny gem in the form of a stainless-steel clad diner trucked in from Wilkes-Barre. Several Cambodian spots have filled the gap in the six years since Khmer Kitchen opened, but well always have a place in our hearts for this corner spot. About 6,000 were built; today, some 1,800 remain with roughly two thirds still in food-service operation. I like mostly everything, but when I come for breakfast I get the omelette simply because Ive yet to find another true diner in the region that makes them as perfectly as Bobs. Bringing together international flavors in a time before the term "fusion" had any culinary connotations, Frog and its casual counterpart, The https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/bitstream/handle/10066/13686/19471217_OCR.pdf?sequence=10&isAllowed=y, It was fondly known as the greasy spoon among the Villanova students: I remember a Frankford Ave in Mayfair in the 1980s and 90s full of really memorable shops like Joe's Butcher, Bredenbecks Bakery (spelling), Moes Deli, the Jock Shop, Mayfair Movies, Devon Theater, 5&10 store, DePalma's Bakery, Video Village, Seafood America, the clock store at Bleigh Ave, Mayfair Jewlers, McDonalds, Mayfair Madrid, a ton . Vetri, Philadelphia - photo by fougoo. The Commissary - in its orginal configuration. run as a restaurant and morphing into fast fashion optical retailer Warby The diner was built by Paramount and it still features the companys trademark wedding cake corners with the gazing ball ornament. I visited the site of the former Aramingo, and it looked like about the only thing left to it was the foundation, so I chose not to include it in this list. I may allow some slack for most diners, but, in my mind, a well-run diner must do two things perfectly every time: Coffee and home fries. From long-livedgreasy spoonsto concepts from hotshot chefswho flamed out, we'rerememberingthese much-loved spots taken from us too soon. https://foxchasereview.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img_1435.jpg, http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-updated-7611752, https://foxchasereview.wordpress.com/2015/04/26/quaker-diner-time-to-revisit-an-old-friend/, https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/bitstream/handle/10066/13686/19471217_OCR.pdf?sequence=10&isAllowed=y, https://m.facebook.com/lhapachapter/posts/memories-of-the-blu-comet-diner/3824830150954142/?locale=ne_NP&_rdr, https://www.facebook.com/lhapachapter/posts/3824830150954142. could hold a candle to the Old Original Bookbinders. Our friend came out with big news: There was a baggie of cocaine in the room. Not surprisingly, we saw movies constantly, and relied upon them as instructional manuals. looks like the Oak Lane died as well. Petrogiannis has also restored the the 24/7 hours of operation. Airys cedarbrook plaza. The diner, one of the anchors of the neighborhood, remains boarded up. This diner is a perfect example ofwhy you do not want to become a diner aficionado. Jose Garces might have had historical preservation in mind when he took
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