Everybody has a favorite and an opinion about what you should order. Here’s to the ones we miss and the ones still pouring coffee.
Stories worth reading. Stop indexing the internet.
A Field Guide to the True American Diner
“Hello, I am an American from New Jersey and I care about diners.” [The Awl]
Old Hickory
“The Apple Pan is the matrix, the template, the straw that stirs the drink, and it is no coincidence that when nostalgia-mongering restaurateurs attempt to duplicate the Los Angeles hamburger experience, it is to the Apple Pan hamburger that they turn”
As American as the Greek Salad
“How the combination of cucumbers and feta gained a few ingredients and became a coast-to-coast staple.” [TASTE]
Clean Plates, Empty Mugs: The Hidden Histories of Diner Ware
Also… How the Victor Coffee Mug Changed the Way We Drink Coffee
AND…Bunn sold this spring after nearly seventy years in the family.
Price’s-Always Open
Last Night at the Diner
“A kitchen impresario and the town that needed him.” [The New Yorker]
A Corner Booth for Your Soul
Have you ever been a regular? Do you have a Saturday morning pancake ritual with your children? Is there one place you go every week and sit in the same seat at the counter? These are the quintessential diner experiences. Norm can have the bar — there’s no better place to have them know your name than a diner. I’m lucky to have one of these beloved institutions in every city I have ever lived.
On 44th Street, I frequent the Red Flame Diner. I’m there so often (despite living on the West Coast and not visiting until I moved away from New York) that the night counter man knows my name. Sometimes its a turkey burger deluxe, sometimes it’s bacon, eggs, avocado and one pancake. Either way, it’s fast, friendly, and comes with unlimited amounts of hot coffee.
In Los Angeles, I have two favorites. Snug Harbor, the 1940s time warp that is perfect in every way. Another obsession further south is Pann’s in Los Angeles. Straight out of a movie, it is one of the most incredible rooms in LA. Since I live in San Diego now, any time we fly out of LAX we make a point of allowing for time to make a stop at Pann’s. There I almost always go for the chicken and waffles — which feels correct.
I often think about the old Eisenbergs and the ping I felt in my teeth on the first sip of a Lime Rickey while I worked my first job in NYC in 2002. I also long to visit the Sugar Bowl Luncheonette in Darien one more time. I miss that place. Same goes for The Doodle up the road in New Haven. They are all still serving pancakes in the great big sky above.
All of these places have a simple offering with speed and familiarity, but they hit you deep in your soul. These are the venues for the mundane and everyday life where nostalgia takes root. Since they all feel so well known, the good feelings compound there, which is probably why we form such strong bonds with these places. We know them, and they know us. That and a good pancake —is there anything more powerful in this world? — MW
Jake Hook / Diner Theory
We’ve loved following Jake Hook’s visits to L.A.’s diners and coffee shops on Diner Theory, and putting together this issue felt like the perfect excuse to chat. Jake is a philosophy professor at Cal State Fullerton and runs the Diner Preservation Society, a social club for people who love these places as much as we do. We asked him what he looks for in a diner, which spots he’s worried about losing, and where he’d send us for a good meal.
How did you get so deep into diners? Was there one place that started it?
I’ve always sort of liked diners, my dad brought me to a lot of them as a kid. His favorite restaurant was Chili John’s, so an honest hole in the wall like that was ingrained in my mind from a young age. My dad passed away during COVID, so the fact that I can go somewhere like Chili John’s and have the exact same experience I had all those years ago means a lot.
As I got older though, I started studying philosophy, and as a grad student, I noticed that a lot of my best ideas came to me at diners. They’re very reflective sorts of places. And so I started to think, what is it about diners that encourage this kind of reflection and epiphany. I think that’s when I realized that diners had sort of a greater importance than most people can put into words.
How is the SoCal diner unique compared to other greasy spoons in the US?
Technically speaking, there aren’t a lot of “true” East Coast-style diners in SoCal. If you asked someone in LA in like, 1940, what a place like Nick’s Cafe was, they’d call it a coffee shop. “Diners” originally just referred to prefabricated diner cars like you see in New Jersey. In SoCal, it was the coffee shop that really bred a culture of its own. They’re a lot like diners, they share a lot of the same visual language and the same short order kitchen format. Where they really stand out is in the architectural style. The classic California coffee shop borrows from Art Deco, Googie, postmodern, lots of different styles and different eras, and some of them accumulate elements of a lot of different styles. I think some of the great coffee shops of SoCal have this really eclectic quality where you can really see these different chapters of a places history. In terms of menu, diners and coffee shops of all kinds tend to be pretty eclectic, but you’re more likely to see Mexican food, and a greater variety of it, in SoCal diners versus anywhere else. There are also a couple of regional California dishes that seem to live primarily on diner menus, like the chili-size or the Joe’s special.
When you walk into a diner for the first time, what tells you it’s going to be good before you’ve eaten anything?
As a rule, wood is good. If there’s a lot of wooden fixtures, exposed wooden beams, wood paneling, that’s a good sign. Same with linoleum, terrazzo, or old tile. If they’ve still got stuff like this in place, generally it means the owners don’t like to change anything, don’t care about keeping up with trends. And that usually extends to the menu, recipes remain generally unchanged. For example, they might still use lard or beef tallow in a recipe from way back in the day, and never changed during the anti-fat movement of the 80s when everyone else did.
Hand written menu items haphazardly taped on the wall somewhere, I like to see things like that. And of course, I love the signs that a good diner has been lived in. Scuffs on the counter, chips in the coffee mugs, cracks in the leather of the stools. That stuff tells me it has regulars, that it’s a place everyone keeps coming back to.
Where have you seen an immigrant-run diner’s cooking come through on the menu in a way you love?
There’s so many places I could name, but one that I’ve recently fallen in love with is Armon’s in Eagle Rock. It’s gone through a few different generations of ownership, and each one adds something to the menu that just sticks. You’ll find standard American breakfast alongside Mexican, Chinese, and Thai dishes. The current owners are a Thai family, and they recently launched a whole new menu of Thai specialties alongside the regular menu, and that stuff is really, really good. Noodles, curries, stir frys. I’d bet it’s the best Thai food in Eagle Rock. My favorite is the Doctor Special.
Tell us about the Diner Preservation Society. Who shows up, and what actually happens at those meet ups?
The Diner Preservation Society is a social club for anyone who loves diners and thinks they’re important to the culture and history of Los Angeles. Anyone can come to a meeting, we don’t take attendance or anything. I would say the majority of people who come are young-ish people, 25-35, but we get the whole range of people from retired folks to the occasional teenagers. There’s a vaguely alternative undercurrent to some of the group, while others just have good memories of these places that they’d like to relive and share with people. As for what we do, I try to remember to make a toast of some kind, maybe advise on the highlights of the menu, but it’s mostly just good conversation and good food.
Which diner are you most worried about right now, and which one do you think outlives all of us?
I’m most worried about Armon’s, since the landlord jacked up their rent by 180% a few months ago. I’m also pretty concerned about Du-Par’s, they’re not doing so hot, and it would be a shame to see them cut corners to make ends meet, or worse: close. As for a diner that outlives us, at one time I would have said the Pantry, but they’re currently closed! I know they’re planning to reopen, but any disruption of continuity can get dicey. I think people would probably riot if Canter’s closed, and the fact that the same family runs the business after almost a hundred years means there’s probably money in it enough to keep it running.
If you could send someone to three diners anywhere in the country, where are they going and what are they ordering?
S&P Luncheonette in New York. Get a tuna melt and an egg cream. Robert’s Grill in El Reno, Oklahoma, get a fried onion burger. Go to Chili John’s in Burbank, get the chili spaghetti, and don’t skimp on the grease—that’s where the flavor is.
A shortlist of things we’ve got our eye on.
Counter Culture: The American Coffee Shop Waitress
Fishs Eddy HL Greenband Set
Dexter-Russell Hamburger Turner
Durango Diner Green Chile Sauce
S&P is an excellent caretaker, but I still deeply miss Eisenberg's.
Fantastic collection of stories/posts. Thank you!