Diners

[Scuffy]

Since this is the "observation" bar I have one to share that I got a kick out of. Yesterday my girlfriend and I stopped by a diner that opened up this past year. It's more of an iconic 50's style diner. When we were seated we started reading the menu it gave a bit of history here and there and one of the small quips mentioned that neighborhood diners really became poplular in the 30's and 40's and went on to tell more about them. General info. That's fine. But the more I listened they had a Muzak station on that played "oldies" which happened to be all from the VERY late 60's and mostly early 70's. That just struck me as odd. A place that is setup as a stereotypical "50's" diner with menues and signage that talks about he 30's and 40's and plays 70's music. I guess they really don't discriminate! Equal opportunity. Either that or the people really don't have a clue as to what is going on. I asked for a chocolate Coke and the waitress, I'm sorry, "server" had no clue what I was talking about. Grrrrrrr. Anywho. That's my rant for the day! lol :cheers1:

 

[Mr. Rover]

tsk tsk tsk

 

[MK]

.

Same here. There is a really cool diner by me that has 40's memorabilia but they play 50-60's oldies. Weird.

You are not in Vancouver are you? Actually I would like to encourage you to put something in the"Location" field of your profile. It makes it a lot easier to understand what you're about, if we know what part of the world you're in.

 

[Aaron Hats]

On Wednesday I met a couple friends at a local diner/restaurant at 6am to go pheasant hunting. There was only a couple other people there and as I was sitting there at the counter, the three of us in various hunter orange clothing and hats, I couldn't help but think that if you took a black and white photo you probably wouldn't be able to tell when in the last 50 years that photo was taken. Just thought it was cool.

That's my diner story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[airfrogusmc]

To expand on this a bit in Lyons Illinois (a couple suburbs over) there was/is an old diner that had this GREAT old sign on old US 34. It had been empty for some time but inside there were lots of great vintage things like old juke box with the small booth selectors. You know the ones that would send your selection the main juke box. Great old milkshake machines, old counter with stools and great old booths. Real 50s not repro. Well the original owner sold it and the new owners took down this great old sign.

The new owners had a great opportunity to have a real not mall/fabricated diner. The real deal. Oh well. Also I was reading here about the new casino the Clooney is opening in Vegas. When they were tearing down some of the old casinos I told my wife if someone was smart they'd restore one on the old casinos. I guess we just can't stop progress in such a disposable society.

 

[flat-top]

We just discovered a place called Pancakes Plus right down the road from my house. Not Golden Era at all, but really like an old school luncheonette, the kind that I haven't seen in years. We got more food than we could possibly eat and it was less than $5 per person! I'm hooked!
flat-top

 

[Senator Jack]

On why they play 70s music at '50s' diners:

I've found people who really know nothing of the history of the world before they made their grand appearance on it think of it like this:

The 70s and 80s = The 80s
The 40s, 50s, 60s = Olden Days
Anything Pre-war = Caveman times

Funny that this topic should come up because I have an entire commentary about fake 50s diners that I was going to post.

Kind regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Angelicious]

Yeah, here in NZ they needed something to up the Burger King franchise against its competition. They play on the "good old fashioned flame-grilled taste" slogan here, and I guess they figured that, to kiwis, old-fashioned American burgers means "1950s juke joint". So that's what BK looks like in NZ - like the soda shop in Pleasantville. I recall they were very plain in the US/Canada (although the ones in Canada sold poutine, yay!).

The have repro Wurlitzer jukeboxes in each one, red vinyl booth seats, chrome everywhere, black & white checkerboard floor tiling, repro advertising posters for American cars & petrol stations all over the walls, neon trim all over the place... It would be cool, if a trifle overdone, if it weren't for the BK advertising everywhere, the hoody-wearing loiterers trying to scam another free refill, and the fact that staff usually ignore official policy and play modern rock instead of the 50s/60s/70s/80s stuff on the jukebox. (70s?!? 80?!?!? WHY?!?)

 

[Thunderbolt]

Johnny Rocket

Have any of you been to Johnny Rockets? It's a franchise started in the 80's I think by an enthusiast of the traditional Diner. The one I went to in a mall in Sacramento was decked out like it was from the post war years of the 1940's. They had the music selectors at each table and they even gave me the nickles to play it. They weren't for show, they actualy worked. They used nickels and not quarters! The food was great. The staff looked traditional and were dressed in white with white approns and those white hats that look like military Garrison caps. Great service. They gave me a straw for my drink by bringing the straw holder to me, one of those that look like the comb holders at the barber shop. It was a Coca-Cola establishment so there were a lot of those advertisements framed on the wall. I liked the WWII coke advertisements with a guy in uniform or a USO gal. The music was great. It was 50's music which I have no problem with and actualy like, but they occasionaly played a big band song like "In the mood" or "Sing sing sing". They had malts there. I had a real malt. It wasn't just a milk shake. It was a malt! Should've checked for chocolate soda but I forgot.
The one here in Washington was a bit different. Like the one in Sacramento, it is in a mall. However, the one in Washington, you can't quite escape the mall. The Sacramento joint was like their own building inside the mall. It was nice and quite inside, meaning you couldn't hear the comotion of the mall atmosphere inside the diner. The one in the Supermall in Washington was located in the food court. It was deeper into the wall than the other joints around which were just counters and a back kitchen. You could go into it and sit down but it was like the diner was missing the front wall. It was noisy due to the food court right in front. The service wasn't as good but I blame that on the fact that is was the peak of lunch time and the place was packed. As for music, It wasn't as good. They played the Beagies' Saturday Night feever "Stay'n Alive" and "Fever Night". Some of the staff came out and did a coriographed disco dance to it. WHY? :rage: They should've done a swing dance to a big band song. They played mostly 50's though. At least the food was good, which I guess is the whole point anyway right?

 

[Thunderbolt]

Funny that this topic should come up because I have an entire commentary about fake 50s diners that I was going to post.

Kind regards,

Senator Jack

Let's hear it! I cant stand the way a lot of joints play a local radio station loud and hang a flea market on the walls and ceiling and suddenly it's a retro diner!