The Road Island Diner
981 W Weber Canyon Rd, Oakley, UT

I missed the Road Island diner by a little bit back in my early Dinering days back when it was in Middletown, RI operating as Tommy’s Deluxe Diner. It was moved to Oakley in 2007 and I missed it again in 2008 when I came through this part of the west for the first time while roadtripping to and from the National Folk Festival for its first year in Butte, MT. I finally made it earlier this year.

The restoration is beautiful, and while there are a few touches, it plays it very straight. No Elvis, no Marilyn, no checkerboard. I think the biggest surprise to me, even after reading reviews, after following the move eight years ago and seeing reviews of it since then, was the location. Oakley is a town of just over 1500 people and nearly an hour down winding roads outside of Salt Lake. It was a destination for me, a seven hour drive south, but with its location, it really struck me as a neighborhood joint, and its move and restoration as a labor of love.