Somers Point Diner, Somers Point, NJ

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

We ended up finally eating lunch at the Somers Point Diner. At some point in the past couple of years, the Somers Point traffic circle was replaced by a intersection. The Circle Liquor Store across the road has lost its namesake. The Point diner was built by Fodero. Since the original postcard, it has lost the top of its pylon sign, gained a large addition, and an extra tier to the roof. I love the floor to ceiling glass of the vestibule and the dining room addition, where the bottom infill panels, instead of being stainless or stone are glass. It takes the space age diner design of more and more glass in the facade to its logical conclusion. Inside, the diner has been significantly re-done, though I really enjoyed the paintings of the Jersey shore in the 1960s which hang in the L of the diner.
The special of the day was a hot open faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. That used to be my default diner order, but I haven’t had one in a while. If it’s on special, I’m always game, so in went the order. My dad had his usual hamburger, plain (nothing on that), medium rare, with fries and a diet coke. Mine came out garnished with parsley and, as I discovered after biting in, a sliver of aluminum can. The mashed potatoes were over-watered and of the powdered variety. The meat was tough. I didn’t finish. My dad’s burger was alright, but was pre-formed and frozen. It all had Sysco written all over it.
Back in the car, and on to Margate to visit Lucy the Elephant. I think there will be a blog post about that leg of the trip over at Neon Dreamscapes shortly.

Elmer Diner – Elmer, NJ

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

Breakfast ended up being at the Elmer Diner, which I last visited about seven years ago. A diner on the site goes back to the 1920s. The ’50s incarnation has been turned perpendicular to the road, gutted and has been used for the past forty odd years as a dining room. The main diner is a 1970s model with bay windows. Since I was there last, an argyle pattern has been painted on the vestibule, and stainless has been added to the exterior of the dining room. I had the 2+2+2 special, 2 pancakes with cream chipped beef, bacon and sausage. Dad had scrambled eggs, bacon, homefries and toast. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the bacon memes and bacon craze of the past couple of years, but it seems that diners now include much more bacon than they did just a couple of years ago.

The Elmer Diner is located at:
41 Front St Elmer, NJ 08318

Famous Restaurant – Texas Hot Wieners – York, PA

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

In this day and age of 20 page Greek mega-diner menus, a traditional hot dog restaurant like the Famous is refreshing. Yes, they’ll do you a hamburger, and they’ll cook you up a breakfast. But when a place advertises hot dogs on the sign out front, why would you order anything else?
And these don’t disappoint. Before dogs are cut down the middle about 3/4 through, and then cut about every inch. They’re opened up and grilled flat on the griddle. The bun is lightly toasted. A layer of mustard, of chili sauce, and a mound of chopped raw onions finish it off.
For such a simple dish, every hot dog place seems to put its own twist on the old standby. The Famous Restaurant’s chili sauce is a bit darker and sweeter than other Texas Hot Wiener places in the area.
The restaurant is a time warp. While it’s not my preferred decade, it’s always nice to see places so well preserved. Orange vinyl and wood grain formica set the tone. The grill is in the front window, as is typical with these storefront Texas Hot places, and the counter dominates the seating, as it should.

The Famous Restaurant is located at:
652 W Market St
York, PA 17401
(717) 848-2300

Another entry in the Weiner/Wiener spelling debate.
The York, PA, Famous Restaurant spells it Wiener

The Texas Hot Weiner lunch in Hanover spells it Weiner
The Famous Lunch in Hanover spells it Wiener on their wall signage, and Weiner on their neon.
Curtis’ in Cumberland, MD spells it Weiner
Ernie’s in Gettysburg spells it Weiner

Diner Builder: National Glass and Mfg. Co

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

The National Glass & Manufacturing Company, INC was based at 212 South 9th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The company was founded in 1929 by its president, William E. Stell, and built primarily showcases, restaurant fixtures and display cases. They first introduced their diner design in the mid 1940s, designed by Stell and architect Glenn Pendergrass.

The diners were built in the factory in Fort Smith, knocked down in sections and shipped to the site. In the case of the Russellville location, it only took six days for the restaurant to open. There does not seem to have been a standard length to this company’s diners, just a standard module.

The prototype Old South Restaurant was located at 711 South Towson Avenue, Fort Smith, AR. It was managed by R. C. Strub, formerly of Schwab’s, NYC. It was demolished in the 1970s.

Another “Old South Restaurant” opened at 1330 East Main St, Russellville, AR on April 4, 1947. The original owner was Woody Mays. It still stands, in tact, operating under its original name. More pics can be found HERE

The Shamrock Restaurant, located at 2719 Midland Blvd. opened in the late 1940s, but doesn’t appear to have stayed in business very long. By 1960, the building was home to the Woolbright Fixture Company. It was recently home to the Coyote Sports Bar (now closed).

Gordon Adkins No. 1 was located at 3614 Roosevelt Road, Little Rock, AR. It later became Hank’s Catering House.

Gordon Adkins No. 2 was located at the corner of 10th and Broadway, Little Rock, AR. It later became the Ritz Grill.

Ben Stanley’s Cafe, located on Rt. 66 in Miami, Oklahoma opened on February 8, 1947. As with the others, its postcard advertised National Glass and Manufacturing in addition to the restaurant itself.

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