The Lawrence Welk Diner opened in August, 1951, at 31 First St. SW. It was built by Valentine Diners out of Kansas, and was custom painted to look like an accordion. There were grand plans of a chain of ten of these set to open in Iowa, but this was the only location that ever actually opened. It had eight stools and seating for another 28 at tables. It was steel clad and had a stainless steel and formica interior. It was operated by “Curley” and Helen Paquette. Welk was never directly involved in the running of the diner, but he provided the capital and the branding for the diner. By the end of 1953, the diner was up for sale.

It operated from 1954 through 1960 as Leona’s Diner. In 1960, it became Paul’s Diner, operated by Paul and Carol Lynk and Donna Casebolt. By the end of 1961, it was up for sale again, with the ad saying it was to be moved. It appears that it did not move at this time, and by 1962, it had reopened as, “The Diner”, operated by Ann Mason and Gertrude Oeltjenbruns. After a stint operating as “The Diner”, I can’t find more records of it, at least not at this site.
Does anyone know if it moved? Changed names? Was torn down?

Please welcome the first installment of a new segment by Mike Engle!

Gordon Tindall’s Spud Boy Lunch

Wellington, Ohio 1927-2002
Storage in Gilbertsville, NY & Towanda, PA
Reopens in Lanesboro, MN May, 2012!

The Goodell diner was brought to Wellington, Ohio in the summer of 1927 by the Wellington Oil Company. One local resident believes that the diner was a used diner.

Frank Andrews was the first proprietor. Around 1929 the diner was owned by Van & Bessie Barbor. Sometime by the 1960s, Carl Ensign had control of the diner. Carl first worked at the diner as a night man in the late 1920s. By this time, the diner moved about 40 or 50 feet away from the gas station.

In later years, the diner would operate under the names Helen’s Diner, Village Diner and finally Cecil’s Trackside Diner. The diner was very pristine until the 1990s when the windows were unfortunately psysically cut out of the diner, and larger windows were added in their place. The exterior of the diner was also covered with vinyl siding and a roof was added above the diner, which, in a way, saved the roof from the elements. Unfortunately the edges of the original roof was sawed off. While this did not matter while the new roof was covering the diner, when the diner was brought to New York, the roof and the interior had become open to the elements.

By 2001, the diner became endangered. The owners of the structure wanted to demolish the diner to build a new building. Since no one wanted the diner in Wellington, I, Michael Engle paid to have the diner hauled to Gilbertsville, NY. Daniel Zilka and Toni Zeller came out from Rhode Island to help me detach the diner from the back building, without accepting any payment. Without them, the diner would not have been saved, as I did not have the ability to save the diner myself.

One thing lead to another, and a few years went by. Two changes in the location of my job made getting to Gilbertsville very difficult. Attempts to get the diner moved to where I was living were unfruitful. Thusly, I asked Gordon Tindall if he was interested in the diner and he said yes! So I gave the diner to Gordon Tindall, who was then living in Towanda, PA running the Red Rose Diner. Gordon, a true fan of the old time diners, fell in love with the diner from the day he saw it in Gilbertsville. He would work at the Red Rose Diner until 2 pm and then put in a good six hours on fixing up the diner.

The top photo is from when the diner was in Gilbertsville and the middle photo was taken about a year after Gordon got the diner, and started working his magic. Gordon got the exterior all fixed up after fixing the structure and was starting to work on the interior. While working on the interior, he hired a local retired sign painter, then 88 years old, to paint the exterior letters.

Later in 2008, the interior was starting to come into shape. Next he would tackle putting the counter back into place.

So now finally, after all the work Gordon has put into the diner, the Spud Boy Lunch will open up for business again in May of 2012. After having the diner in Minnesota for about three years, he was finally able to satisfy the officials in Minnesota. Residents in Lanesboro were initially hesitant about the diner and two pieces that would come along with the diner. But the town has warmed up and seems to be highly anticipating the diner’s opening in May. On a side note,the two pieces were the outhouse buildings Gordon and Val bought. One will house the bathroom, with real plumbing and the other will house a gift shop that will initially open on special occasions. The second is the neon sign. The sign came off a cafe and motel in Marion, MN. The sign either said Vacancy or Office, but Gordon fixed it up and had it painted as you see it in the bottom photo. Also, if you’re a fan of the 1950s television show, “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger,” you may recognize the font of the word “EAT.”

DeBest Diners were built by Lester Timmerman and Ray Larson, previously of Commander Buildings, in Cedar Rapids exclusively for the Solid Gold Diner chain, owned by Timothy Costigan and Steve Strauss. Costigan and Strauss got the idea for these retro-themed diners after seeing a similarly retro model in Atlanta, Georgia. Dinermite Diners was based out of Atlanta, so the design similarities between the two manufacturers are surely not accidental. The company built two diners, and were in operation from 1989 to 1990.

Their first diner opened in Columbus Junction, Iowa in October of 1989, with a second opening at 130 Sugar Creek Lane ,North Liberty in March of 1990.

Diner no. 1 had closed by 1992, and was relocated to 3347 Agency St. (Burlington Plaza West), Burlington, Iowa, after some delays owing to a sub-code concrete foundation.

A larger location, built on-site, opened in Cedar Rapids in the summer of 1994, located in Wiley Plaza, 2133 Wiley Blvd. SW. It had closed by January 1995.

Debest Diner No. 1 was sold, and moved again in 1995 from its Burlington Plaza location to the 400 block of Locust St, Sterling, IL. Color photos of it being installed in its new location can be seen here. There is still a diner-proportioned building on the site, but the door and window placement is all wrong. Does anyone know what ended up happening to this diner?

The North Liberty location (Diner No. 2) had a “suspicious” fire in January 1996 and never reopened. It was purchased by Hans Peter Beyeler and Alex Dahm in 1997, and moved to Switzerland, with the hope of setting it up south of Bern, and reopening it there by summer of 1997.
I can’t find any info as to the diner actually being moved, or if it was set up in Switzerland according to plan.

That address is currently home to Cooley Auto Sales, who opened a year after the sale of the diner to Beyeler and Dahm. Their offices (Picture) have the same proportions and layout as the diner which was (is?) on the site, although what is there now is covered in siding and capped with a standard peaked roof. Either the international shipping plans fell through, or what is currently on the site was built on the existing diner foundation and it was just easiest to follow its form.

Unfortunately, the Farmer’s Diner, of Quechee, VT, closed a week ago today.  It will be greatly missed. 

Read more here.

I finally made it to Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers and Poutinerie. It opened in January, and when we’ve tried before, the line has been out the door and down the shopping center. This time it was only to the door, so we decided to wait it out.

As the name implies, Cheese Curds does poutine. Real poutine, with homemade gravy and curds, not with grated mozza like you find so many other places. And they don’t skimp on the curds.

The problem I find all too often with these “gourmet burger” places- the ones with a million topping options and combinations, is a weak burger. Places like Cheeburger Cheeburger (yech!) seem to assume you’ll be piling so much stuff on top of the burger, that the patty itself doesn’t have to do anything. Not so at Cheese Curds. The burgers are thick, juicy and flavorful. I got the triple bacon burger, and even through all of it, the flavor of the beef shone through.

Anna, my girlfriend, got the bacon wrapped cheese curd topped hot dog.

The inside of the shop. It’s pretty small, with most of the floor space occupied by the grill. Grill showmanship isn’t dead. While they have a huge variety of items on the menu, the base items (burgers, poutine) are pretty limited, which means they can keep the quality up and the wait times down.

Cheese Curds is located at 380 Pleasant Street, Dartmouth, NS

Here are some shots my dad took yesterday for me, or of the Broadway Diner,6501 Eastern Avenue Baltimore, MD.

Some more photos from the early 1990s, taken of the Airplane Diner of Penndel, PA. The Airplane diner was a converted Lockheed Constellation. After the diner closed, the Constellation was taken down from its supports, and restored, to non-flying condition. Check out what it looks like now on Brian Butko’s “Lincoln Highway News”.

Another diner find. Another diner that has more than likely been butchered nearly out of existence.

The Edgewood Diner is located near the corner of Edgewood Road and Rt. 40 in Edgewood, Maryland. It was started by former Carnival trouper James A. O’Keefe. By the 1960s, it was owned by “Reva and Clint”. It’s currently doing business as a used car lot.