We stopped in here for breakfast on Monday morning. My corned beef hash was some of the best I’ve ever had. The Worcester semi streamliner has to be my favorite model of diner, and this one is in great shape. Great food in a great building in a great location. What’s not to love?
I later found out that I missed seeing Larry Cultrera (of Diner Hotline and Classic Diners of Massachusetts fame) by a matter of a few hours that day. Funny how those things happen.
Tried to go again for my yearly A-1 fix, but got the timing wrong. We did, however, hit it with the sun shining on it instead of from behind it for once, so we managed to get some good pics.
The A-1 is a Worcester semi streamliner located in Gardiner, Maine. There are a couple other posts on it on the blog with interior pics, etc.
Some pics from last week of the Yankee Diner, Charlton, MA. More posts about this diner elsewhere on this blog.
Here’s a recent find by Mike Engle. It’s located on Route 2 in Erving, MA. Does anyone know anything about this place? Any historic photos showing what it looked like in its glory days?
It’s located at the corner of North St. and Route 2.
Here are some additional photos from the past couple of years.
UPDATE:
Real Estate Listing
7A W Main St, Erving, MA
roof…windows…electrical…plumbing…heating…insulation…flooring…etc. First floor commercial space suitable for any number of uses. Seller will complete to suit for your specific use. Lots of on site parking with a municipal parking lot across the street. Pizza Parlor? Sports Bar? Professional Office? Plant your business here and watch it grow. MLS# 71113008.
Property Features
Market StatusAvailable
Property TypeCommercial Property
Year Built1948
Stories 1.0
Approx. Lot Size0.31 Acres
Sq. Feet1,000
Legal/Financial
Taxes: 2079
Last UpdatedSeptember 24, 2010
It looks like it may have formerly been home to a restaurant called the Buck Run.
Another real estate listing.
The lunch wagon evolved into the modern day diner as it got bigger and became stationary. At the same time some lunch wagon manufacturers, Buckley in particular it would seem, embraced then new automotive technology, modernizing lunch wagons by making them self propelled. Though the diner manufacturers seem not to have continued in earnest with this evolutionary line, self propelled lunch wagons are all over the place today, out of the backs of box trucks or built up on the frames of pickups.
Dec. 1900
1901
1903
1905
1919.
I’m not sure as to the manufacturer on this, but its lunch wagon lineage is clear. Ornate and looks very heavy.
Some more from the archives, in no particular order.
Short Stop Diner, now Irene’s pupusas. Wheaton, MD
It’s a 1956 Kullman. The neon was nearly as big as the diner itself, but has since disappeared.
Then:
Now:
Diner- Front Royal, VA
It’s a 1956 Mountain View. Front Royal used to be a hotbed of diners. It had this one, Nick’s Good Food diner, the Do-nut dinette, and another ’50s stainless model. The other three have been knocked down, and this one’s now a used car dealer.
Now:
Frost Diner- Warrenton, VA
The Frost is a 1955 O’Mahony.
Inside
Counter
A sign of the times- Disco Fashion T-shirts
Pork Chop- $1.25, Fried Chicken $1.75
Tastee Diner- Silver Spring, MD
Tastee Diner- Laurel, MD
a rare Comac brand diner
Bud’s Broiler – New Orleans, LA
Bud’s Broiler
Allen Theater
Current Photos
Flower Theater
Current Photos
Summit Diner– Somerset, PA
Summit Diner
Moody’s Diner- Waldoboro, ME
Moody’s Diner
Diner- MA
Mac’s Diner Burns – Article in the Telegram
By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com
WORCESTER — For the half-dozen times a month Bob Hebb heads into Worcester from his hometown of Ayer, he makes sure to head over to Shrewsbury Street.
His destination is Mac’s Diner, where a large kettle of soup usually beckons and the stools are filled with patrons he knows by name.
But yesterday, Mr. Hebb arrived at his favorite restaurant only to learn that an overnight fire had damaged and closed the business.
The owners of the restaurant — which dates to 1931 — are unsure when they’ll reopen.
“You have never eaten in here? They have a kettle of soup that is about this high,” Mr. Hebb said, holding his hands a couple of feet apart. “I don’t know where I’m going to eat.”
As Mr. Hebb was left wondering where he’d get his usual soup and a sausage sandwich — made on the diner’s homemade bread — a crew of city Department of Public Works and Parks workers headed to the entrance at 185 Shrewsbury St.
Mr. Hebb soon informed them of the situation: “It’s closed. There was a fire.”
About noon yesterday, owner Chris McMahon of Holden walked around inside the diner and assessed the damage. Mac’s is said to be the oldest diner in the city.
He doesn’t know when it will reopen.
“I couldn’t even guess. I’m at the mercy of the Fire and Building departments,” he said. “Hopefully not that long. I have to make a living.”
The fire started about 12:30 a.m. in a storage area in the rear of the building, where there are freezers and refrigerators.
Mr. McMahon said the cause of the fire appears to be electrical but fire officials have not yet determined the cause.
Firefighters broke through a front window and doused the flames with water.
The upper diner area was damaged as well as a side area. The acrid smell of burnt wood replaced the normal smell of home-cooked meals yesterday afternoon.
The damage could have been worse, but the diner’s concrete and brick walls didn’t give the fire much to feed on. Holden police knocked on Mr. McMahon’s door early yesterday morning to notify him about the fire.
He raced down to Shrewsbury Street.
“When I first showed up here, I was in total shock,” he said. “I have come to assess it. It’s manageable, but it is definitely going to set us back.”
“In 78 years, we’ve never had a fire here,” Mr. McMahon, 31, said.
“We plan to fix it as soon as we can because we are all going to be out of money.”
Customers continually called the diner yesterday asking if the owners needed help and to say they were sorry. The diner is normally open Monday through Friday for lunch, with dinner also served Thursday through Saturday.
Many customers favor Mac’s because of its BYOB standing.
“April, May and June are our busy season,” Mr. McMahon said.
“It’s not a good financial time, and our employees are also out of work. We’re missing out on our money time.”
Mac’s Diner is/was a 1931 Worcester Diner.
This is one of the most out of the way diners I’ve hit up, way out of town, at the Southbridge Airport. Our mapquest directions let us down, and we had to stop for directions downtown, asking both at the library and the post office. Only one person knew what we were talking about, and we got our directions.
Upon reaching the airport, where it is located, it turned out to be closed (we visited in April, which apparently is out of season). It was incredibly cold, windy and bitter, so upon seeing it was closed, we cut the picture-taking to a minimum, just to get back into the heated car. I can’t imagine the diner does much business to people outside of the airport traffic which it is there to service.
A composite panorama showing the diner’s proximity to the runway
The boxy little ’50s diner partially obscured by the roof and deck
The interior of the diner. Interesting that the interior old style enamel barrel roof was still used by master at this late date (c1958), especially when contrasted with the exterior of the diner, which seems quite up to date, with its sharp, crisp lines. This manufacturer isn’t very common, with less than fifteen thought to be in existence.
Diner Hunter 