Tag Archives: restaurant

Clearview Diner – Mount Joy, PA

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The Clearview started out life as a small, five bay 1948 Paramount. It was pretty standard for a Paramount built diner of the late 1940s, which is to say it was extraordinary- with a sensuously curved roofline and strong vertical elements. From the postcard, it’s hard to say what the exterior finish is, but I would guess probably vertically ribbed stainless. It had a great rooftop neon, which, in true 1940s form read “steaks, chops, hamburgers”. You don’t see nearly enough Steaks and Chops being advertised these days. For other ’40s Paramount built diners along similar lines, allow me to direct you to: “Rajun Cajun” of Hartford, CT, a six-bay model from 1950, to the Vale-Rio Diner, another 1948 model.

In 1954, the diner was remodeled and drastically enlarged, adding three bays to the left side and bumping a dining room back quite a ways. Business must have been good! In keeping with this modernization, curved glass supplanted glass brick on the corners. A new, clock topped vestibule was added, and a parapet was added to the curvy monitor roof to give the entire place a continuous, 1954 modern roof line. The emphasis of the design was changed to the horizontal. The diner was topped off with metal awnings and a new freestanding neon, though the steaks-chops rooftop piece remained for at least a little while longer.

Later on, the “Diner” name was dropped, replaced with “The Clearview Dining Room and Coffee Shop”. See Richard J.S. Gutman’s chapter on the move away from the “diner” name in the 1960s in his book “The American Diner Then and Now”. Despite the name and neon changes, the exterior looks to have remained in-tact, with the addition of Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs.

In what I’m guessing was the 1960s, the diner was enlarged and remodeled again, with a mid-century modern coffee shop-style vestibule put up along the entire length of the original 1948 section of the diner. Orange tile, floor to ceiling glass, modernist lettering.

Later on, the “Diner” was reintroduced into the name of the Clearview, probably coinciding with the cultural “re-discovery” of the diner in the 1990s. It changed names to the Tic-Tac diner in 2009, but that chapter in its life was short lived. By 2012, the diner had been stuccoed over, painted, and is now known as Babbo’s Italian Grill. A photo of the diner in its current state can be seen on the Diners of Pennsylvania facebook page.

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As the Tic Tac Diner
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Photo by Casey Kreider
LancasterOnline.com article

Blue Dolphin Diner- Katonah, NY

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http://thebluedolphinny.com/Welcome.html

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There’s nothing left of the interior of this ’30s Kullman turned upscale restaurant, and the Mansard roof dominates the facade, nevertheless, it’s a very rare diner with a mostly in-tact exterior and neon.

175 Katonah Ave nr Rt 35, Katonah 10536

Little Tavern- Washington No. 27

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This former Little Tavern is located at the corner of 6th and Morse St., NE Washington, DC. It is now a Subway. Despite having lost its distinctive color scheme and signage, the exterior still looks as though it is fairly in tact. Washington #24 appears to have been built c.1948. It stands to reason that No. 27 dates from the late 1940s or early 1950s. I will try to find more documentation regarding the exact date of construction.

For pictures from 1988, taken while it was still operating as a Little Tavern, please click here.

For a in the process list of all Little Tavern locations, click here.

Westcliff Diner – Halifax, Nova Scotia

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Today I hit up the Westcliff diner, a great restaurant in a ’60s? ’70s? storefront. It came highly recommended to me by several friends, and certainly lived up to expectations. I had a deliciously juicy fresh hamburger, with gooey melted cheese an sauteed onions. Anna had the grilled cheese and a milkshake, and my friend Irenee had an order of fries with a milkshake. The prices are some of the absolute lowest in the area.

Just around the corner is the Look Ho Ho. I haven’t been here, but the neon is outstanding.

Rib & Sirloin Restaurant / Sandwich Shoppe – Pulaski, VA

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Driving down the highway outside of Pulaski, VA, we spotted the big neon for this place poking through the trees. I couldn’t get the camera out fast enough to snap it, so we took the exit and drove around a bit, until we found it. The motel is still there, though it’s closed. The restaurant isn’t visible from the road, and it’s on private property, so please don’t go searching for it

The motel was once the Days Inn. The last review of it is dated September, 2008, so it closed fairly recently. The restaurant, however, has been closed and abandoned for a bit longer. It is currently condemned. Going by a class of 1963 35th reunion banner still hanging in the restaurant, it’s safe to say that the place closed in 1998 or so.

It’s a great ’60s colonial Howard Johnson’s type place, with avocado green stools and a great rooftop neon.
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Overgrown parking lot
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Sandwich Shoppe
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Blue Paint
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Red paint
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Shots of the interior. Sorry about the glare, they’re through the windows.

Counter
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Left Side Dining Room.
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Inside dining room. The “Forever Young” DHS class of 1963 35th Reunion. Possibly Dublin High School?
Candles and coffee mugs still on the tables. Ceiling is caving in.
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Abandoned Road
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Diner Slides- 1976-1988

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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:
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Now:
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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.

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Now:

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Frost Diner- Warrenton, VA
The Frost is a 1955 O’Mahony.

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Inside
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Counter
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A sign of the times- Disco Fashion T-shirts
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Pork Chop- $1.25, Fried Chicken $1.75
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Tastee Diner- Silver Spring, MD

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Tastee Diner- Laurel, MD
a rare Comac brand diner

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Bud’s Broiler – New Orleans, LA
Bud’s Broiler
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Allen Theater
Current Photos
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Flower Theater
Current Photos
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Summit Diner– Somerset, PA
Summit Diner
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Moody’s Diner- Waldoboro, ME
Moody’s Diner
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Diner- MA
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Hymie’s Restaurant – Washington DC

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Today, my dad and I tracked down and photographed what used to be Hymie’s Restaurant, an old homebuilt diner in Washington, DC.

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I couldn’t find much on it, other than that it was owned by Mary Hyman and her husband, and that it was held up in 1970.

According to the court transcripts:

At approximately 1:20 P.M. on May 11, 1970, two men, one armed with a sawed-off shotgun, held up Hymie’s Restaurant and Carry-Out at 4408 Arkansas Avenue, N.W., in Washington. The man with the shotgun remained at the door of the restaurant while the other man entered the store and told the proprietress, Mrs. Mary Hyman, to put the money from the cash register in a bag. She complied, placing approximately $86.00 in a bag, which the man took. She noticed that this man was short, very dark, and that his head was cleanshaven. The robbers then left the store and escaped.

The only other record of it is found here, and reads:
Hymie’s Restaurant on Arkansas Avenue and Allison Streets NW. The
BEST cheeseburger for miles and Mr. and Mrs.
Hyman were the nicest proprietors of a business you’d ever want to
meet. It is now an auto parts store…

The signage currently reads, Andre’s Auto Sales, but there’s a for rent sign up, with the phone number, (301)-649-2361.

Worcester’s Mac’s Diner Burns

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Mac’s Diner Burns – Article in the Telegram

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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.

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Aberdeen Eagle Diner- Aberdeen, Maryland

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Exterior of the Aberdeen eagle. The corner stainless and the curved window are still visible, but that’s about it. Brick and a red mansard roof disguise the true nature of the diner.

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Aberdeen Eagle- All baking done on premises. The sign states that they’re open 24 hours, something becoming rarer all the time.

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The rooftop neon. Presumably original to the diner, and not added at the time of the remodel.

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The interior. Very boxy- lots of hard corners, almost no curves, other than that of the counter and the scalloped edges by the menu-board. It’s leaning towards the more space-age and environmental designs yet to come, while still staying within the confines of a classic 1950s stainless model.

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Spindly stools with octagonal bases. Also interesting to note the use of an entirely tile floor. With the design of this diner, I would have expected terrazzo, and not older style mosaic tile.

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Blue is the overwhelming color.

You don’t see too many of this model diner; not many with interiors with this kind of styling. What I have been able to find says it’s a mid ’50s Kullman. I’ve seen Kullman dinettes with similar boxy interiors, but this is the only full-sized diner I’ve been to quite like this. It has been covered over, years ago, with tan brick, with a dining room on the right, making it less recognizable from the road, especially when compared with the New Ideal Diner, just half a mile down the road and across the street. Inside it is essentially in-tact.