Diners

I am going to get partially serious for a few moments.

Diners, for me, can be a very emotional subject. Let me hasten to say that I am absolutely not joking, here. I hope that, if this thread lasts at all, I can share a couple of stories that have to with the late Signora V. and myself, and our love of the true American Diner.

I want to say right now that an "emotional" subject does not necessarily mean a "depressing" subject. Not at all.

But, back on-topic: We loved the traditional American diner. We loved diners even before they became fashionable. Diners figured, in a sizable way, in my growing up, and later, when I met Signora V., in our life together. (Or they did, until some SOB stole our car back in 1993!)

Besides all that, you could usually get a good meal there, as well.

Before I go any further (and I have a lot further to go), do you have any stories about real American diners? Memories? Photos? Unusual anecdotes?

Diners, both in town and on the road, are the heart and soul of the sit-down meal when you're away from home - and, often times, when you're not. Argue with me if you will, but that is my opinion - and I shall not be moved.

Stories, links, and photos (when I can dig 'em out) will follow. (BTW, Signora V. was magnificent with a camera.)

But, by all means, let's share diner stories.

Signor V.

Back in the 70's I used to play golf weekly. My dad, one of his friends and I would drive from Brooklyn out to Bethpage State Park and meet up with my brother at 4:00 a.m. We'd "sign in" and having a few hours to kill before we'd start playing, we'd go to a diner and have a leisurely breakfast and shoot the breeze. This became a routine that lasted for about ten years.

The 80's came and my brother moved to Florida. My parents followed two years later and my dad's friend left a year after that. Having lost my "foursome" I stopped playing golf but missed all the good times, especially all the laughs at breakfast.

Fast Forward 20 years and I moved out to the Island (not too far from Bethpage). Late one night, my friend Lori and I were driving back from work and we were both starved so we stopped off at a diner. There was something very familiar about it but I couldn't place it. We sat down in a booth and I couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu and then it hit me all of a sudden. It was the same diner in which I so happily enjoyed all my golf breakfasts.

I can't explain the feeling of emotion - so many times I enjoyed the comradeship of men I loved in that place and now, some 22 or 23 years later I was sitting in the same place. The memories came flooding back and I had tears in my eyes.

So, yes, diners can be emotional.

(It turns out that this place is 2½ miles from where I now live and I visit it occasionally just for "old times sake").

My dad played in an organized Roller Hockey league for many years. He would play 2 games every Sunday morning, usually over in Brighton Beach. When I was a kid, I used to be the stick boy for the team. The first game normally started around 9:00 AM. So every sunday morning we would get in the car, he'd pick up my uncle and then we'd go to Bernie's Diner on Coney Island Avenue. Whenever I hear the name Bernie I always think of that Diner and the fun times that my dad, my uncle and myself had at that Diner.



Life has a funny way of repeating itself. Years later when I became a father, my son played Ice Hockey and I was the coach of his team. Whenever he had a game on a Saturday or Sunday morning, we would go to the Victory Diner here on Staten Island for breakfast.


Two other Brooklyn diners that also bring back some memories for me: The Floridian Diner and Del Rio's Diner -

When my wife and I were dating, we were regulars at the Floridian Diner. A 3 - 4 o clock in the morning stop at the Floridian Diner on the way home from a night of drinking and dancing was a common practice.

Later on when we were married, we rented an apartment which happened to be around the corner from the Del Rio Diner. Many a friday night we'd be up watching a late movie and if the window was open we sometimes would get the aroma of BBQ burgers coming from their kitchen into our apartment. She and I would look at each other and we'd get up and go to the diner for a quick Burger, fries with melted cheese or breakfast.

Great sign DC. I know you know this, but for those of you who don't, the Floridian Diner's famous sign can be seen in the background in GOODFELLAS, in the scene where Jimmy is in the phone booth finding out about Tommy having been killed. We've pm'd about this a few times. I used to eat breakfast there almost daily when I worked in Midwood.

SV, that was a great post to start this thread. Diners are very dear to me as well. My earliest diner memories are from the mid '60s. After "Sunday" school, my Dad would pick me up and we'd go up to the Raceway Diner, opposite Yonkers Raceway. It's still there, too. My uncle lived up in Yonkers, so we'd kind of make rounds going to see everyone before we ended up at that Sunday's final destination. Very often, it would be at my Uncle Nick's, on Pacific Street, in East New York.

This morning, I had to be in Astoria very early, and coincidentally, I ate at the Neptune Diner, on Astoria Boulevard, near the "mouth" of the Triboro Bridge. I had a western omelette and... wait a minute, shouldn't this be in the Breakfast thread?

Nice thread.

DC - I remember Bernie's quite well! Ate there many times way back when.

Also, Del Rio. That one's still there. Signora V. ate there a lot years ago when she had a friend who was a waitress there.

PB - I know that the Air Line diner near La Guardia Airport in Queens was also used in Goodfellas. Signora V. and I ate there several times, before it was bought by the Jackson Hole Wyoming chain and had their sign altered. I know I have a photo she took of the outside of the diner, and I'll post it when I can scan it in.

Just recently, yet another old classic diner in Manhattan bit the dust. The Munson diner closed to make way for luxury condos (what else?). The entire structure was loaded onto a flatbed truck and transported out to the mid-west somewhere (I forget exactly where.). Years ago, my wife shot a bunch of slides of the Munson. I'll have to look for them - I have a pretty good idea where they might be.

And don't forget to watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on The Food Network. (There should be an episode rerunning later tonight.)

Signor V.

Yes SV, you're correct about the Air Line Diner being in GOODFELLAS, as well. The final Queens Diner depicted in the movie, is the Sherwood Diner, which was used for the final scene between Jimmy and Henry, when Jimmy asks him to go to Florida and take care of that "rat." It's located on Rockaway Turnpike on the Lawrence/Queens border. As you head into Lawrence, it's on the right.

Boy, mob guys and their diners!

I'm not much of a diner person, some can be okay for breakfast but for a real meal I can't eat at a diner.

Don't really have them in the UK

Have you guys ever heard of Jimmy's Diner? They just opened one here in Corona and I see they have one by the same name in Brooklyn. I'm wondering if it is a chain.

It's toally 50's style with a huge wall covered by Elvis' Ed Sullivan Appearance from 1956, and the other walls with stars from that era as well (see link).

I went there to check it out yesterday and it is very casual but nice. They need a little more nostalgia beside the pictures...like jukeboxes maybe. Then again it is brand new, so maybe they will add. The burger was very big although not exceptionally thick. The prices exceptionally reasonable even for a diner of its type. To keep in tradition of that era, I had to get a burger, fries and a shake.

TIS


http://www.melendezmurals.com/photo2_2.html

I believe that there is one in a section of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. But I've never been there.

Is it something like a Johnny Rockets?