# Where have all the diners gone, damnit! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736 "2004-10-23T06:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/61 "2004-10-25T18:27:48Z")
If you find yourself in Indy, check out the Fountain Square Diner. I like to take the kiddo and go get grilled cheese and fries and chocolate shakes. It’s a real throwback and a very cool place. [http://www.fountainsquareindy.com/diner.html](http://www.fountainsquareindy.com/diner.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/62 "2004-10-25T18:40:36Z")
> [@Eyebrows 0f Doom](#): > > Yup, I was just gonna post this. I live on Long Island and everywhere you look there is a diner. There must be like 6 within a couple miles of my house. And I cannot stand any of them!! It is the same thing at every single one; same layout, food choices, atmosphere, etc. I hate these diners. They have so many random things on the menu that I can never choose anything, cause no matter what it is it’s usually crap. But hey, we seem to have IHOPs all over the place too, so as long as those are here, I’m happy. Mmmm, breakfast at 8pm. 😛 See, I just go to the Massapequa Diner on Sunrise, get a cheeseburger or veggiebuger & fries, & I’m a happy camper. Dammit. Now you have me thinking about the IHOP along that route. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/63 "2004-10-25T18:49:20Z")
> [@Cosmopolitan](#): > > See, I just go to the Massapequa Diner on Sunrise, get a cheeseburger or veggiebuger & fries, & I’m a happy camper. > > Dammit. Now you have me thinking about the IHOP along that route. Yeah, the veggie burger and fries is my usual choice as well. I only find myself at the IHOP when the Communist insists we eat there for some occasion. Instead of “on a main drag,” I should have said that these diners are all on the SAME drag (Sunrise Highway). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/64 "2004-10-25T19:33:47Z")
If you visit Toronto, check out **Fran’s** on COllege street just west of Yonge. And there’s **The Goof** way east on Qyeen Street. ---
**Author:** ![GillianBoardman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GillianBoardman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GillianBoardman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/65 "2004-10-25T19:45:41Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > [Here ya go,](http://www.dinercity.com/paDiner/phila.html) **Gillian**. > The Philly diner guide-complete with pictures. Now I’ve got to shake the stupid radio jingle- _Everybody who knows… goes to Melrose_. 😉 Thank You, **danceswithcats**! Next time I get home, which ought to be next month I’ll see if I can sneak off for a Mayfair fix. I lived almost around the corner from there for a year or so when I was 18 and first on my own, I loved that place. Of course, my mother will want to know why her homemade breakfast isn’t good enough! The good thing is that I can have that breakfast at midnight, and my kids are old enough now to do it with me! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/66 "2004-10-25T22:38:47Z")
Duncan, OK. There’s this great place right next to the Heritage Motel that has a ham steak bigger than my face and REAL MASHED POTATOES. > [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Some fit the style, some don’t. There are the big, sprawling ones like Truckstops of America which are more tourist trap than restaurant. Those could never be confused with a diner. That’s a “travel plaza”. A truckstop is an entirely different thing. > [@Luke Skywalker](#): > > I was thinking of one specific truckstop on I-70 in Indiana, where the restaurant has a log cabin motif, typical diner food, and waitresses in beehive hairdos. That sounds a lot like the I-80 in Iowa. At least, I think it’s in Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![alphaFemale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecb155/32.png) [@alphaFemale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaFemale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/67 "2004-10-25T23:05:28Z")
i don’t eat in restaurants shaped like rail cars. :o ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/68 "2004-10-25T23:10:35Z")
May I submit Harry’s Coffee Shop, in La Jolla, of all places. It’s the real deal. Although the halibut salad slightly exceeds your price limit, I think you’ll find the rest of the menu acceptable. The waitresses are quite authentic, as is the decor. [http://www.harryscoffeeshop.com/index.htm](http://www.harryscoffeeshop.com/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/69 "2004-10-25T23:38:47Z")
> [@alphaFemale](#): > > i don’t eat in restaurants shaped like rail cars. > > :o And why not? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/70 "2004-10-26T00:03:11Z")
> [@alphaFemale](#): > > i don’t eat in restaurants shaped like rail cars. > > :o Then you’re missing out. Carney’s on Sunset Blvd. Is a great place for chiliburgers or chilidogs. (Okay, so that’s pretty much the whole menu. And it only looks like a rail car because it _is_ a rail car.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/71 "2004-10-26T00:36:25Z")
> [@alphaFemale](#): > > i don’t eat in restaurants shaped like rail cars. > > :o You sound like my SO, refusing to eat in a place that looked liked it used to be someone’s house. She wouldn’t go into this place in rural West Virginia on Route 7, until I pointed out some of the best food comes out of places that looked like they used to be somone’s house and the fact that there didn’t seem to be any other places around. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/72 "2004-10-26T03:16:51Z")
I’d like to express my deep and abiding appreciation for a 2-location, northern Virginia diner called [Amphora’s Diner Deluxe](http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/Profiles/amphoras.html) (I go to the one in Herndon). It’s untraditional in some respects (huge Greek-Italian-American menu; outstanding and extensive bakery; etc.), but the service and food have always been outstanding and the value can’t be beat. All of the diner “classics” are available – this place will even give you gravy _and_ cheese on your fries. (Mmmm, gravy fries…) There is a [Silver Diner](http://www.silverdiner.com/) (bleh) closer to me, but I always go the extra miles to Amphora’s. And now I’m hungry…if I didn’t already have plans to go to an awesome Greek place for lunch tomorrow (followed by a visit to the best [bread store](http://www.greatharvest.com/) in the world), I’d be seriously considering going to Amphora’s. YUM! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/73 "2004-10-27T02:04:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yeah, the veggie burger and fries is my usual choice as well. I only find myself at the IHOP when the Communist insists we eat there for some occasion. > > Instead of “on a main drag,” I should have said that these diners are all on the SAME drag (Sunrise Highway). The Communist? The Colony Diner’s not bad - and it’s on the Turnpike! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736/74 "2004-10-27T02:14:28Z")
> [@Cosmopolitan](#): > > The Communist? One of my brothers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-diners-gone-damnit/270736.md?page=3)