Roadside Diner Magnets

Get a taste for the 50s at the 57 Diner

Post-war America and new super highways brought about a new-found interest in traveling, so roadside diners started popping up in key locations from coast to coast. One such place in Elkton, Maryland on the freshly completed US 40 was the Elkton Diner, a modern deco style eatery which also played host as a Trailways bus stop. Positioned almost dead center between New York and Baltimore, Elkton Diner was a popular stop for highway travelers for years before being consumed in a fire in 1962.

Get a taste for the 50s at the V8 Diner

Get a taste for the 50s at the Fine 59 Diner

If you traveled through Pennsylvania Dutch country anytime from the 50s until the late 90s, you likely noticed signs advertising Zinn's Diner and their authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. If you followed the signs and got off the turnpike, you probably recall the larger than life figure of Amos, a stereotypical Pennsylvania Dutchman standing near the entrance to welcome you inside for some Wunderful Gudt food or maybe to keep you company while you waited outside for a table. While Zinn's is nothing but a memory today, you can still enjoy many of their signature dishes at the Park Place Diner and if you want to catch up with Amos, he was last seen standing around at Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn.

The Lone Star Inn, a cafe along the highway in Tulare, Calfornia. 1939.

There is one in every town.

Vintage roadside diner graphic

the Dog House, a Seattle restaurant/bar located at 7th Avenue and Bell Street (at 2230 7th Avenue). Run by Laurie Gulbransen (1913-2000) for most of 60 years, it closed in on January 31, 1994. The Dog House was an epoch of Seattle history, a virtually non-stop, open-24-hours run of food, booze, music and fellowship The Dog House was a great place where truly people of all types and ages went. Their famous sign was true -- all roads did lead to the Dog House. In some ways I think it is possible to date the death of old Seattle to when the Dog House closed. After 1993 is when the high tech, hip Seattle, the darling of the national press city really took off.

Retro Vintage Diner Route 66 Classic Car Roadside Attraction at Night

This is part of my Colfax series - Davies Chuck Wagon Diner - sketched from my photograph.

Flying Saucer Restaurant as a polaroid. This landmark drive-in located in Niagara Falls Ontario is a popular diner with tourist and locals. Part 3 of my digital art collection.

Drink in the mid Century modern style with this C&C Retro original illustration.