Zeroing in on Midwest Diners

Posted by Bill on Monday, January 15, 2007   |   No Comments

Although your kids probably won’t believe it, there was a time when countless McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger Kings did not dot the land. What you found instead were the quaint representatives of a thoroughly American restaurant tradition—the Mom and Pop diner. In an earlier post, we took a look at how diners got started. In this one we want to zero in on some of the old diners still operating in the Midwest.

According to one source, about 1,900 operating diners are still left out there, and the Midwest is represented by several dozen. Bear in mind, though, that many diners are small eateries, and many of them operate on a shoestring budget. For these restaurant relics, business ebbs and flows.

More than one diner owner has had to simply close up when there was more ebb than flow. Stiff competition in these tough times is sometimes more than these oldtimers can survive. Finding and visiting diners is yet another example of when to apply that age-old travel rule: Call ahead.

Remember, too, what I pointed out previously. Not all operating diners are remakes of actual rolling stock. In fact, very few of them actually began life as real railroad relics. Most diners were actually manufactured as such rather than being reborn from rail cars. The commercial production of diners for sale to would-be restaurateurs began as early as 1887.

The first patent for a “lunch wagon” that would evolve into the diner was granted to Charles Palmer in 1891. In the earliest years of their existence, diners were an East-coast phenomenon. But that changed about 1930 when Arthur Valentine, the man who would lend his name to the most famous diner brand west of the Mississippi, opened a diner in Hazelton, Kansas. Two more soon followed in Wichita and Hutchinson.

Today, there are not many states that don’t have a diner or two. Part of the reason is that diners are still being produced by a handful of manufacturers. So in your travels, you will probably find a fascinating mixture of diners—some decades old and others brand new but made to look like they date from the 1950s or earlier. Eager for a taste of real American diner history? Try one of these.

Michigan
George and Sally’s Blue Moon DinerGilmore Car Museum
Hickory Corners, MI
269/671-5089

Lamy’s Diner
Henry Ford Museum
Dearborn, MI
313/271-1620

Pal’s Diner6503 28th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI
616/942-7257

Rosie’s Diner
4500 14 Mile Road
Rockford, MI
616/866-3663

Indiana
Cindy’s Diner830 South Harrison and Wayne Streets
Fort Wayne, IN
219/422-1957

Connie’s Diner5151 East 38th and Emerson Streets
Indianapolis, IN
317/549-0872

Joe’s Shelby Street Diner3623 S. Shelby Street
Indianapolis, IN
317/783-9590

South Side Diner1122 South Main Street
Goshen, IN
219/534-3790

Ohio
Ruthie and Moe’s Diner4002 Prospect Avenue
Cleveland, OH
216/431-8063

Steel Trolley Diner132 East Lincoln Way
Lisbon, OH
330/424-3663

The Diner on Sycamore1203 Sycamore
Cincinnati, OH
513/721-1212

Wink’s Diner
2169 Parkwood Avenue
Columbus, OH
614/263-4181

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