Diner Near Me

For many American’s the diner can feel like a home away from home. Not only do they serve as beacons of nostalgia and hope in a fast food driven society, but the diner is a place for socialization, good home cooked food, and that warm fuzzy feeling often reserved for dinners at Mom’s house.

Are you interested in finding a diner near your location? Simply browse diner near me on the map below and find a list of diner’s located in a close proximity to your current location. Need a bit more information on the American diner? Read on for facts, trivia, and a bit of history on this all American icon!

Diner Near Me – Find it on the Map

Diner Near Me – Diner Trivia

Who created the first diner?

According to historians, the concept of what we now know as the traditional American diner began with a man named Walter Scott. Scott was a Rhode Island entrepreneur, who repurposed a horse pulled wagon into a car that served up sandwiches, coffee, pies, and eggs to people late at night all the way back in 1874. Before long, he quit his job as a printer to sell food from his wagon full time. Soon several other companies followed to produce lunch wagons for early diners. A man by the name of T.H. Buckley found that manufacturing and designing lunch cars proved a bit more profitable than running one. He is known as the inventor of the diner and the owner of the Worcester Lunch Car Company. These early dining cars included large wheels, overhangs, clever murals, frosted glass, and beautiful one of a kind lettering. The interior’s included basic stoves and ice boxes. By the 1900s, a total of three companies manufactured lunch cars: Worcester Lunch Car, Tierney, and O’Mahony. Without these early manufactures, the diner as we know it today would not have existed. It’s thanks to the entrepreneurship of these men that diner’s became an American standard. Consider just how much history goes into diners while searching diner near me.

diner near me

Diner’s often featured an aluminum front and script font.

Which state has the most diners?

If you’re searching diner near me, you may think that it’s middle America that boasts the most diners per capita. Surprisingly, it is not the midwest or even the south that holds the title for the most diners, it’s the northeast. The state with the most diners in the United States is New Jersey. Not only does it reserve the title of having the most diners in the US, it actually possess the most diners in the world, earning it the title as the diner capital of earth. There are currently an estimated 525 diners in the United States. States following close behind include New York and Pennsylvania. The word diner was crafted by Walter Scott, who associated the word with “walk up service.” As his initial agon had windows on each side, diner’s strolled right up to place an order, thus making the focus of the diner the customer and not the restaurant.

Diner Near Me – Diner Facts

Diner Fare

While searching diner near me, you’ll likely come across the phrase “diner fare” time and time again. This phrase has to do with the type of food typically served up at a traditional diner. So what exactly is diner fare? Diners are known to serve up American food such as hamburgers, french fries, club sandwiches, roasts and other simple, quick, and inexpensive dishes. They are also known to dish up comfort food such as meat loaf, ham roast, and mac n’ cheese. Much of the food at diners is grilled, as early diners often centered on the grill. At the time, it was the heart of the diner. Coffee is also a ubiquitous staple at every diner, even if it’s not always of the highest quality. Many individuals will frequent a diner counter just to meet up with friends for a few cups of coffee and some gossip. Diners are also known to serve up delicious hand blended milkshakes and homespun desserts such as pies and cakes. These desserts are often displayed in a glass case to really get your appetite buzzing. Original diners often had a unique exterior layer of stainless steel siding, a feature that was fairly common in diner architecture. Nowadays, many diners still feature a nostalgic and retro style that can still hearken days long past.

Cultural Significance

One can’t search diner near me without considering the cultural significance that diners have held since their inception in the late 1800s. Diners have always attracted a wide spectrum of local populations. No matter what class a person belonged to, they were welcome at the local diner with open arms. From the mid twentieth century on, diners were seen as a quintessential American landmark, often reflecting the cultural diversity and egalitarian nature of the United States. Though often seen as All-American establishments, throughout much of the 20th century, particularly in the Northeast were diners were absurdly popular, these establishments were often operated by Greek-american immigrant families. This is why the presence of Greek foods like gyros, have always been popular on diner menus throughout the country.

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