The Development of the Diner

The BBC writes, “with its chrome counter and cherry pie, the diner is an icon of American culture. Richard Gutman, author of American Diner Then and Now… has reclaimed 80 abandoned luncheonettes, and his memorabilia now occupies 4,000 sq ft near his home in Rhode Island.” Gutman states, “‘I was first interested in diners because of their architecture and their vernacular nature,’ His favourite working cafeteria, the Modern Diner in Rhode Island, is the first such establishment to be preserved for posterity on the National Register of Historic Places.” Below you can see Modern Diner as well as two others on the register: In this Smithsonian article, Gutman tells us,

• “the history of the diner began in Providence—with a horse-drawn wagon, a menu and, as they say, a dream. In 1872, an enterprising man named Walter Scott introduced the first ‘night lunch wagon.’ Coming out at dusk, the lunch wagons would pick up business after restaurants closed, serving workers on the late shift, newspapermen, theatergoers, anyone out and about after dark and hungry for an inexpensive hot meal. A fellow would get his food from the wagon’s window and eat sitting on the curb.
• Gaining popularity, the lunch wagons evolved into ‘rolling restaurants,’ with a few seats added within, first by Samuel Jones in 1887. Folks soon started referring to them as ‘lunch cars,’ which then became the more genteel-sounding ‘dining cars,’ which was then, around 1924, shortened to the moniker ‘diner.’“
• According to this Eater article, “by the 1930s, the diner as we know it had physically taken shape. The mobile lunch wagons had ditched their wheels, setting up their counters and barstools permanently where most of their working-class clientele would find them.”
• “In the late 1950s, there were over 5,000 diners in America, and manufacturing of the modular, stainless steel structures boomed. Diners are so connected to a nostalgic idea of America that in the years following the 9/11 attacks, diners apparently became more popular.”

This Thrillist article describes the rise of Arthur Valentine, “an entrepreneur who specialized in prefabricated lunchrooms. Valentine wasn’t the first person to market mail-order diners… [but he] went smaller and wider with models like the eight-stool Aristocrat, nine-stool Nifty-Nine, 10-stool Master, and window-service-only Burger Bar, all of which appealed to any-sized populations. Valentine’s business largely catered to rural startups in budding towns… that didn’t need a fancy setup, and his business was devoted to helping others achieve their own American Dream. Roadside Architecture has a list of old Valentine diners in New Mexico, which can be see in Albuquerque, the Wildlife West Nature Park, the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo, Grants, Hatch and below:

Here is the old Valentine diner in Los Ojos:

Here is the old Valentine diner in Tres Piedras:

Route 66 Diners (1937 route)

There are quite a few classic diners along Central Avenue in Albuquerque, below are some of the diners elsewhere in New Mexico along old Route 66. The map below dates to 1963 and comes from the David Rumsey collection.

Russell’s Travel Center: about 40 minutes east of Tucumcari and close to the ruins of Glenrio, this center has, “a chapel, restaurant, Subway, Tire Shop and an intriguing car museum.” I haven’t had a chance to visit yet, so these photos come from google maps

Kix on 66 in Tucumcari: according to Route 66 Times, this diner was opened in 2019 and is located in a Denny’s dating to the 1960s (Denny’s first started franchising in 1963)

Del’s in Tucumcari: opened in the 1940s. It features a statue of a cow, like El Sombrerete (formerly the Townhouse) and Mac’s La Sierra Coffee Shop, both in Albuquerque. This blog posts writes that, “life-sized fiberglass statues of stocky steers… became the symbol of steakhouses along the motorways and byways. Ironically, this statuary was not designed for use as symbology for restaurants. In the 1950s, Bob Prewitt, a manufacturer of fiberglass trailers created life-sized fiberglass animals to prove the trailers were large enough to accommodate the real thing. Soon the manufacture of animals became the primary focus of his business. He created almost as many types of animals as Noah took on board his ark. The steer became one of the most popular.”

Pow Wow Restaurant & Lizard Lounge: attached the Pow Wow Motel, which used to be known as the Congress

Golden Dragon, Tucumcari: opened in 1966, in the 1950s this building housed Hall’s Restaurant

La Cita in Tucumcari: opened in 1940 in a different location, moved to its current one in 1961

Sun & Sand in Santa Rosa: the restaurant is still in operation but the motel, opened in the 1950s, is not

Comet II in Santa Rosa: first established in 1927

Joseph’s Bar & Grill in Santa Rosa: open since 1956

Lettie’s in Santa Rosa: opened in the 1960s (later known as Route 66 Restaurant), it closed down in 2019

Travelers Coffee Shop in Santa Rosa: unsure if this building exists today, but here is an old postcard of a classic Route 66 diner in the city

K&I Diner in Albuquerque: the diners in Albuquerque listed here are not directly along Route 66 (I have posted about those on this blog post), but several are nearby and may have been visited by Route 66 travelers. K&I’s was opened in 1960 by Irene Warner, who ran the restaurant until her death in 1999. The image below is from google street view from 2019, before the exterior was renovated

Stufy’s in Albuquerque: open since 1968, one of its rounders Ray Madrid had a previous restaurant in downtown Albuquerque named Mexican Maid. They serve a variety of stuffed sopapillas

The Owl Cafe in Albuquerque

Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles in Albuquerque: here is a short article from New Mexico Magazine

Cecilia’s in Albuquerque: opened in 1999

Lucky Boy in Albuquerque: opened in 1968, it serves “Chinese Food & Hamburgers”

Hurricane’s Cafe in Albuquerque: “Founded in 1987 on the site of a very famous dining/cruising establishment from the 1950s named Frank’s. We offer drive-in service with carhops, or full dining with table service for about 80 inside and outside.”

Gabby’s Wow Diner in Milan (near Grants): located here, great food and an old-timey atmosphere

Canton Cafe in Grants: dating to the 1950s or 60s

Mike’s 66 Bar (formerly Pat’s Lounge) in Grants: the building dates back to the 1930s, as of early 2024 google maps says it is temporarily closed

Jerry’s Cafe in Gallup: “Jerry’s has been family owned and operated since 1976 and has one of the most iconic neon signs in the Route 66 vicinity in Downtown Gallup”

Earl’s Family Restaurant in Gallup: opened in 1947

Route 66 Diner in Gallup: “a 1950’s themed diner on historic Route 66 on the east end of Gallup, New Mexico. The Route 66 Diner serves classic American and Mexican fare.”

Railway Cafe in Gallup: a trained themed restaurant!

Kitchen’s Opera House in Gallup: the building was constructed in 1895. It served as a theatre and space for other public events. More recently, it housed the Eagle Cafe, but this seems to have closed.

Off of Route 66

Sunrise Family Diner in Santa Fe: located here, this might be my favorite diner in New Mexico 🙂

Circle T Burgers in Belen: founded in 1958 on Main Street in Belen, another location opened on Reinken Avenue in 1978. It specializes in green chile cheeseburgers.

Penny’s Diner in Vaughn: a chain restaurant,” known for… 1950’s style nostalgic memorabilia”

Tumbleweeds Diner in Magdalena: Kate Nelson writes for New Mexico Magazine that the owners of the diner drove through New Mexico on their way back home to Seattle, were shown an empty restaurant on the west side of town, and decided to open a restaurant

Stop and Eat in Espanola: it wasn’t open the day I was visiting, so I didn’t get a chance to eat there, but it is a cute retro drive-in style fast food restaurant

Charlie’s Spice & Span in Las Vegas: located here, a great diner in my favorite city in New Mexico

Smokey Bear Restaurant in Capitan: located here, between the Smokey Bear motel and museum

Eagle Guest Ranch in Datil: after spending the in Magdalena in the wonderful Hall Hotel, we discovered that there was no where in the town to get breakfast that didn’t have meat, so we drove 30 minutes to Datil to have breakfast at this spot, which was create! A man named “Googie” asked I wanted to take a photo of him “on his horse” 🙂

Others:

• Big Daddy’s Diner in Cloudcroft:
• Hachita Food Market: located here, featured in this New Mexico Magazine article
• Jambo Bobcat Bite near Santa Fe: located here, featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
• Pete’s Cafe in Belen: located here, it has been open since 1949
• Fred Harvey Whistle Stop Cafe in Belen: opened in 2023, it recreates a cafe experience from the 1930s
• TJ’s Diner in Farmington: located here, it has been open since 1989
• Bibo Bar and Grille: located on the Laguna Pueblo, nearby is the The Portales Church of the Hidden Cove
• Maggie’s Diner in Madrid: located here, built for the film Wild Hogs
• The Original Owl Bar & Cafe in San Antonio: located here, it has been open since 1945
• Chili Hills Restaurant in Edgewood
• El Camino Restaurant & Lodge in Socorro: located here, open since 1963
• Foxy’s Drive In in Clovis
• Mom’s Cafe in Clovis
• Mustang Diner in Mountainair: located here
• Shotgun Willie’s in Red River: located here
• Sparky’s, Hatch: “In the works for more than 20 years, Sparky’s was born from one couples combined dream. Josie Nunn’s love of design and handcrafted coffee, and her husband, Teako’s desire to make exceptional wood-fired barbeque and made from scratch, green chile cheeseburgers.”