RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I could go for these -- I enjoy "retro" stuff!

Best when the waitresses are wearing rollerblades who absent-mindedly chew bubblegum as they skillfully scoot around taking orders. Where there's a jukebox in the corner that'll magically play your favourite song without charge if you hit it just right. Where the burgers have toppings so copious it's virtually impossible not to get exceedingly messy, but it tastes so good you just don't notice. Pure Americana like a bald eagle with red, white and blue feathers drinking a budweiser.

The actual article is slipping farther and farther away - just like the 1950's. The less people who remain on the globe who recall them from actual life and not the nostalgia craze of the 70's the less likely they are to appear as anything more than a stylized, watered down version of the original. I love the food at a small chain called Johnny Rockets, but this is about as much like an old diner as your local weather man is a Hollywood celebrity.

I miss the old-style railroad-car-diners that were still in some abundance during my childhood. The unfortunate trend seems to be renovating these old-style diners, making them look gaudy and "modern", and practically destroying their appeal and ambience, at least for me. Some of these gems from a bygone era still remain in NJ, although they're becoming increasingly rare. There's the White Manna in Hackensack, which has been around forever and serves tiny but delicious hamburgers. There's the Bendix Diner on Rt. 17 North in Hasbrouck Heights, where Nancy Walker filmed those infamous Bounty commercials. My grandfather used to dine here, and if I'm in the right imaginative frame of mind, I can envision walking in and seeing him still sitting at the counter, drinking a cup of coffee and dipping in his donut as he whiles away his lunch hour. There's the Summit Diner, where Ernest Hemingway supposedly once ate, and which still serves old-fashioned, stick-to-your-ribs diner food that will take you back 40-plus years (even if you're under 40 years of age). I used to hang out at Libby's Lunch in Paterson, which I believe has been in operation since the late 30's. It used to be like a real-life Twilight Zone episode; like stepping back into time to a more innocent, wholesome era (even if such an innocent, wholesome era never really existed). Eating there, you could imagine Lou Costello walking in through the front door and ordering a hamburger "all the way." They've since re-done and re-modeled the entire structure in order to conform to a more modernistic ideal, I guess. The food is still good, but it's sort of been ruined for me in some profound, unalterable way. Sad, I suppose, but I guess there's no stopping the march of "progress"...

Yup. Everything from the booths with the hard plastic seats you can slide across to the spinning stools, the glass sugar dispenser with the whole in the top, the chrome napkin dispenser, and of course.. the jukebox. Plus lots of other things I'm probably forgetting.

I love eating in old fashioned diners.It's almost as good as a time machine! Usually they are family owned and operated,and I'd rather give my money to a hard working family than to some chain restaraunt.The food is usually tasty and "homestyle",too.

I remember eating in diners that were around. they served the comfort foods. doubt if you could get health conscious type foods there. but homecooking. nothing fancy about them but nice memories.

The original ones that have actually lasted are hella cool; the modern fake chain ones - esp seen in southern California - decidedly less so. "Put another dime in the jukebox baby." - Joan Jett

Hey, if it was in Happy Days, then it must be American.