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Posts Tagged ‘Diner’

In Search of the Golden Arrow Diner

November 28, 2018

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO

The Golden Arrow Diner postcard has long been a favorite of Lincoln Highway and diner fans. The back lists it as “Lincoln Highway, US No 1, Langhorne.” After having written books on the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania, and Diners of Pennsylvania, I still had no idea exactly where it was located.

PA-Langhorne-Golden Arrow.jpg

The original books were written pre-Internet, so we now have the world of online resources. But it’s not THAT easy: one site, for example, listed it in 1953 at “City Line ON Roosevelt Blvd, Trevose,” another said “City Line ABOVE Roosevelt,” and yet another, “Roosevelt Blvd NORTH OF City Line” One post said across from a cemetery, another said the cemetery was behind it.

Best I can tell, it was just southwest of Street Road (which is now Old Street Road, dead-ending at newer, wider Route 1). The diner’s name was registered by Emilio Ciotti in 1951. As the postcard back notes, the Golden Arrow was build by Comac in Irvington, N.J., a relatively rare make.

Golden Arrow Diner, 1954. © Getty Images.

1958

1960

The diner moved in 1967, though not far, and became the kitchen for a new, bigger venture of Emidio or “George” and Lena Ciotti: the Golden Arrow Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge Of Trevose, 3631 Street Road, Cornwells Heights, Pa. Check the map above for both old and new locations.

The Bucks County Courier Times of Nov. 17, 1967, said this new location had a plush dining room, cocktail lounge, wall-to-wall carpeting, bay window, and large aquarium. An in-house jazz trio of piano, drums, and upright bass provided “the Philadelphia sound, if you know what that is.”

1971

In recent years, it was sold and remodeled into the Stadium Bar & Grill. This Google Street View shows what may be the diner sticking out of the larger building:

Stadium 2014.jpg

Unfortunately we can no longer check — the Stadium was demolished in 2015, replaced by a park. Now, barely a block away, the Metro Diner serves customers from a modern shopping plaza.

Final odd note — in 1994 there was an ad looking for workers for a Golden Arrow Diner on Rts 11 & 15, Shamokin Dam, Pa., and then a flurry of these ads in 1997. Then that trail goes cold too, more roadside history lost to time….

Tags:Diner, food, history, Langhorne, maps, Pennsylvania, travel, Trevose
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

First waitress in 1938 remembers Serro's DIner

June 14, 2012

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
As the former Serro’s Diner moves closer to being back in service, the diner’s first waitress got to visit the restoration project. The Serro family opened the brand new 1938 O’Mahony-brand diner in Irwin, Pa., as a Lincoln Highway bypass was being built around the town for the coming Pennsylvania Turnpike terminus. The diner will soon be part of a museum complex being built by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor between Greensburg and Ligonier.

A story in the Tribune-Review (including the two images here by Eric Schmadel) reported how 95-year-old Jenny Baloh recently visited the diner where she began waitressing in 1938. As one of the 10 Serro siblings, she was THE first waitress:

My brothers (Louis and Joseph) bought the dining car when I was a teenager. I told them I didn’t know a thing about waitressing. They said, “You’ll learn.”

The diner was rescued from likely demolition in 1992 when I had the pleasure of arranging for its purchase and move by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, now the Heinz History Center. With no practical place to display the diner, it was given to the LHHC. After almost 2 years of work, the diner is almost ready for it’s new home, a soon-to-be-constructed addition at the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum along Route 30 East, across from the Kingston Bridge.

Order Lincoln Highway Companion from Amazon – click HERE

Tags:Diner, highway history, historic highway, Irwin PA, Lincoln Highway, PA, roadside attraction, roadtrip, travel, US 30
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel | Leave a Comment »

Lincoln Highway diner demolished (?) in NJ

December 9, 2010

LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
UPDATE: The local newspaper now reports the diner was moved to Pennsylvania.

A vintage diner along the Lincoln Highway in New Brunswick, NJ, has been demolished, reportedly on December 7, 2010. The 1941 Fodero-brand Mack’s Diner stopped serving food in 1968. It became a grocery, then was bought in 1976 for $7,250 and operated as All Ears’ Records until criminal activity closed that business in 2005.

A 2008 article in MyCentralJersey.com noted that owner Tareq Algharaybeh was hoping to find a buyer for the dilapidated diner:

Flanked by a record shop and a mini market on French between Seaman and Suydam streets, the Mack’s turquoise shell glimpsed daylight recently. Last month, the advertising posters that have for years obscured nearly its entire facade were taken down.

For about a week, the words “Mack” and “Diner,” on either side of the brick and aluminum portico tethered to the patina of decades, were again visible.

Inside, what appears to be the diner’s original tile and wood counter teeters against the test of time. But other than the ventilation hoods, stripped of their exhaust fans, little trace remains of the diner’s days and nights as a restaurant.

But Algharaybeh, who bought the diner two years ago, says it is otherwise sturdy…. Algharaybeh, who also owns and runs Sam’s Pizza and Chicken two blocks south on French Street, has little use for this period piece. With three years left on the lease for the pizza establishment, Algharaybeh wants to move that business, which he has operated for 20 years at French and Alexander streets, onto the Mack’s lot.

Tags:building demolition, Diner, highway history, historic highway, Jersey diner, Lincoln Highway, New Brunswick NJ, New Jersey, restaurant, roadside
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside | 3 Comments »

Lincoln Highway diner location for new Apple ad

August 13, 2009

A classic diner in California was just used as the setting for a new ad for Apple, maker of computers, iPhones, and iPods. The former Truckee Diner (and before that, the Birmingham Grille when it was in PA), is now Jax at the Tracks, a 1940s diner with a retro redo. It changed owners recently and is now open from 7 am to 10 pm. A good guess might be that the ad is for a notepad computer. Apple has not yet sold one but it seems to be the coming wave in personal computing, sized between a smartphone and laptop.

CA_TruckeeDinerApple

According to Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog,

Amidst extreme security, yesterday Apple filmed a new ad at Jax at the Tracks, a hip 1940’s style diner in Truckee, California. Filming on location is a very interesting departure from the usual Apple TV commercials, which are studio based.

Speaking to the Sierra Sun, the owner Bud Hally said Apple wanted a “cool spot for the 20-something crowd.”

Some people think this means an ad for a new iPod, but the fact is that nobody has a clue about what this new unreleased secret product really is. Certainly, the security won’t be that high for a new variation of an existing model, but you never know with Apple.

Tags:ad filed at diner, Apple computer ad, CA, Diner, highway history, Lincoln Highway, Truckee CA, vintage diner
Posted in film/video, food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip | 1 Comment »

Drive to Virginia finds 2 closings in Breezewood

May 5, 2009

Last weekend I drove mostly 2-lane roads to Norfolk, Virginia, and back to Pittsburgh, some 900 miles. At Breezewood, Pa., a couple long-time Lincoln Highway landmarks were out of business: the Family House Restaurant and adjacent Penn Aire Motel. I’ve stayed at the motel and it was fine but certainly on the familiar decline from 1950s fabulous to no-longer-AAA-rated. The restaurant seemed to thrive but Turnpike traffic was noticeably down this trip.

On a brighter note, the trip to Virginia included favorite roadside stops like Dinosaurland and some new ones in the Shenandoah Mountains. Flickr friend loungelistener cued me into a couple cool places on US 50 just west of Winchester, Virginia, including the curved-layout Hayfield Motel and the tiny Amherst Diner, where I had a nice breakfast.

While researching my Roadside Attractions book, I wanted to stop at Doumar’s Cones & Barbecue, opened 1934 in Norfolk and now I had the chance. Here’s 87-year-old Albert outside the cool carhop drive-in with his family’s 1905 waffle cone maker! Albert claims it was his Uncle Abe who invented the ice cream cone during the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.

Tags:Breezewood PA, Diner, Doumar's ice cream, ice cream, Lincoln Highway, Norfolk VA, old motel, Road trip, roadside, Virginia, Winchester VA
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | 2 Comments »

Not much else but LH Companion book news

April 7, 2009

With Spring travel not yet here and snow surprising many of us, there’s not much news from the road, but my editor just sent some good news – a few honest-to-goodness samples of my Lincoln Highway Companion book have arrived! These go out to booksellers that want a look before ordering, and perhaps reviewers. I’m hoping to see one too — he says “Looks great!!!” but I’ll still be anxious till I see it myself. Here’s a photo from it of the Frazer Diner that Stackpole Books posted on Facebook. Click it to see it a bit larger.

Tags:1930s diner, 1960s Chevy convertible, classic Chevy, Diner, Frazer Diner, Lincoln Highway, new book, PA, Road trip, travel
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside | 1 Comment »

Albums document Lincoln Hwy diner disassembly

January 13, 2009

The Review of East Liverpool, Ohio, has published a couple galleries of reader photos featuring Crosser’s Diner, a long-time eatery along the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon. I recently reported here and here that it’s being taken apart. The newest one shows the diner being disassembled for an uncertain future:

oh_crosserdiner_alb2_ins

Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos are by Patti Schaeffer:

An album from August titled “Death of the Crosser Dinette,” documents its decline. By then, the roof had collapsed, stopped only by the counter, hence the roofline bowing that we reported earlier. You can see water damage and that the wooden framing in the middle was probably not salvageable.

oh_crosserdiner_alb1_ins

Click the screen shot to see the collection – photos by madbunny/Brin Metzendorf:

Tags:Diner, disassembly of classic diner, Lincoln Highway, Lisbon OH, Ohio
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside | 1 Comment »

Moondance diner from NYC set to open in WY

January 8, 2009

Another diner loss for New York City is a gain for Wyoming. The Moondance Diner sat near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in Lower Manhattan, which served the Lincoln Highway when it was re-signed in 1928. After nearly 80 years there, the diner had to move in 2007 and was bought by Cheryl and Vince Pierce of La Barge in southwest Wyoming, 72 miles north of the Lincoln Highway. Here are two views before departure from Forgotten NY:

ny_moondance

ny_moondance2

The Pierces paid $7,500 for the diner then had to move it, but red tape and a rain storm slowed the 2,400-mile trip through nine states. Then snow collapsed the roof last winter. According to the Jackson Hole Star Tribune, the diner is opening this month, perhaps tomorrow.

One of the last free-standing diners in Manhattan, the Moondance served up cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes and malts to working-class New Yorkers, artists and actors for decades. The diner gained national prominence after being featured in the film “Spider-Man,” and was included as a backdrop in numerous TV episodes over the years. The Moondance became a victim of the times, however, and was scheduled for demolition in 2007 to make room for condominiums.

That paper’s photo, below, shows owner Cheryl Pierce with letters stored from the historic neon-lit, revolving crescent Moondance sign. The menu will include traditional diner fare such as burgers, meatloaf, homemade fries, and milkshakes/malts from an antique soda fountain.

moondancediner

Those wishing to visit can turn north on US 30 where it famously breaks away from the Lincoln Highway at Granger, Wyoming, between Fort Bridger and Green River, then at Opal turn north on US 189.

Tags:Diner, diner restoration, Fort Bridger WY, Green River WY, history, Lincoln Highway, New York City, roadside, US 30, Wyoming
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside, transportation | Leave a Comment »

Diner sleuth drives to Lisbon — news not good

January 6, 2009

oh_lisbondinerforsale

Diner fan and fanatic John Shoaf couldn’t just read about the deconstruction of the Crosser Diner along the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon Ohio — he had to drive from West Virginia to see the situation for himself. Sorry to say, not only will St. Louis not be getting the diner, but neither will anyone else. John reports that if there ever was a deal to move it, the buyer never showed or paid. The porcelain enameled panels have been taken off and stored, but by now the wooden framing has been burned!

At least he got a look at it first:

WOW!! B.G. Harley’s design used by Sterling is highly evident in what’s left. Each of the four-foot sections is highly visible. The “frame base flanges/bolts” can easily be seen in how it was constructed, with each four-foot section bolted together till the diner was the size you wanted.

Interesting even more to me: It started as a CURVED ROOF diner in the plant but was given a flat-ish over roof (using the same wood as the curved part so it wasn’t an after add-on) to make it a later updated squared-off design.

Too bad that even one neato four-foot section isn’t going to be saved for posterity, it’s a crying shame. A beautiful example GONE FOREVER

Here’s a photo of a round-roofed Sterling for sale at Antique Car Investments:

sterlingdiner

Tags:antiques, destruction, Diner, Judkins Co., Lincoln Highway, Lisbon Ohio, Ohio, Sterling diners
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, roadside | 3 Comments »

Ohio diner leaving Lincoln Highway for St. Louis

January 1, 2009

The Crosser Diner, which has served the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon, Ohio, for more than half a century, is being carted away. The rare Sterling model at 127 W. Lincoln Way has been closed for years, leading to speculation and concern that it might be demolished. The Lisbon Morning Journal reports that Herb Chesney is disassembling the historic diner for owners Gayle Beck and Paul Hammond, who are salvaging as much of the diner as possible in hopes of reconstructing it just outside St. Louis, Missouri. This photo by Patti Schaeffer is from the December 28 Morning Journal.

oh_lisbondinerdecon

The Sterling-brand diner was manufactured about 1944 by J.B. Judkins of Merrimac, Mass., best known for their streamliner models featuring one or both ends rounded. This Dinette model is one of only 4 survivors.

Earlier in December, the Journal reported:

Discussion continued about the progress of Crosser’s Diner off Lincoln Way. Lewis expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of communication among the village and the owners and contractor. “Do we have any contact or time frame?” Lewis asked. “We seem to be in the dark up here.” No members of council could give an answer about the progression of the demolition. Solicitor Virginia Barbarak said she did speak with the fire chief but that she “didn’t have a time frame.” Lewis said he’d like to find out when the contractor will be finishing the work. “We need to know,” he said. “A lot of people are upset. I’d like to see it gone by the end of the year.”

With Lincoln Highway tourism rising, the diner could have been an amazing draw for the town, which has a 1950s diner a few blocks away. Here’s the diner in 2007:

OH_Crosser D