By Ty Burr | Boston Globe | May 6, 2007

With the release of "Waitress," the movies once more go backtbehind the formica counter. We've been here before, from the smelly aprons, to the slang ("Adam and Eve on a raft!"), to the fallen arches and lousy tips. If some of the diner films over the years have been rightfully 86ed, the following still hold up as blue-plate specials.

"Mildred Pierce" (1945)

Joan Crawford overcomes a cheating husband by baking pies, opening a diner, expanding it into a chain -- and winning an Oscar on top of everything else. Too bad evil daughter Ann Blyth hates the smell of grease and her "common frump" of a mom.

"Five Easy Pieces" (1970)

Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) wants whole wheat toast. The waitress (Lorna Thayer) says they don't serve it. So he orders a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, hold the mayo, the butter, the lettuce -- and the chicken. "You want me to hold the chicken, huh?" "I want you to hold it between your kneeeez." A star is born.

A Boise landmark turns 50 years old this month.

And to celebrate, the Westside Drive-in will be featuring drink and food specials from the 1950s and '60s.

One of Boise's first drive-ins opened on the corner of 21st and State Streets in 1957. At that time, customers could enjoy a hamburger for just 15 cents.

In 1969, the owner remodeled the drive-in and added a front counter, and for the past 38 years it's been serving up shakes, burgers and other gourmet treats to valley customers.

"Any drive in can have different types of burgers, we actually do have prime rib, fettuccine, lots of saute items," said Steve LaFontaine with the Westside Drive-in.

The week-long birthday celebration at the Westside Drive-in begins May 14.

Originally published online here: http://www.fox12news.com/Global/story.asp?S=6468251&nav=menu439_1

By Heather Yakin | Times Herald-Record | May 1, 2007

Liberty, NY
In a few months, the naysayers might be eating their words — and breakfast.

Two years after a group of private investors pooled their money to buy the landmark Munson Diner and haul it from Manhattan to Liberty, someone has signed on to run the place.

That someone is Fred Lagattuta of Swan Lake, said Heinrich Strauch, executive director of the Liberty Community Development Corp.

The diner's arrival in 2005, in a decidedly dilapidated state after a rough trip on a flatbed truck, has inspired some snipes from doubters. People grumbled about importing a vacant building into a struggling downtown.

When town and village officials threw the diner into consideration for a state grant targeting vacant buildings, there were complaints of favoritism.

Early yesterday afternoon, the purple-and-silver Art Deco diner was quiet.

Shrewsburg, MA
Revered by diner buffs for its art deco styling and steely exterior, the Edgemere Diner can be had for just a buck — though the dining car is only part of the deal.

A legal advertisement in the Telegram & Gazette last week announced that the town is accepting offers for the classic but neglected diner car that sits on Hartford Turnpike (Route 20) at the southern end of Flint Pond in the heart of the Edgemere neighborhood. The town is selling the diner, but leasing the land, which means the new tenant could choose to exit the diner business.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously in November to allow the town to solicit bids for the lease and sale of the town-owned diner. The board established minimum bids of $1 to purchase the diner and $2,000 a month to lease the property. The winner will get the diner and the lease. The lot is about 20,000 square feet.

A local entrepreneurial family plans to give new life to the last diner ever made in Worcester.

The Blanchard family has been in the food business for decades, but what started as Blanchard Milk on Cambridge Street in the 1940s and eventually became the Blanchard Foods Corp. catering and vending business is now bringing a diner to the Worcester neighborhood.

Cousins Chris and Matt Blanchard bought the "101 Deluxe" diner from the American Diner Museum of Providence, R.I., for $10,000.

They spent another $10,000 moving the diner to Cambridge Street, and so far, they've spent $350,000 renovating and rebuilding the diner, which is attached to the front of Blanchard's 322 Cambridge St. catering and vending business.

Unfinished business

But once complete, the diner won't be reopening. The 101 Deluxe was never finished.

According to the diner museum, the Blanchard's latest investment is the last diner ever produced in Worcester, even though it has never been a working diner.

Johnson City, NY
Chris and Pat Anagnostakos had planned on retiring in late March after operating the Red Robin Diner on Main Street for 37 years. But a deal to sell the business fell through, their daughter, Demetra Anagnostakos-Myritis, said Monday.

She said the diner remains open under her parents' management. The business is still for sale, she said.

After her parents' retirement, the diner was supposed to close for several weeks while the new owner remodeled the facility.

Originally published online here: http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/BUSINESS/704300367

By Teresa F. Lindeman | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | April 26, 2007

The lighted Heinz Ketchup sign on the North Side is looking for a new home.

The Pittsburgh ketchup company said work begins today to take down the sign, which shows a bottle slowly emptying and then refilling.

Heinz unveiled the sign in 1995 as part of its 125th anniversary. In 2002, Heinz spun off several businesses to San Francisco-based Del Monte Foods Co., including the soup and baby food operations on the North Side. The deal included an arrangement to leave the sign in place for four years.

"Heinz is currently reviewing alternative locations for this iconic sign," said Michael Mullen, director of global corporate affairs for the H.J. Heinz Co. "Our intent is to keep the sign a part of the Pittsburgh skyline."

According to the company, the sign is made of steel and aluminum and stands 42.5 feet high and 32 feet wide. It refills the Heinz keystone logo every 30 seconds. The sign is to be refurbished during its time off.

Originally published online here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07116/781223-100.stm

The Houston Archaeological and Historic Commission unanimously agreed Wednesday to take the first steps to designate the River Oaks and Bookstop/Alabama theaters as historic landmarks.

The commission's unprecedented action also could lead to designating the River Oaks Shopping Center — on both sides of West Gray — as a historic structure.

The theaters and the shopping center are owned by Weingarten Realty Investors, which initially planned to demolish the buildings but backed down due to strong opposition.

More than 25,300 people signed an online petition sponsored by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, opposing demolition of the River Oaks theater. The theater was built in 1939, the shopping center in 1937.

The city of Scranton has put its no smoking foot down. The city took legal action against a business for the first time Tuesday since its smoking ban took effect in January.

Deputy Public Safety Director Mark Seitzinger filed the first smoking ban citation against a business in the city. The complaint said Chick's Diner on Moosic Street defied the city ordinance.

"My feeling is, if it's a law, it's got to be enforced and that's what we're here to do. We're here to enforce the laws of the city," Seitzinger said.

A half hour before city inspectors arrived at the diner there was no sign of anyone smoking, but there were ashtrays on the tables and no "No Smoking" signs in sight.