On a quiet residential Mount Holly Street well off the beaten path, you will find an American Graffiti-style drive-in restaurant, Bright Star, which could be best described as a time machine back to the 1950s.

The Bright Star, first opened in 1961 by R.J. Terry, was a popular hangout for area teenagers. Now, according to current owner Howard Black, many of those former teens return with their children and grandchildren.

Black, who has owned the popular drive-in for nine years, says that while the '50s theme is nice, the main attraction is the food.

"Good food is what brings people back," Black says.

A lot of books have been written about diners. A lot. But not many have managed to tap into the spirit of the hard-working people who own and run them quite like Sarah Rolph has done with her book, "A 1 Diner: Real Food, Recipes & Recollections."

Published last year, the book wonderfully weaves together the history of the diner which has witnessed boom and bust times along coastal Maine for over half a century.

Sarah reveals that she approached this project as a complete diner "neophyte," and was amazed at the rich texture and history that rests, like a comfotable patron, upon every diner stool. What today is called A1 Diner began operation as Heald's (the name is still emplazoned in the porcelain skin) in 1946, when the Worcester car came to Gardiner, Maine and was installed in a rather unique location.

Not to be overlooked is the food served on the Tennessee marble counter of the A1. Readers can easily be excused if they decide to place a bookmark in the narrative...and set off to the kitchen to try their hand at one of the diner's recipes.

And apparently Sarah (and legions of fans) aren't the only ones who have taken special note of the A1. The Food Network will be shooting a segment for its series "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" this week at the diner.

Click the Podcast link in our menu to listen to our talk with Sarah Rolph now.

ps: If you'd like to buy Sarah's book, there is a graphic link to it....right over there →

pps: And here's a link to another story which just ran about the Food Network shoot at the A1.

ppps: To subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, click here!

Pretty much every day or so for the past three weeks, I’ve driven past the Parkway Diner in South Burlington in hopes of seeing some sign of renewal.

The diner closed the last Sunday in March and might reopen with new owners in May.

The Parkway Diner must reopen because in Vermont, the state of recurring crises, we suffer through a chronic and acute diner shortage. All the ink goes to the dairy crisis and the lamprey crisis and the ski crisis and the maple crisis, but the diner crisis might be the most persistent of all.

A diner is described by Webster’s dictionary as “a small restaurant built to look like a dining car,” and “a small restaurant with a counter along one side and booths on the other.”

I am not going to point fingers here, but not every place that claims to be a diner in Vermont is really a diner. Part of the diner experience is the option of sitting at the counter on a bolted-down rotating seat having a front-row seat to watch your eggs fry, close enough that you run the real risk of being splattered by bacon and burgers spitting from the grill.

Chesterton, IN
Terry Gassoway, 61, has a time machine in his basement at 419 N. Calumet Ave. that he bought from his father, Virgil. It makes root beer.

The antique is part of family history that's now celebrating an anniversary.

Carloads of families passing through the Gateway to the Dunes on the way to the state park beach have been stopping at the family-run Port Drive-In to down frosty homemade root beer and chili dogs made with his mother Elsie's secret recipe for 50 years.

"We're the only mom-and-pop drive-in left in Porter County. Our little corner of paradise stays the same," said Gassoway, taking a break while his wife, Beth, was watching the kitchen during the afternoon lull.

The Port re-opened for the new season March 21 with the sign out front proclaiming "It's Our 50th Year!"

Actually, it's been 54 years since the drive-in known as Studman's opened to serve the hordes of summer visitors to the Dunes.

Highland, IN
Blue Top Drive-in owner Kent Johnsen's spirit is beaten down, and his rueful voice is punctuated by either short repeated phrases or long pauses because he can't find the words.

The proud grandson of a Denmark immigrant poignantly talks about his love for his mother, Wendy, his father's dying wish, and the sale of the drive-in that was part of their family for decades.

"She's heartbroken about (selling) it and starts crying whenever we talk about it," Johnsen said. "She doesn't know what she's going to do. It hurts too much to think about it.

"To run a family business you need a family to help out, and if you don't, it's so difficult. It's just my mom and me. My brothers and sisters live far away and have their own lives.

"I don't want my mom to lose this place and her home, too. ... My dad asked me to promise to take care of my mom. I had to make this decision."

Blue Top, which was built in 1936, is up for sale after the business faced various hurdles throughout the years.

By Brittany McCandless | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | April 9, 2007

For Angelo Cammarata, a drink a day keeps the doctor away.

Meanwhile, a few brews and a lot of memories have kept the customers nearby for three-quarters of a century.

So it goes for America's longest-serving bartender, who Saturday began his 75th year pouring beers for customers and friends alike. On Saturday, he served the friends who gathered at his West View joint, Cammarata's Cafe, to celebrate his diamond year.

"I can look three generations back," he said, as he poured an IC Light. "Customers I serve now are in their 20s. I've served their fathers, I've served their grandfathers, and now I serve pop to their sons. So I've served four generations, and I'm still active."

Not one to down a draft, Mr. Cammarata, 93, has lived by the motto "beer is for selling, not for drinking." Instead, he begins his days with a single glass of bourbon and Coke. Though he's used to the smoky bar atmosphere, Mr. Cammarata has never smoked, and he attributes his longevity to "being on my feet the whole time."

The "whole time" dates to the end of Prohibition.

The owner of the Route 66-era El Vado motel says two court rulings this week aid his plan to redevelop the site - although the city says no way.

State District Judge Valerie Huling in Albuquerque ruled against the city this week in an appeal from El Vado owner Richard Gonzales, who had argued against the city's designation of the west Central Avenue motel as an official landmark.

City officials, including Mayor Martin Chavez, have advocated for the motel's preservation. Gonzales maintains he can't make it work financially and that he must tear most of it down.

He plans to build high-end townhomes on the site, while preserving the motel's front office and its signature neon sign.

Huling's 18-page opinion boils down to this: The Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission, which made a recommendation on the landmark status to the City Council, did so without adequately considering the economic impact of such a designation.

Ann Arbor's original Fleetwood Diner -- a veritable institution since the mid-1940s when it was known as the Dagwood -- has seen its share of hippies, to be sure.

Plenty of sandal-wearing peaceniks frequented the Fleetwood as I made my way through the University of Michigan in the 1970s.

So, naming a favorite dish "hippie hash" was a no-brainer. After all, the plate of hash browns topped with grilled tomatoes, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and feta cheese "looks like something a hippie would eat," said Niki Matusko, who worked her way through college at the diner.

That may be true, but hippie hash tastes like nothing else on the planet: a truly heavenly, groovy concoction of delectable stuff.

Thankfully, we discovered the recently opened Kentwood version of the Fleetwood Diner -- owned by Matusko, her husband, Mark, and her brother, George Fatiadis -- has retained hippie hash, with a host of other classic dishes that elevate quality homemade diner food to near-mythical status.

Kentwood's Fleetwood even adds something new: beer, wine and mixed drinks.

The diverse array of food and beverages certainly made a favorable impression on our dinner party -- Ken and Lydia Syrba from the Rockford area, and my wife, Elizabeth, and myself -- on a recent Saturday night outing.

Pandora, OH
Martha L. Hilty, 93, who co-owned the former Star Lunch diner that was a Main Street fixture for nearly 40 years, died Friday at Hilty Memorial Home in Pandora.

The cause of death was heart failure, Gary Hilty, her son, said.

Situated "right in the center of town," the diner served breakfast, lunch, and dinner from its opening in 1930 until it closed in 1969, Mr. Hilty said.

Mrs. Hilty's stepfather, the late Bert Hews, started the diner business, and Mrs. Hilty began working there while still a teenager, her son said. She was on the job when she met Cyril Hilty, a customer who became her husband.

The couple married in 1936, and about seven years later the two became owners and operators of the diner in this Putnam County community. They later settled in a house next door to the diner that was connected by a walkway.

For years, the Star Lunch was considered the popular meeting spot in town, and frequented by everyone from businessmen to high school sweethearts. Mrs. Hilty loved being in the center of it all.

"In a small town like that, almost everyone who came in she knew," her son said.

The diner served a full menu that included burgers, fries, T-bone steaks, and ice cream. It was especially known for its milk shakes, Mr. Hilty said.