By Herb Meeker | Herald & Review | January 13, 2007

Mattoon, IL
The stainless steel Bluebird Diner is headed to Steel City in a matter of days, according to Buddy Stintson, owner of One Way movers of Brown Summit, N.C.

"It's going to Pittsburgh (Pa.), and we'll be pulling out next week," said Stintson, whose crew has been preparing the building for the move from its lot on Marshall Avenue near 35th Street. "We've been waiting for the permits from each state we'll be driving through. It's about 1,280 miles to Pittsburgh. It was bought by someone interested in structures like this."

Once the former diner is separated into several long sections, trailers will transport the load across town to Interstate 57, south to I-70 and then east across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and into western Pennsylvania.

"This type of building is designed to be moved," said Stintson, who has been in the moving business for 52 of his 65 years.

On a recent trip to Burlington, Vermont, we learned that the lovely Parkway Diner will apparently close at the end of March this year. March 31st to be precise.

The diner, a very original early 50’s Worcester car (#839), has been leased and run by the husband and wife team of Christine and George Alvanos for the past ten years.

Speaking to us as regulars streamed in on a bright Sunday morning, Christine Alvanos said their efforts over the years to purchase the diner outright, or to extend their lease, have been rebuffed.

The owner of the diner is George Hatgen, who ran the diner for some 20 years prior to the Alvanos. Hatgen owns both the diner building and the land it sits on. Ms. Alvanos said she had heard rumors of what might happen after they are forced to vacate, but nothing she could confirm any of them. She said Hatgen had not revealed his intentions for the diner and TheAmericanRoadside has, as of yet, been unable to contact him for comment.

Parkway waitresses Mary Magnusen and France Isabelle

The couple have bought into a downtown business they will call the Pine St. Deli. They are hopeful that they’ll be able to get permits to serve their regulars once again at this new location, if they can obtain the necessary permits for sit-down type restaurant. If all goes well, they are also hoping to be able to offer new jobs to all of their current employees.

Downey, CA
Someone's going to have some explaining to do following the partial demotion of what used to be a 1950s-era carhop diner.

It was unclear Monday morning who ordered the demolition of the landmark at 7447 Firestone Blvd.

Often used as a movie location, the diner began as Harvey's Broiler in 1958 and became Johnie's Broiler in 1966 after an ownership change.

A cruising destination for vintage car clubs in the 1950s and 60s, the site has served as a used car lot since 2001.

"To our knowledge there was no demolition permit pulled," Analisa Ridenour Hungerford, a member of Friends of Johnie's, a group of residents fighting for the preservation of the landmark, told the Press-Telegram. "It's virtually demolished."

Most of the inside of the restaurant has been gutted, with only the large Johnie's Broiler sign and the canopy remaining, she told the newspaper.

Demolition apparently began about 3 p.m. Sunday, with preservationists learning of the operation only around 5 p.m., Hungerford told the Press-Telegram. She vowed to attend the Downey City Council meeting Tuesday to demand "justice."

"This is an example of true Googie architecture from 1958 and it's something that you can't replace," Adriene Biondo of the Los Angeles Conservancy said in a televised interview.

The owner of the restaurant declined to comment to a local television news reporter, and there was no immediate comment from police or Downey city officials.

Originallu published online here: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10695708/detail.html

In the past, many people would retire to a diner after the movies let out. Today, however, many diners just aren't open that late. So, sometimes, we need to find reasons to hit a diner and do another event. With this series, we look at diners that are open before hockey games. Most hockey arenas don't have real food, the closest I have seen, myself, is a Subway Shop inside of Dartmouth College's rink. So, get out the winter coat, and hit the road for some good hockey and even better eating!

As part of this series, we will be focusing on minor league hockey and College Hockey. These opportunities are more fan friendly at an affordable price.

Castleton State Hockey and Birdseye Diner – Castleton, VT.

Castleton State hockey has come a long way in just a few years to become respectable hockey team. What makes the experience even better is the chance to go to one of the best diners in New England, let alone Vermont. The Birdseye Diner is a Silk City Diner that was restored by Daniel Zilka.

The diner itself is only half of the treat. The food that they serve at this diner in the very tiny village of Castleton is top notch. And don't worry about the diner being packed. The diner owners bought the building next to the diner and have additional dining space. The menu is full of funny whimsical phrases that make reading the menu fun.

The diner offers daily specials besides their mix of regular diner items and some vegetarian fare, to go with being in a college town. A unique item that the Birdseye offers are two types of onion rings. They have regular rings, but they also have a thin cut variety, made on site. For anyone who likes onion rings, the home made kind is almost always superior. At the Birdseye, they take the little things seriously, to make sure their customers are happy. They use locally baked breads, make their own soup and have hand cut french fries.

For more information, directions and a schedule of games, click "read more."

If all goes according to plan, Michael and Jeanne Glaude will bring some rock 'n' roll to Scarborough.

The Glaudes are planning to build a restaurant they call the Rock 'N' Roll Diner. Their inspiration, they say, is from a few sources: a similar diner in Waterboro, Michael Glaude's classic cars, the couple's travels in their camper that always included pit stops at diners and, of course, '50s and '60s music.

“I always enjoyed that type of music, even as a kid,” said Glaude, who hopes to have final approval from the Scarborough Planning Board at its next meeting, Monday, Jan. 8. He first brought the plans to the board on Dec. 11.

If he does receive approval, said Glaude, he plans to break ground by the end of this month, with an opening date of late spring – just in time for summer tourist traffic.

Glaude, a Scarborough resident who has run Glaude Construction for 25 years, said the diner will have '50s-style seating and booths and a juke box that will play “old-style music.” The 2,900- square-foot, classic-looking diner will be on Route 1 in Dunstan Corner, and will seat about 95, said Glaude.

The roads of Britain may change forever as the country's most famous diner faces up to the threat of administration. Little Chef, which has 235 restaurants nationwide, including 10 in Cambridgeshire, is losing up to £3 million a year and is struggling to meet rent payments.

The restaurant's logo, the chirpy chef Fat Charlie, must be struggling to keep the smile on his face with 4,000 jobs at risk. An announcement on the future of Little Chef was expected to be made today (Wednesday, 03 January). But if it does collapse, it will mean the end of travelling traditions that began in 1958 with the launch of the company's first restaurant in Reading.

The chain has hosted everyone from children desperate for a free lollipop to prime ministers desperate to show voters how down to earth they are.

However, if yesterday (Tuesday, 02 January) lunchtime at the branch on the A10 near Little Thetford is typical, it is no surprise the chain is in a mess as sticky as a toffee pudding.

In the hour I spent there, only eight people passed through the doors.

Limerick,PA
Over the past five decades the menu has expanded and the b ilding has been renovated, but the Limerick Diner’s owners and many of the cheerful faces that serve there have stayed

The Moore family has been cooking up comfort food at their Ridge Pike diner since 1956. The Limerick Diner celebrated its 50th anniversary Dec. 26.

"We bought the old diner in 1956," said Edward R. "Butch" Moore, 79, who now resides in Potter County. "Then it was called Brennan’s Limerick Diner, and was across the street on the north side. They had the garage aside of the diner, a Texaco station."

"The food was awful," he recalled with a chuckle. "(My wife) just kept saying ‘we ought to buy it,’ so we did."

His wife, Kathryn L. "Kay" Moore, 78, remembered that there was room for improvement when they took over the diner.

"I don’t think there was a dish in the place that wasn’t cracked," she said. "We cleaned it up."

After outgrowing the previous location, the Moores built the "new" diner on the south side of Ridge Pike in 1969, opening for business on Jan. 5, 1970.

The diner is located at 411 W. Ridge Pike.

Separated for 35 years, they have remained business partners. Their daughter, Deb Herr, manages the restaurant, along with her husband, Al Herr.

Pottsville, PA
With the new year comes the grand opening of an old theater in Schuylkill County.

The new Sovereign Majestic Theater on North Centre Street in downtown Pottsville is about to reopen. The building was first used as a theater and then as a farmers market until 1995.

Tonight is the grand reopening. A sold-out performance of Peter Pan will be the first show there since 1930.

The last minute improvements were finished just in time for opening night and the crimson chairs will be filled with theatre-goers.

The Pottsville Area Development Corporation bought the building several years ago.

By Tim Landis | State Journal Register | December 27, 2006

Springfield, IL
Even as they moved equipment into storage Tuesday, Holy Land Diner owners Afaf and Jamal Rashmawy were working on plans for another downtown location after nearly eight years on Old Capitol Plaza.

"We found a place that has not been a restaurant, but it is downtown. We want to stay downtown," Afaf Rashmawy said.

Saturday was the final day of business for the Holy Land Diner at 518 E. Adams St., on the south side of the plaza, after the couple lost their lease. Another restaurant is expected to move into the location, though specifics have not yet been announced.

Holy Land Diner followed a series of restaurants into the spot in early 1999, after three years at a west-side location. The Middle Eastern cuisine has since become a regular in the annual Taste of Downtown, which highlights the various ethnic and other specialty foods of downtown eateries.