Aurora, IL
Illinois' oldest drive-in theater has a date with a bulldozer.

The Hi-Lite Drive-in in Aurora has stood on Montgomery Road for almost 60 years, but the Aurora City Council voted on Tuesday to allow a developer to start building phase one of a 240-home project on the site.

The Hi-Liteís owners sold the land to developer Bigleow Homes last year.

The theater opened in 1947. Some Aurora aldermen fought to save it, but some officials complained about the funds needed to bring the drive-in up to city code. Last June, the Aurora City Council voted not to save the theater.

Originally published online here: http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_237073248.html

The Historic Landmarks Commission decided Wednesday to put a local restaurant on its study list, potentially taking the first step in saving its existence.

The Coffee Cup has been serving soul food on South Clarkson Street, in the uptown area, since the 1940s and became one of Charlotteís first racially integrated establishments. So when its owner was told it would be demolished, he decided to fight back to preserve a piece of history.

"When you look at it from the outside, it says one thing, but so much love and everything else thatís connected to its existence on the inside is monumental to the city itself," said owner Gardine Wilson.

The Coffee Cup has been in business since the 1940s.

Beazer Homes, which owns the land the restaurant currently stands on, plans to turn it into office and residential space. Representatives say the restaurant could still be a part of the plan but the building has to go.

If you're hungry for good, old-fashioned nostalgia like they used to make, the place to go -- for just a few more weeks -- is Copia's second floor.

The wine and food center's three linked exhibitions on diner culture provide a satisfying feast of American iconography from most of the 20th century.

"We've wanted to do a diner show for a long time," said Neil Harvey, Copia's director of exhibitions. At last, the center was able to join forces with the man Harvey calls "Mr. Diner," Richard Gutman, the author of three definitive books on the subject and a leading collector of dinerparts and memorabilia.

"Counter Culture: The American Diner," (through Oct. 2) is a walk through time with its vintage neon signs, stamped aluminum and original booths set with grenade-proof china. It's hard to imagine who wouldn't find something to marvel at, from the old-time menu boards -- two fried eggs were 75 cents in the 1940s; "oyster fry" just 35 cents in the 1920s -- to the gleaming surfaces and aerodynamic designs of the Streamliner Diner.

The Miss Portland Diner has been given a new lease on life.

The Portland City Council voted Monday night to sell the landmark diner to Thomas Manning, an executive with Newsweek magazine who grew up in Portland.

Manning, who is moving back to Maine, promised to renovate the 57-year-old diner and, in the process, reclaim a long-missing part of his life.

"My wings took me out of Portland 29 years ago," Manning said. "But my trips back to visit friends and family over the years -- I feel like my roots are still here. Portland is near and dear to my heart. I'm looking forward to coming back and doing something good for myself and Portland."

The city bought the restaurant from its owner two years ago and has been restoring it.

Manning said construction on the diner could get under way as soon as next summer.

The Coffee Cup diner has been a staple of the Charlotte community since the 1940s, and its owners are hoping it will be granted historic landmark status to prevent a land developer from closing it down.

To some, the Coffee Cup is not just a place to eat; it is a home away from home.

"I learned about the Coffee Cup when I first came to charlotte in '71 and I've been coming here ever since," said customer Wayne Thompson.

But its existence is being threatened. Beazer Homes bought a large portion of land along Morehead Street, including the property where the Coffee Cup is located, and plans to build large homes. The company is not interested in mixed use development.

"They are in the developmental stages of putting final plans together, so right now we've been notified," said Coffee Cup owner Gardine Wilson.

Wilson says he will not give up without a fight. He is in talks to have the restaurant deemed a historic landmark.

Ojai, CA
For the first time in more than 50 years, Ojai will wake up Wednesday without a hamburger stand near the corner of Ojai Avenue and Blanche Street.

Today is O-Hi Frostie's last day of business at that spot. A yearlong battle over the Frostie's fate between the restaurant's owner, Rick Henderson, and its landlord, Ron Polito, ended last month when Polito told Henderson that he had 30 days to vacate the premises.

Polito is planning to redevelop the O-Hi Frostie property and one next door, and he hopes to demolish the Frostie around the end of the year. His new retail complex should open in 2008.

The O-Hi Frostie has been a local landmark and teen hangout since 1953, when it opened as the Big Dipper ice cream shop. Last fall, Henderson put a sign in the window saying "Save the O-Hi Frostie" and before long, the restaurant's fans and regulars were circulating petitions, lobbying City Hall and pressing Polito to keep the place open.

On Monday, Henderson had a sign in the window that said, "Going out of business ... Thanks to Ron P."

The Blue Plate Special on Wednesday was chicken-fried chicken with country gravy and vegetables, and the brand new Harvey House Diner at Union Station was abuzz.

Tourists, office workers and other diners uniformly praised the menu, food, service and prices.

“We were looking for somewhere to eat, and we could either have an expensive lunch or come here and have regular, down-to-earth food,” said Cathy Young. She and her husband, Rob, and 13-year-old son, Jared, were visiting Kansas City from their home about three hours away in Kansas.

Young and Jared wanted burgers, and their choices included the Burlington Northern, the Santa Fe Chief and the KC Southern.

Union Station officials hope the diner, which is owned by the station, will help infuse additional life as well as revenue to the restored train depot.

The diner replaced a fast-food court but now is a place where customers are seated, choose from a menu and have their meals served to them.

Visalia, CA
One of the Central Valley’s iconic drive-in restaurants, little changed from its heyday in the 1950s, is closed. No reason has been given for the closing of Mearle’s Drive-In on Mooney Boulevard in Visalia.

“It’s just closed. That’s all,” says the building’s owner, Ralph Kazarian of Fresno.

Mr. Kazarian’s son, Ralph Kazarian Jr., declined comment about reasons for the closing that happened Tuesday. He said it had nothing to do with any court action.

It is to be a “temporary” closing but there is no estimate of when it might re-open or under what circumstances, the younger Mr. Kazarian says, declining further comment.

The operator of the restaurant, Melissa Ward, could not be reached for comment.

Mearle’s had been serving its menu of hamburgers and milkshakes for 65 years. Its one concession to changing times had been to eliminate the car hops.

But in an October 2005 profile of the restaurant across from the main campus of the College of the Sequoias, the Valley Voice newspaper noted that business had been trailing off, with the restaurant then serving perhaps just 200 burgers a day. Ms. Ward told the newspaper that an influx of new restaurants in Visalia was proving to be stiff competition.

Originally published online here: http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=2751

Starlite Diners' twinkle has faded as the owner of the modular restaurant builder has shut it down and moved his kitchen equipment business to another building at Ormond Beach Airport Business Park.

Valiant Equipment bought a former Ocean Design Inc. building for $1.1 million at the business park, moving from West Tower Circle to 10 Aviator Way, said Bill Starcevik, vice president of sales.

Valiant Diner Co., formerly Starlite Diners, manufactured stainless steel diners that were built in pieces and assembled at sites across the country and even in Russia. Locally there is still one in operation at 401 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach.

"The cost of steel, concrete and the gas for delivery got too high," Starcevik said. "Copper also went sky high and it just put us out of business."

Starcevik, his wife and son founded the original Starlite Diners Inc., which made the '50s style gleaming metallic diners that also were used for Denny's restaurants.