The celebrities and the regulars come and go, but the look of Burlington's Oasis Diner hasn't changed much since its sturdy shell was slid over some greased railroad ties into a waiting foundation on Bank Street late in 1953.

Same counter, same tables, same grill, same refrigerator. Prices are higher, though.

"Used to be," said a white-haired man at the counter Monday, finishing a bowl of soup, "you were able to get a very nice lunch for less than a dollar."

That was well before President Clinton's time. In 1995, Clinton ordered a sliced turkey sandwich, a piece of apple pie and a Diet Coke, which would have come to about $6. Today, a chicken sandwich and fries are up to $7.95.

More changes are in store for the Oasis, starting with its ownership. The Lines family, which has run the diner for three generations, is selling the place. The closing date is Oct. 31. The new owner will be Glenn Walter, owner of the Three Needs tavern, just a block away on College Street. He plans to turn the Oasis into a sit-down New York-style deli -- "big, overstuffed sandwiches, corned beef, matzo ball soup ..." he said Monday -- sort of like Schwartz's in Montreal.

Until the end of the month, however, it will be business as usual at the Oasis. At lunchtime Monday, Jon Lines, 44, was working the grill while his brother David, 39, was at the counter. They've been managing the place about 10 years, since the retirement of their father, Stratton (better known as "Stratty"), who took it over from his father, Harry.

Harry Lines, who with cousins had long been in the Burlington diner business -- the Miss Burlington on the site of the current Roxy Theatre was one of theirs -- spent about $30,000 for a diner in New Jersey in 1953, Stratty Lines recalled Monday as he sat at the counter. The challenge then became moving it up to Burlington -- in the pre-interstate era, it had to be hauled in on flatbed truck along two-lane highways.

No way, not through our state, said New York's transportation agency.

That's where the soup-eating fellow at the counter came in: Phil Hoff, the Lines' family lawyer. He was just 29 when he handled the diner's purchase in 1953, and he also wound up negotiating its highway passage with resistant New York officials. They finally agreed to let it come through during early morning hours, and the trip took four or five days, Stratty Lines said.

Whatever negotiating skills Hoff brought to this task proved useful to him later in his political career, first as state representative and then, in the 1962, as the first Democratic governor elected by rock-ribbed Republican Vermont in more than a century.

Politics on the menu

The Oasis was known as a haven for politicians through most of its history. The Hoff connection had something to do with that, but also, David Lines said, there was the plain fact that in the '60s, "Burlington was the commercial hub of Vermont and there were only a handful of eateries." There apparently weren't that many other places for pols to hang out.

All the mayors came, of course, and the state reps, and Vice President Walter Mondale, and Sen. Patrick Leahy. When Bernie Sanders ran for the U.S. Senate, one of his TV commercials comprised testimonials of his supporters eating at the Oasis.

The most famous visit of all was Clinton's. That was on July 31, 1995, and he was accompanied by Leahy, Sanders, and then-Gov. Howard Dean, among others.

Clinton's meal was on the house, Stratty said Monday. Dean left a $20 tip, he said.

Jon Lines made that lunch. He has also served the likes of Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Lyle Lovett, Elliot Gould. Now he's calling it a career. He expects to get back into the trucking business.

David Lines, who has been a freelance journalist, isn't sure exactly what he's going to do next. "I embrace change," he said. "Every five or 10 years, I do something different.

"We've been very proud to carry on the tradition that our grandfather and our father started and carried on for so long," he said.

Bernie Rochleau, 77, of South Burlington stopped in for lunch Monday. He doesn't come downtown much and hadn't been to the Oasis in 20 years. "The food was always excellent," he said, "couldn't be beat." The place still looked the same, he said.

The Oasis has made some changes over the years, David Lines said, but they're not readily visible: Investments in energy efficiency, a healthier menu, more emphasis on local food.

In any case, David Lines speaks highly of Walter as the next steward of the "Burlington landmark," as Lines calls the Oasis in a news release.

"My background is in the restaurant business," Walter said. He has owned Three Needs since 1995. Before that, he was a brewer at Vermont Pub and Brewery.

He said that he's optimistic his new deli -- which he plans to rename for his grandmother-in-law, Sadie Katz, "of the lower east side of Manhattan" -- will fill a niche, and that he's undaunted by starting up another kind of restaurant for Burlington.

"I'm a contrarian," he said. "I went into brewing when there were no breweries -- just Anheuser-Busch, Miller. ... And now look."

Originally published online here: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710020310