Until When my sister and I were kids, we always looked forward to a meal at Littletons. My boyfriend was pulled into an alley between Walnut and Chestnut and held at knifepoint; my necklace was ripped off while I was walking; my mother was mugged; purses were torn from shoulders; people threw bottles into store windows on days when the Phillies lost. | Photo: Michael Bixler. If someone ever takes the initiative to remove the brick, Ill send you a photo. Whether that was a sign of things to come with the celebrity chef Chifa waseventually replaced with Cuban diner Rosa Bianca, another concept that didnt take or it just opened a decade or so before its time, it would have been nice for Peruvian fare to take hold in the city back then. The diner was built by Paramount and it still features the companys trademark wedding cake corners with the gazing ball ornament. As the word "Olde" in its name implies, McGillin's is Philadelphia's oldest continuously operating tavern. | Photo: Randy Garbin. (215) 735-5562. No, I dont consider Bobs a family restaurant. Weve got it so good, its unreal. Later, the park would get a curfew; wed get in trouble for standing bare-legged in the fountain; wed be turned out while tux-wearing dancers ate fancy food. DNA evidence linked Herman Lee Hobbs to the August 1980 death of 21-year-old Holly Ann Campiglia, the Solano County Sheriff's Office said in a statement this week. Michael Petrogiannis got his start working in this diners kitchen. They put this odd addition on the front that never was completed. And instead of a suburban Dairy Queen parking lot, we had Rittenhouse Square. | Photo: Randy Garbin. I remember thinking we might get in trouble, and also feeling jealous that my friend seemed to be able to identify cocaine. Next time Ill have to get the sauce on the side to be sure. But it was. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. February 27, 2023 endeavor air pilot contract No Comments . The original porcelain panels with Oak Lane Diner painted on them survive underneath the brick. On the plus side, he replaced the communal booths. In July 1928, 681 Cleveland restaurants were feeding an average of 300,000 people daily. Read more G.W. Some great diners in S. Jersey. He gave me my first French kiss at the TLA, back when it was a movie theater that showed cartoons during the day, repertory film at night, and Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight. pleasure of visiting the Queen Village location know that theres nothing The Dining Car makes up for this with desserts. At the end of the 1980s, the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. Long gone, now. over the Bookbinders building between Front and Second on Walnut Street, but even This was the center of our universe. Steel's, Finelli's and Dooner's were among the exclusive drinking resorts of the early eighties. PhillyVoice Contributor, 6 great places to break up with someone in Philly, 5 Philly hoods you wouldnt have recognized 60 years ago, a particularly damning review from Craig Laban, Jason Kelce could make a 'Saturday Night Live' cameo with his brother Travis hosting, School District of Philadelphia to relocate Building 21 students following asbestos exposure, Eagles wide receiver Zach Pascal robbed at gunpoint in Maryland, Eli Lilly slashed insulin prices, starting a race to the bottom. Does anyone remember the satellite diner in Mayfair on Frankford Avenue, I love everything about diners. The Fat HamClosed in: 2017Well alwayslove the Fat Ham for its hot chicken, but the memories are bittersweet: chef-owner Kevin Sbragas empire grew too big too quickly, and not long after the flagship Fat Ham shuttered, the rest of his concepts went with it. Like the renovations at the Melrose, they could have been much worse, and Petrogiannis even applied a restrained and classy palate to the interior. Only a couple of years later Swingle would close up shop, but Morozins request pushed diner manufacturers to fashion restaurants in various styles dictated by the often-dubious tastes of the operator. One of the developments that sparked the resurgence of interest in the American diner came about with the reimagining of the concept by the owners of the Empire Diner in New York in 1976. when I see one shut down. Write by: . Blanc de Blancs Champagnes are different from the majority of Champagnes.Check the list. Built in 1949 by Paramount to a standard of quality that no one else could match, it served in the 1990s as one of two American Diners in Philadelphia and was an attempt to upscale the traditional diner menu. March 4, 2023 / FoxNewsFeeds. chilled slices of melon for dessert. I loved this article. 8013 Castor Avenue, (215) 342-3005; 2153 S. Hancock Street, (215) 462-1637, lipkinsoriginalbakery.com. Now home to the trendy Mexican restaurant Lucha Cartel, Philadelphia Fish & Co. was a staple in Old City. In 1981, Joe Morozin went to the Swingle company of Middlesex, New Jersey and asked for something a little different. Including the restaurant that arguably introduced Buffalo wings to Philadelphia. Enjoyed this article, but am left wondering: Whats up with Bobs being more or less in a graveyard? The fact that so few pristine examples remain should give anyone with an appreciation for aesthetic and structural quality reason enough to at least go in one and get a cup of coffee on a regular basis. Hard, uncomfortable seats, tables cleaned with the same hot tea you drank, long waits for . One of the most tragic losses to the roster of Philadelphia diners came with the demolition of the long-suffering Wayne Junction Diner. Kullman would later become the first of the builders to produce retro-style diners on a regular basis, but before then you had diners like this one. The Red Robin Diner represents the transitional style of diners popular in the mid-to-late 1960s when stainless steel had lost its shine. accolades to | Photo: Randy Garbin. Also, I didnt have an omelet at the Oregon, but I can say with some authority after trying dozens of times in places just like these, the Big Greek Diner cant make a proper omelet to save their lives. Sad long after selling and the fire. a weekly basis, its worth taking a moment to pay homage to the restaurants Days Deli. Dinner: 4-10pm Happy Hour: 4-6pm. In fact, when they arrived at the site, it was cordoned off with temporary fencing. I have the original plans and zoning for the building. Schuylkill River Park, now family-friendly with its dog park (with special areas for big and small dogs) and creative landscape architecture, was rather seedy. Although Perrier announced in July 2010 that he planned to close the . I grown up in Oak Lane is the 40s. Places Near Northeast Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA with 80s Night Clubs. All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.See the list. The old-school guys who built up these businesses now have kids with college degrees who dont see themselves working 18-hour days for two-percent margins. 2400 Market St 4th Fl. Jose Garces might have had historical preservation in mind when he took Both the Melrose and the Mayfair shared a particularly endearing practice of pinning their waitresses with the year they started service. Likewise, when transplants complain about SEPTA subway cars and buses, I marvel. The Melrose apple would seem to be one of those exceptions. The story of Philadelphias finest French restaurant unraveled into I was just starting to understand that Id have to become a grown-up, and I didnt really know what that meant. At the time, we felt our conversations were only a shade less sophisticated than My Dinner With Andre. One of the first major restaurant chains, it went public in 1961 with 605 . The Frazer is certainly one of the oldest examples of a pristine OMahony, but I could probably list at least a half dozen others that are in similarly pristine condition. Although it didn't hold up against Chili's, TGI Fridays, and Applebee's, there was a time when it was fairly ubiquitous throughout the states. The eggs were so-so, the homefries were lame, and the bacon was the thinnest cut Id ever seen, it was literally transparent. Maybe the Big Greek Diner doesnt earn superlatives, but if you come with a group of people who cant come to any kind of culinary consensus, nothing fits the bill better than this. Mario Batali has called this unassuming 40-seat trattoria in the Center City area of Philly "possibly the best Italian restaurant on the East Coast." The elevated cuisine is prepared by Marc Vetri, who was trained by celebrated chefs in Bergamo, Italy, and who has won a James Beard Award for his . Please like & follow for more interesting content. Since then, it's grown up, gotten a job, and emerged as the much more responsible . In Philly, it was hard to tell what adulthood was. Philadelphia way back in 1902, 115 years later, the concept still feels This makes Hiroki, which opened in 2019, a welcome . Sweet Tom, who took me to both proms and was basically my first husband, lived at 25th and Lombard. I liked its gritty spirit. Alexanders transitioned into a new concept very successfully under that same family but the Oak Lane Diner was sold. The Dom was a hub for the area for a long time. I forget its name at the time, but it could have been Stacys Place.. If anybody rememberit. The Trolley Car Diner was built by the Mountain View Diner Company of Signac, New Jersey, which seemed to do extremely well selling diners in the Wyoming Valley up into the Binghamton, New York area. I feel like I cant truly enjoy a vacation or visiting a town without going to a local diner. He got puckered and red in the face and stomped out of the room. Click here to go to the official Facebook page of A Slice of the 80s. Even though it's been serving beer and pub food for over 150 years, you can still count on McGillin's for a good time. Back then, it was like there was no one on duty. When we walked to school at 17th and the Parkway, dealers would try to sell us drugs (and I have no doubt they sometimes succeeded). The Domino Diner suffered a fire eight years ago and is likely abandoned now. Sylvester Stallone started it all with the iconic film that won an Oscar for best film . Great memories! Hows the food? We were married for 27 years before he died too young of cancer. The Frazer Diner in Frazer is the only un altered Jerry O Mahony diner in existence.Built between 1929 and 1935 it was originally the Paoli but was moved to Frazer on Lancaster Ave, in 1957. cash only, after-hours spot for a hangover fighting something or other from Philadelphias decline was well under way by the time I was born. Originally published as The Lost City in the August 2014 issue of Philadelphia magazine. But I think its also that we Center City kids of the 70s and early 80s enjoyed a lot of freedom in our comparatively down-at-its-heels, unmanicured downtown. Modo MioClosed in: 2017Peter McAndrewss Modo Mio didnt feel like an Italian restaurant it felt like eating in Italy. A couple of notesthe Boylevard Diner is now closed, the K Diner was first known as rhe Crest Diner and around 1978-79 it became Mil-Lees Luv-in, and Casa DEspana on Whitaker Ave was formerly known as the Franklin Diner, which was a local icon and was always busy. My top three (almost a three-way tie) are: 1. Just dont ask him when the actual trolleys will return to the tracks on Germantown Avenue. The city elected its first Black mayor in 1983, W. Wilson Goode, whose first administration was marred by the 1985 Move tragedy. They were s Philly traditional, I worked for the Perini Corp for that area of reconstruction. I can say i have a lot of respect for these structures. 2023 WWB Holdings, LLC. To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. could hold a candle to the Old Original Bookbinders. the menu had a nice selection at great prices of salads,omelettes and sandwiches with also a speciality. | Photo: Randy Garbin. If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Do remember the Diner on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr called the Blu Comet around late 1950s till 1972. Pepsi Joe's (AKA Happy Paradise) (10th, above Race). In the face of extreme competition, age, new layers of regulation, and increasing overhead, viability for a 50-seat, short-order restaurant becomes a Herculean task. I started at 13 yrs old. The Hmong population in Philadelphia left for other cities in the United States between 1982 and 1984, and three-quarters moved to live with relatives in other states. Penrose Diner in 1993 before renovations completely changed the character of the restaurant a few years later. It was another amazing Paramount-built diner, similar to the Oak Lane. Not dwelling on the past is one of the prime benefits of Philadelphias One of the best diners in the northeast is Andonios on Krewstown Rd. Podcast: Is Sixers' prime time game vs. I want a good meal at a reasonable price, but I also want to connect with actual peoplestaff and customers. Rockefeller. Diner on the Square In fact, I miss all the movie theaters of my youth. This chain of In part, its basic childhood nostalgia. Yeah the Mayfair Diner was a pretty great one, Id been there a few times a year, from 1989 until sometime in 2006 or 2007, which I just found from the article is about when Petrogannis bought it. You might take drugs. The Boulevard has gone through a series of ownerships in the past 10 to 15years, probably because of its poor location, but maybe also because of its crazy, hall-of-mirrors interior. 8 Lesser-Known Abortion Funds to Support Post-Roe, Your Guide to This Weeks Eagles-Giants Playoff Game. When I worked there it was always busy especially on the weekends. Only bother to go here if youre a hard-core diner fanatic. People from Vietnam settled here in the 1980s and 90s, an influx that gave rise to hybrid French bakeries such as Ba Le (606 Washington Avenue) and noodle parlours like Pho 75 (1122 Washington . The Mulhollands also performed some minor renovations in the 1980s. Its dirty. 5. By Antonio Gardella. 2023 BygonelyPrivacy policyTerms of ServiceContact us. Silk City, currently owned by restauranteur Mark Bee, has diversified its revenue stream with the night club and bar which frees it from relying upon the weekend breakfast trade that so many smaller diners live or die by. Airys continued revival. One year, we heard a judge was hosting one of these parade-watching parties. A Slice of the 80s is located at 19 Congress St, Bradford, PA 16701. Because of its output, OMahony had a large and loyal clientele that would often return old diners to the factory to trade it infor a newer, bigger model (I have no evidence that a diner sat on this location before the current one, but the possibility exists). Patty Brett, the owner of the uniquely unchanging Doobies at 22nd and Lombard, remembers packs of wild dogs running loose in the area: There were many abandoned churches and gas stations in our neighborhood. Joe was a veteran of the industry and had previously owned the Torresdale Diner just south of Academy Road and needed to expand. But dinner there was a big treat when I was a child in the 60s. Easy parking. I have been telling my now hubby that my parents and family would go there after bowling .They were in a league. Philadelphia opens restaurants as often as Lady Gaga changes outfits. From 19th century hot dog houses to the chrome-clad diners and tiki huts of days gone by, here are 10 of the citys most Ellwood or Holy Angels? The banquet room at Tiffanys has been used as a filming location for Pennsylvania Lottery commercials. I sat and watched Hannah and Her Sisters in the theater at 19th and Chestnut and found a tiny fragment of a road map. Shame it sits the way it does. Frisco BBQ restaurant raises $33K for boy with rare blood cancer . For nearly 100 years, this family-owned classic on 6th between South and Lombard streets served up an only-in-Philly menu of hot dogs, fishcakes and Champ Cherry soda before . Back in the '80s, the place to go in Philadelphia for a punk rock show was the Khyber. These days, Poses runs a catering company and onsite eateries at Photograph: Courtesy Vetri. (2) Snow White dining. They began showing up in every majorcity and small town across the Northeast. Now demolished to make it a storage lot. A million dollars later, the end result today includes a craft beer shop that sells over 450 brands and a well-designed dining area that preservesthe streamlined atmosphere of the original Mountain View-manufactured diner. There was a diner on Aramingo Avenue we use to stop in back in the early 60s after a night of bar hopping. Forget its name but it sure was crowded at 2 am! Rating 15/20. Alex, you are correct. Philly has been in the midst of a long-lived restaurant boom that shows no signs of slowing. Petrogiannis put his own stamp on things with a silly turret-like roofline to raise the diners profile. Center City fared better than most neighborhoods, but it wasnt immune. But Taco Angelenosstraightforward, L.A.-style tacos flavorful slow-braised meats, a simple toppings bar of chopped onion, radish, cilantro and curtido, and seitan for vegetarians this is West Philly, after all filled that void. In fact, you can still visit the previous diner in Newburgh, New York. As other restaurants opened up I just think they failed to adapt. Polynesian-themed, date night spot on the 1700 block of Walnut Street. legendary carrot cake. The Broad Street sat closed for many years beginning in the early 2000s, and one report had Stephen Starr interested in reopening it. Free shipping for many products! The iconic, streamlined style fell from fashion or was outright prohibited by municipal design codes by the mid-1960s. They live on in the form of dead Yelp pages and in our memories. If so, please share it with your friends and family to help spread the word. Eagle II Stephen Starr converted a mid-1960s Fodero diner and appropriately swanked the joint up making it one of the citys best known martini lounges. I maintain a very high regard for Bobs because it represents one of the last of a dying breed. Contemporary Americansseem to prefer fast-casual chains (like Panera Bread) over diners, where you canget a pretty good meal for not a lot of money and you dont have to bother with aserver. Oak Lanesprospects dont look good. Now, well have the opposite a luxury hotel erected by New York developers ona spot thatmany Philadelphiansconsiderhallowed ground. Seen here in 1993 during a bus tour of the regions diners sponsored by the Society of Commercial Archeology, the sale of the 1940 Paramount attracted a great deal of interest, but ultimately no takers. Khyber Pass Pub. 3k Views. Those children of the 1970s and 1980s grew up in and around the suburban malls. Spice Grill in Port Richmond. Petrogiannis has also restored the the 24/7 hours of operation. And apparently, makingkiller fried chicken will make folks fondly remember your restaurant for years after it folds. In the late 1970s, the Dewey's restaurants in Philadelphia began to fold, victims to competition from national fast food chains like . The Love. Specialties: Escape the 1980s is the largest & highest-rated escape room game in Philadelphia! Up until about 1996 the Penrose was a spectacular example of quasi-Googie diner styling. Order, pickup, and go. I remember the Mayfair diner. It was the most expensive item on the menu at $7.99!When they knocked it down they built a McDonalds there which I worked at for for 9 years! floor of the hotel was home to The Fountain. Sad on both counts. None of that here in Atlanta area. Most of the time contractors use them to cover up the roof-top air conditioning units and to add additional height for increased profile. I sorely miss them since I live in Florida. SATURDAY - SUNDAY. It could have been dee dees it was about a half mile north of the aramingo. The third being the current location at 1501 Snyder Ave. Did anyone mention STENTON DINER? Snow Whites space at 2nd and Market was reopened under the same ownership as Revolution House,a kid-friendly yet upscale spot for pizza, beer, and pub grub, but it just doesnt have the same cachet. My last visit for Sunday breakfast found the place busier than the OHare Airport at Thanksgiving, and the meals met with my partys expectations, except for the home fries. Venerable Old Original Bookbinder's, Second and Walnut, is one of many restaurants Philadelphians still miss. Jack Doneius bought a run-down, but well-preserved diner in Manhattans lower West Side, spruced it up, and started serving upscale food. with snapper soup on the menu, theres no way that this newish iteration Before the Four Seasons transitioned into the sleek, new Logan Hotel, the ground Period. All the golden goddesses! There are now two Farm & Fisherman Taverns, one in Horsham and one in Cherry Hill. Many were hobbled by some kind of frailty. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The late 60s and early 70s in Philadelphia were pretty relaxed. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life. Judging by the all the online reviews, past impressions, and tips from fellow diner fanatics, the desserts remain the menus real attraction. From 1994 until 2008, The Striped Bass graced the expense account set with My grandfather purchased the property and had the diner built in the 50s It was then Jersey Queen Diner. The older ones began appearing in the late-1980s and early-1990s, started or inspired by German immigrants that had once settled there. greater. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Snow WhiteClosed in: 2011Philly has lost a lot of its great diners in recent years. For nearly 100 years, this family-owned classic on 6th between South and