Live in a walkable community. He currently works as an independent website developer and art director. floor of the hotel was home to The Fountain. Not sure if they serve diner fare besides the chinese menu. The transit stations and concourses were so much more dismal back then that now when I find a SEPTA station unpleasant, I recall what used to be and think, Aw, thats just a tiny puddle of pee. Photograph: Courtesy Vetri. While most of the damage occurred in the kitchen, the diner has seriously deteriorated after what looks like an outright abandonment. AS A PERSON WHO works in Center City and who writes about real estate and economic development I cant claim to be disappointed by downtowns success. The transformation will shatter your heart to see how the owners destroyed one of the worlds most gorgeous authentic diners and covered over or demolished the surface materials and original fixtures, most of which you cannot get or remake anywhere. And they did. While i frequent my old neighborhood diner (trolley car diner)most often, one that i really love that is always superb to me is the Four Seasons Diner on cottman Avenue. City Hall was a mess. The diner was built by Paramount and it still features the companys trademark wedding cake corners with the gazing ball ornament. Not dwelling on the past is one of the prime benefits of Philadelphias To order the clip clean and hi-res or to find out more visit http://www.kinolibrary.com. We do, and it was great. Randy, thank you for acknowledging the Spice Grill located at 3447 Richmond Street in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. Thanks to the internet you no longer have to waste hours of time and tankfuls of gas visiting local history museums, antique shops, and libraries to find vintage photos of diners and other roadside attractions consigned to history or often transformed into something else. Khmer KitchenClosed in: 2018Thisfamily-run BYO in Pennsport repped Cambodian cuisine,broadening the scope of the citys dining scene and serving incredible chicken curry and pleah (spicy raw beef saladwith lime, peanuts, and fresh mint) in the process. Every diner taken over by the Michaels diner group, has suffered a precipitous drop in quality. the most talked-about dish in Manhattan" in the 1970s became an unrelenting culinary joke of the 1980s, . My lastvisit did nothing to change that general impression. Senior year, a friend and I went to see Hannah and Her Sisters. 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. Sep 13, 2019 - Restaurants that I ate at as a child..most no longer exist. Plus I always thought the Jersey diners had the best coffee I ever tasted, next to my dads that is. 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. I liked its gritty spirit. Kids discussed open marriages in art class, and the 2000 block of Sansom Street was the bohemian center of the west-of-Broad universe, with head shops, cafes and clubs that leaked strains of poetry, jazz, disco, and the smoke of that natural plant. Oak Lanesprospects dont look good. MmClosed in: 2012Abelovedneighborhood spot (Fitler Square) serving quality New American fare is a beautiful thing. The banquet room at Tiffanys has been used as a filming location for Pennsylvania Lottery commercials. There was a diner on Aramingo Avenue we use to stop in back in the early 60s after a night of bar hopping. In the first decade of the 21st century, Petrogiannis also snapped up the Tiffany, Country Club, and Broad Street diners. Enjoyed this article, but am left wondering: Whats up with Bobs being more or less in a graveyard? Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. Only bother to go here if youre a hard-core diner fanatic. Retro restaurant enthusiasts might be familiar with The Pub, a salad bar I go to a diner to immerse myself in the neighborhood, especially in a city like Philadelphia that still has so many of them, each with their own distinct identities. Im sorry you cant agree with a simple fact, but Ive been listening to this sentiment for more than thirty years. 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. something of a Greek tragedy during its final days. Theres trash everywhere. Im not a fussy eater. Bobsadheres very closely to the basic diner credo: Serve good food at reasonable prices in a clean and friendly atmosphere. Sweet Tom, who took me to both proms and was basically my first husband, lived at 25th and Lombard. When I lived near it (2002-2004), the Oak Lane was under original ownership, managed by a young man from the family who had it since 1946. Joes daughter Nancy runs the diner today, and itrecently received national attention thanks to Guy Fieris Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives program, which spotlighted their chicken croquettes. Write by: . Of those, around200 were built before 1965 and are still in original condition. | Photo: Randy Garbin. The diner takes its name from the company that built it. Cherry soda before closing its doors in 1990. Being a Jersey boy, he has food memories that are rooted in the Garden State. What I wrote about Kabobeesh applies to the Penrose as well. worldwide team of discerning professionalsand your views, too. 1970s philadelphia restaurants. Sad. One of the most tragic losses to the roster of Philadelphia diners came with the demolition of the long-suffering Wayne Junction Diner. Many of the mentioned ones, I have the privileged to say, I ate there. Gus Tsionis Steak House Gus Tsionis . | Photo: Randy Garbin. Someone must have noticed this, because Bobs signage highlights the proximity with the joke that dining there is a monumental experience. I was only passing through and didnt have time to stop, but the diner caught my eyemaybe it had something to do with the two giant billboards next to it? At the beginning of June, the City served a notice tothe owners that stated they had 30 days to either fix it or demolish it. He said I didnt have the right name. Diner-wise, this ones only for hard-core fans. Shop on Main Street. A hostess sometimes had to take names out in the lobby. Weinstein and his wife traveled all over the northeast checking on leads for available diners, settling on Palookas days if not hours before the dinersowner planned to bulldoze it. Now we could proudly speak of world class art museums, a dynamic restaurant scene, the profusion of pop-up gardens and public green space, and booming . Long gone, now. I also waitressed at Oak Lane Diner when I was in grad school in the late 70s (Hmm, tuition=extra money=diner job). I admire them for sticking it out. We look to blogs such as these for straight talk, not depends on who you ask waffling. Silk City Last week, Jeff Gordinier of The New York Times wrote a profile of chef Kevin Sbraga and his new restaurant Juniper Commons. 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! and steak palace just over the river, but the Pubs footprint was once much The history of restaurants in the Nation's Capital. You could come out boasting that your waitress was a thirty-year veteran which is no small thing in a business known for its employee turnover. Palumbo's, 9/Catharine: Decent gravy joint, but the ambience was sooo 1950s. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Everyone take care! Does she imagine shes in some sophisticated, classy city? I waitressed there for several months in the early/mid-1970s. Kanella SouthClosed in: 2018With Kanella South, it finally felt like Konstantinos Pitsillides finally had the right tools a spit, a wood-burning oven to really show off his skills. like the OG. When Harry Markellos partnered up with George K and opened Horsham Towne I worked there and met my wife of 40 years! The big DeRaffele diner featured soaring folded-plate roof line, expansive plate glass windows, and a space-age interior that restaurateurs in places like New York and San Francisco spend a small fortune to recreate. Meanwhile, the western blocks of South Street became a bustling African American shopping and entertainment strip. Great memories! Frisco BBQ restaurant raises $33K for boy with rare blood cancer . Petrogiannis put his own stamp on things with a silly turret-like roofline to raise the diners profile. I forget its name at the time, but it could have been Stacys Place.. There are now two Farm & Fisherman Taverns, one in Horsham and one in Cherry Hill. The city had already issued the demo permit. I look for a good value balanced against the general experience. Read page 1980 of the latest Best Of news, headlines, stories, photos, and video from CBS News. Seeing the Mayfair for the first time in 1991 was a jaw dropping experience. Required fields are marked *. When I worked there it was always busy especially on the weekends. From the New York Metro Area all the way down to D.C., andespecially in New Jersey, you still see them everywherethe expansive diner-restaurants with menus that seem to specialize in EVERY DISH EVER MADE! If you cant get it atone of these places you probably never heard of it anyway. A lot of Center City has. From 1994 until 2008, The Striped Bass graced the expense account set with They have about four things available for lunch and two of them are a turkey club sandwich served either with bacon or turkey bacon. That would be so bad for me some 50 years later. In the city, diversity and relatively cheap real estate prices in many neighborhoods along with increasing demand for an authentic cultural experiences allowentrepreneurial restaurateurs to set up shop and flourish here. The girl who took me to Houlihans on the Square with all the cool kids lived at 18th and Delancey, across the street from towheaded Laura and her little brother Adam, both of whom have passed away, which is a sentence I shouldnt have to write while Im still in my 40s. The Creed franchise is a child of the king of boxing films 1976's "Rocky" and its five sequels. I want a good meal at a reasonable price, but I also want to connect with actual peoplestaff and customers. If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. as pictured in Philadelphia magazine in 1980. Today we are so fortunate to have more choices for casual or exquisite fine dining experiences. The pillars around the fountain were chipping, like teeth losing their enamel. They put this odd addition on the front that never was completed. You can still find at least a half-dozen examples of their diners built between 1948 and 1954. If it never closed, it didnt need locks. Updated on Nov 18, 2019, 5:00 a.m. It all shuttered by late 1999. The diners manager approached me on the sidewalk demanding to know why I was taking pictures. Up until then the food and service were great, and they had fantastic thick-cut bacon. Lets cut the nonsense, shall we? I do miss the original owners, but maybe it was time for a change as in the last few years food quality had noticeably declined and the hours were cut back. Its where I met my husband. I moved into the neighborhood only a few months before it burned. My father worked as a manager at Whitney & Patterson Paper Company at 5th & Bristol in the 70s into the 80s. 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 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 worked at Olive Mill Bistro in the late 1970s and was maitre'd of Ristorante . I just couldnt remember where it was. Maybe Grace Kelly never dropped in for a cup and a slice of pie, and I suspect very few pairs of tasseled loafers shuffled across its terrazzo floors, thoughnot that the diner wouldnt welcome either. Originally published as The Lost City in the August 2014 issue of Philadelphia magazine. 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. Can a diner still call itself Jewish-American after a Greek immigrant buys it? Order Online. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) . Trolley Car Diner, 7619 Germantown Avenue. Easy parking. 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. Beau Monde. Heres hoping another Portuguese concept can make it work downtown someday soon. It was anything but. Developers are breaking ground on skyscrapers. Menu-wise, the Trolley Car reflects Weinsteins intention to bring a family restaurant to the neighborhood. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. His marketing calls it a 50s-themed diner, but you wont see a Marilyn Monroe cutout greeting you at the door and you wont get barraged with Chubby Checker on the overhead sound system. I ended up working in the factory after high school from 81 to around 84 and the diner was still going strong. But amid the onslaught of new restaurants opening all over the city year after year, there are the fallen soldiers: old-school spots that got priced out due to rising rents, hotshot chefs whose ambition outstripped their business sense (or maybe just their luck), and concepts that made great food but, for whatever reason, just didnt take. 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. 1982 Having introduced nouvelle cuisine at Ma Maison in Los Angeles, Chef Wolfgang Puck presents "California cuisine" to patrons of his new chic-casual Sunset Strip restaurant, Spago. In 1998, with diners at the peak of their resurgence, Ken tossed the idea into mix, and the hunt commenced. But beyond that, this: It was unnecessarily renovated in 1996 both inside and out, which stripped away some of the incomparable stainless work. Before Stephen Starr oversaw a national empire of more than 35 restaurants, He was missing several teeth. These days it serves up Mexican fare as Jessis Diner behind a horrible brick faade which was installed by the previous owner. Ive come here often, with family and friends in tow, and we enjoy whatever we order, particularly when I select something off the specials list. After its rise, fall, and rediscovery, the American diner may indeed serve up its last plate of meatloaf well within the lifetime of anyone born since 1980. memorable shutters. These days, Poses runs a catering company and onsite eateries at I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life. Whether or not hes actually improved on any of them depends on who you ask. 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. How could we not love this place? 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. From a design perspective, the Dining Car represents something of a diner industry anomaly. What I like, you may not. 1617 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19102. Continue with Recommended Cookies. I mean, Ive been singing Phillys praises since I was a kid, but the moniker Filthadelphia (and its concomitant reputation) was so widespread, it was the first thing a new friend brought up to me when we met during my semester abroad. This is a diner built by Kullman Industries, which at the time wasthe oldest diner builders in the country. Just dont ask him when the actual trolleys will return to the tracks on Germantown Avenue. 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 . the end, hosting lavish breakfasts and brunches, power lunches and dinners Up until about 1996 the Penrose was a spectacular example of quasi-Googie diner styling. Now demolished to make it a storage lot. National retailers like Intermix and Michael Kors are coming to Walnut Street, where rents soar above the national average. One thing remains the same, though: the rats. Up until that time the Mulholland family ran, what was in my estimation, the best of the big Philly diners in terms of its preservation, food, and overall hospitality. And one that I love, at least as far as the cemetery is concerned. Boulevard Diner is now part of a car dealer. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Kims Korean Barbecue, 5955 North 5th Street, Asian fusion. Those children of the 1970s and 1980s grew up in and around the suburban malls. On Market Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, is a block of buildings in the Renaissance Revival Victorian style. menu full of gems like deviled crabs, herring in sour cream and oysters THERE WERE A PAIR of arcades on Chestnut Street between 15th and 17th: the dark, dirty Zounds, and the shiny new Supercade. I dont know of any other diners that serve their apple pie quite like this, and the sauce is not overly sweet, but it could easily mask any faults of the pie. 8013 Castor Avenue, (215) 342-3005; 2153 S. Hancock Street, (215) 462-1637, lipkinsoriginalbakery.com. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Unused Pre-1980 RESTAURANT SCENE Philadelphia Pennsylvania PA hk4537 at the best online prices at eBay! Disingenuousness aside, the Melrose earned a reputation for its baked goods and sterling service. Sometime in the aughts theystripped out more. Shame it sits the way it does. Talula's Garden. | Photo: Randy Garbin. The Big Greek Diner typically gives you a lot of food for the money. Airys cedarbrook plaza. Not much left to see here except for the basic outlines of a classic 50s structure. Reviews on 80s Themed Restaurants in Philadelphia, PA - Bud & Marilyn's, The Dandelion, Dirty Franks, Louie Louie, Butcher and Singer, Harper's Garden, McGillin's Olde Ale House, Raven Lounge, Atlantis, The Lost Bar, The Fillmore Philadelphia But it was. The name was Carrolls Diner (not Carols) It was the familys last name. Greater Philadelphia. My great uncle, Pete Kyriakodis opened what is now know as the New Boulevard / Five Star Diner a long time ago. Diner manufacturers eventually centered in northern New Jersey, where for a good 70 years they produced iconic stainless steel restaurants.

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