A sampling of Philly’s distinctive diners
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The Trolley Car Diner represents Ken Weinstein’s support for Mt. Airy’s continued revival. (Image courtesy of Randy Garbin)
NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller speaks with Randy Garbin, a diner aficionado, about what makes a restaurant as a diner — and whether there’s a future for the diner in America.
According to Garbin, a diner must be constructed from a prefabricated structure. And since the rise of these restaurants coincided with the days when eating in a train car was considered fashionable, the iconic look came naturally.
“You can call it kind of a marketing gimmick, because if you saw something that looked like a train on the side of the road, it’s going to catch your eye,” he said.
Having visited hundreds of diners, Garbin has some standards. Great coffee and home fries. “If you can’t do those two things, then maybe you’re in the wrong business.”
Read ‘The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia’s Diners,’ originally published on Hidden City Philadelphia.
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