Whenever a vintage diner changes ownership, diner fans hold their breath. And when one owner acquires several diners, we tend to expect the worst. This happened in Philadelphia, where the landmark Mayfair and Melrose Diners were remodeled by a new owner, damaging their vintage charm in the process. So it’s with this in mind that I had been observing [...]
Farewell, Miss Albany
The Miss Albany Diner as we know it is gone. Yes, there is still a Silk City diner at 893 Broadway in the city, as there has been since 1941. For many years it was Lil’s Diner, serving working people in Albany’s industrial North End in classic diner fashion. But beginning in 1988, the Brown family [...]
Petersburg Views
This posting was updated January 1, 2013 to reflect information from a newspaper article in The Times Record. When I was a child, the road to Grandma’s house was New York Route 2, leading from our home in Troy over Grafton Mountain to the small town of Petersburg. Our family’s many trips there are the [...]
It all started with a Christmas present
Welcome to the newly revamped RoadsideFans.com! The great new design is a Christmas present from my stepson, Ray Milstrey. But the fact that RoadsideFans exists at all traces to another Christmas present, 17 years earlier. The year was 1994, and my wife, Susan, noticed my fascination with Pennsylvania Diners and Other Roadside Restaurants, which we watched [...]
