“In this day of faceless franchises — where the help has been hypnotized into smiling while serving customers, even though they don’t really give a hoot about ’em — diners remain personable places where the service, like the eggs, comes sunny side up.”
That description of diners, written by Howard Pousner more than 40 years ago, remains as true as it was when he sidled up to counters at the Majestic Diner, Silver Grill, Luckie Grill, Junior’s Grill, the Silver Skillet and Atlanta chain Dunk ’n Dine to write a story for the combined Weekend edition of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution.
We are drawn to diners not just because of their personableness. We also love them because they serve affordable comfort food and don’t skimp on the portions. And even when we’re dining solo, the cook manning the grill on the other side of the counter, the server pouring coffee and the stranger occupying the next stool over can offer a sense of community.
Credit: Greg Rannells
Credit: Greg Rannells
Diners through the years
The American diner has gone through many iterations since 1872, when Walter Scott began peddling sandwiches, coffee and pies from a horse-drawn cart in Providence, Rhode Island. The wagon gave way to converted railroad cars — and later prefabricated dining cars — outfitted with a counter, stools and a food preparation area along one side. The post-World War II period brought Formica countertops, porcelain tiles, leather booths and terrazzo floors. Population shifts to the suburbs led to such design features as flashy chrome, neon lighting and big windows, to attract motorists.
Atlanta has seen its share of diners come and go. Dunk ’n Dine, which began in the 1960s and had nine area locations by the mid-1970s, is a fading memory for some. So, too, Landmark Diner Jr., which opened on Cheshire Bridge in 2005 in a former Dunk ’n Dine space and shuttered in 2019. Junior’s Grill on North Avenue near Georgia Tech no longer is around; nor is Silver Grill on Monroe Drive, which had a solid run from 1945 until 2006, and a brief resurgence in 2007-2009.
Credit: Greg Rannells for the Atlanta Jo
Credit: Greg Rannells for the Atlanta Jo
Only two of the establishments featured in Pousner’s 1982 story remain: Majestic Diner and the Silver Skillet. The latter has been serving eggs, biscuits, red-eye gravy and lemon icebox pie on 14th Street, just west of the Downtown Connector, since 1956. The Majestic holds the title of the oldest operating diner in Atlanta, serving “Food That Pleases” on Ponce de Leon Avenue since 1929.
While diners originated in urban areas, they aren’t exclusive to big cities. In downtown Cartersville, the red and white building on the corner of Main and Gilmer streets has been home to 4 Way Lunch since 1931 (and still is without a telephone). Just a few blocks away sits Ross Diner, with its polished chrome stools around a U-shaped counter. Georgia’s northwest corner is “short on classic diners plated in chrome and bustling at all hours,” writes AJC contributor Christopher Hassiotis, but Greg’s Restaurant in Chickamauga “fills the need.”
Credit: Greg Rannells
Credit: Greg Rannells
Perhaps no diner fills the need more than Waffle House.
The 24/7 restaurant chain — brainchild of Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner — started in Avondale Estates in 1955 and now boasts more than 1,900 units across 25 states. Waffle House is a beacon of hope for the hungry along interstates and blue highways, as well as big city boulevards and small town Main streets.
And when Waffle House’s disaster management index — which the Federal Emergency Management Agency relies on to gauge the intensity of a storm — is so high as to force a one of the chain’s diners to close, you know things are bad.
The diner as art
Diners have done more than fill our bellies with pancakes, eggs cooked any way, a burger with fries and coffee refills. They long have been a source of artistic inspiration, too.
Silver Grill inspired drag superstar Diamond Lil to write “Silver Grill Blues” in 1975, while Tom Edwards paid homage to Silver Grill waitress Peggy Hubbard in his 1997 stage musical comedy “Della’s Diner 6.”
And Landmark Diner on Luckie Street has served as a film location numerous times — as have Silver Skillet and Savannah’s Palace Diner.
Credit: William Brawley
Credit: William Brawley
In addition, Waffle House holds such a special place in some chefs’ hearts that it has inspired culinary creations, such as Lazy Betty co-owner Ron Hsu’s version of steak and eggs (with wasabi and ponzu-beef jus), as well as Local Three partner Chris Hall’s “scattered, smothered and covered” asparagus, which resulted in a cease-and-desist order from Waffle House, which popularized that phrase with its hash browns.
One artist who spent a career depicting diners on canvas is John Baeder. Born in 1938 in South Bend, Indiana, Baeder was raised in Atlanta. Around age 5, his family lived for six months in the Briarcliff Hotel (now the Briarcliff Summit apartment complex) on Ponce de Leon, across the street from the Majestic Diner.
Credit: Louie Favorite
Credit: Louie Favorite
He described his memories of the storied Atlanta diner in his artist statement for “Pleasant Journeys and Good Eats Along the Way: The Paintings of John Baeder,” a 2007 retrospective exhibition of his work organized by the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta and published as a catalog by the University of Mississippi:
“It had short stools, and I was enthralled sitting on those stools with all the grown-ups,” he wrote. “I was even more thrilled by observing with complete and clear amazement the choreography of the counterman preparing food so swiftly on the grill, right in front of me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the twists and turns of his wrist as he flipped burgers and flopped toast, opened and closed the polished metal doors, and, of course, performed the magical one-hand-egg-breaking routine.”
Credit: John Baeder
Credit: John Baeder
Baeder would go on to depict diners and roadside eateries throughout the U.S., but the Majestic was always his “home” diner, to which he paid homage in a now well-known 1977 watercolor.
According to art history professor Donald Kuspit, who contributed to “Pleasant Journeys and Good Eats Along the Way,” every diner Baeder depicted “is a symbol of the original Majestic Diner of his childhood imagination.”
Credit: handout
Credit: handout
Baeder’s portraits of restaurant exteriors helped with what he called the “preservation of a unique and rapidly disappearing icon of American roadside culture.”
His work was a different approach than that of North Carolina photographer Micah Cash, who began snapping images from Waffle House locations in the South in 2018. “Waffle House Vistas,” on display at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens through June 1, features a selection from Cash’s book by the same name. Each image offers a perspective from inside the diner looking out.
“This project is very much about looking out, having aspirations in life, thinking about your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your sacrifices and finding commonality amongst all of us,” he told AJC contributor Felicia Feaster. “Because we have all those together, right? We have so much more in common than we do differences in our society.”
Veteran food photographer Greg Rannells made a similar observation after his 17-day visit in October to document Georgia diners for this statewide dining guide. “I love that diners are a microcosm of life, where people of different temperaments, talents and convictions gather at the counter for a good cup of coffee and a great conversation,” Rannells said.
Credit: Greg Rannells for the Atlanta Jo
Credit: Greg Rannells for the Atlanta Jo
Rannells’ observation describes what many proprietors of diners want their eatery to be: the great equalizer, where class distinctions are blurred and political differences are at least tolerated.
Mary Heisey is the second-generation owner of Ruth Ann’s, a fixture in Columbus for more than 30 years. “We’ve had so many politicians here, military people … people (who) came to Columbus to protest (at Fort Benning) — but guess where they all wanted to hang out? Ruth Ann’s,” she said. “And everybody got along. I’m very proud that we’re still that way. Everyone feels very comfortable here.”
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