What I like about diners is that they are
all different. A diner expresses what his
owner wants it to be. He likes
Elvis ? He buys
Elvis wallpaper.
He does not like you ? He will be sure to let you know.
The diner is the ultimate cranky, individualistic, non-corporate entity.
Diner #1: on Murray St., in Pittsburgh: the cook is an ex-Navy. At the least provocation, he will show you his pictures. The photograph of an F-16 hangs on the wall, slowly turning yellow with grease and age.
Diner #2: the South Side Diner, in Pittsburgh. Well-known locally. "How are y'all ?" --- all the staff seems to come out of a freak show. The cook is very thin and pale and tall, the waitress is very short and very round, the guy that cleans the floor mutters and likes to stare at people.
The fries are good. The wallpaper was clean two years ago, I hope it has got some patina by now.
Every diner is an adventure of its own, a trip into the particularities of the place and of the people that run it.
If there were more diners, I would not even know what McDonald's is.
When I am old, I will open a diner. I will call it "Baffo's Food". It will have exactly 8 tables. I will sell beer to all without a licence. There will be an old, beat up espresso machine and a Bunn industrial coffee machine, and a young man well trained in making coffee. I will bug the customers, and I will try to convince them that espresso is best for ya ! - I will be a happy old man.