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The Classic American Diner

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Re: The Classic American Diner

#91

Post by userbinator »

watersb wrote: post #83
hackingonempty wrote: post #22

One of my hobbies is looking up old prices in the BLS CPI calculator to see what they would cost today (March 2026 is the latest data.) The June 1940 photograph along Hwy 1 in Maryland had $0.05 hotdogs ($1.17) and $0.10 burgers ($2.34). The Feb 1959 photograph from the NYC diner advertises a $0.45 burger ($5.14) and probably a $0.75 steak sandwich ($8.57)

I wonder if portion size is comparable. We may have inflation in more than one sense: prices have gone up, and perhaps the size of burgers and hot dogs have also increased. No doubt I can find portion size clues if I look around. Haven't done so yet.

If anything, I think they've probably decreased ("shrinkflation").

Re: The Classic American Diner

#92

Post by ButlerianJihad »

neves wrote: post #25

The photos does not display what I hate the most: the fixed 2 double seats tables. It is completely antisocial. You can't arrive with your group of six friends and "join tables" so everybody can seat together. What Americans have against a big group of friends?

Couple of things.

First, the patrons never put the tables and chairs back where they're supposed to be (even if they try, they get it wrong), so the minimum-wage waitress/busboy is stuck with the job of rearranging furniture, and cleaning up the floors. This is one reason that large groups get the "mandatory gratuity" treatment.

Turnover: every restaurant needs to turn over tables on the regular. If a large group is sort of lingering even after being decimated, and the diner can't reclaim those 4-tops for another party, that's potential lost revenue.

[Hmm, is that how "The Four Tops" got their name?]

Wait staff are often assigned "stations" based on a group of table numbers, so if you shove together enough tables for 12 patrons, you may have a conflict of 2-3 waitresses, but only one "main" can be allocated.

Any table or chair that can be lifted or moved by a patron becomes a potential melee weapon. Diners are occupied by rough crowds and after-club drunks who are trying to sober up. This is also why you're lucky to get a butter knife with your sirloin.

Booths feel more comfy, and offer a better feeling of privacy than tables. A table's more flexible if you have a family and toddlers, a wheelchair, or something, but booths are for lovers to cuddle.

Re: The Classic American Diner

#94

Post by fipar »

mc32 wrote: post #60
joecool1029 wrote: post #43

NJ got snubbed in this submission. We still have tons of independent diners (around 450 according to this article: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/01/1241959475/new-jersey-diners-... )

Yeah, it's weird, NJ is pretty well-known for having iconic Diners. People from many different states will know about NJ diners. https://www.tastingtable.com/1203923/best-diners-in-new-jers...

And people not even from the states (like me) know about NJ diners because one saw the birth of Unicode :)

Re: The Classic American Diner

#95

Post by stasomatic »

kshacker wrote: post #7

Don't know about "classic". But diners used to be my weekly jaunt here in South Bay for almost a decade. Not any more because with age you realize the quantity is too much and my drive to work changed (WFH). There's something special about going to your regular place, seeing the same servers, and them knowing your order before you say it. Probably the same in dinner restaurants but we don't repeat restaurants as ofte…

When I lived in NJ over 20 years ago, I'd stop by a random diner on the turnpike and order 2 sunny side up and a cup of coffee. Or a Greek place mid-town, a sloppy gyro. It wasn't ambrosia, but it was "perfectly cromulent" and the gritty surroundings added to the taste. I'd do the same in Brooklyn under a random industrial street in Bensonhurst or Sheepshead Bay. That era is just gone. I don't remember seeing an avocado on the menu back then.

Re: The Classic American Diner

#96

Post by goosejuice »

userbinator wrote: post #91
watersb wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if portion size is comparable. We may have inflation in more than one sense: prices have gone up, and perhaps the size of burgers and hot dogs have also increased. No doubt I can find portion size clues if I look around. Haven't done so yet.

If anything, I think they've probably decreased ("shrinkflation").

Not in the US. See "portion distortion".

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1447051/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8667835/

Edit: hamburgers and hotdogs are pretty standardized though

Re: The Classic American Diner

#98

Post by [deleted] »

dylan604 wrote: post #44
hackingonempty wrote: post #22

One of my hobbies is looking up old prices in the BLS CPI calculator to see what they would cost today (March 2026 is the latest data.) The June 1940 photograph along Hwy 1 in Maryland had $0.05 hotdogs ($1.17) and $0.10 burgers ($2.34). The Feb 1959 photograph from the NYC diner advertises a $0.45 burger ($5.14) and probably a $0.75 steak sandwich ($8.57)

These prices adjusted for today's value seem off though. I'm guessing you'd be hard pressed to find a diner burger for $5.14 anywhere. No, fast food joints are not the same here and not part of this discussion. Where is the discrepancy? I've never really trusted these "adjusted for inflation" type numbers. I'm not an economist so I have no idea how they are calculated, but they've always just felt off to me. Usually,…

[deleted]

Re: The Classic American Diner

#99

Post by goosejuice »

dylan604 wrote: post #44
hackingonempty wrote: post #22

One of my hobbies is looking up old prices in the BLS CPI calculator to see what they would cost today (March 2026 is the latest data.) The June 1940 photograph along Hwy 1 in Maryland had $0.05 hotdogs ($1.17) and $0.10 burgers ($2.34). The Feb 1959 photograph from the NYC diner advertises a $0.45 burger ($5.14) and probably a $0.75 steak sandwich ($8.57)

These prices adjusted for today's value seem off though. I'm guessing you'd be hard pressed to find a diner burger for $5.14 anywhere. No, fast food joints are not the same here and not part of this discussion. Where is the discrepancy? I've never really trusted these "adjusted for inflation" type numbers. I'm not an economist so I have no idea how they are calculated, but they've always just felt off to me. Usually,…

Counter service family joints absolutely in the $5 area for standard ol' boring 1/4/lb. Maybe your definition of diner is different? There's a place by me with diner in the name that has a burger for $4.99.

Re: The Classic American Diner

#100

Post by koolba »

fipar wrote: post #94
mc32 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's weird, NJ is pretty well-known for having iconic Diners. People from many different states will know about NJ diners. https://www.tastingtable.com/1203923/best-diners-in-new-jers...

And people not even from the states (like me) know about NJ diners because one saw the birth of Unicode :)

> … NJ diners because one saw the birth of Unicode

While it’s possible that Unicode was also conceived at a diner, you’re likely thinking of UTF-8. Unicode was from a decade earlier.

https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ucs/utf-8-history.txt

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