The comforts of home inside a diner...
Often enough, homespun goodness centers around the comforts of home, and those places that make you feel right at home for the warm reception and hospitality afforded to patrons crossing over the threshold. In this case, stepping into cramped quarters. Enter one of Rhode Island’s landmark eateries with the misleading name—Modern Diner.
Hunkering down in the city of Pawtucket, this restaurant achieved fame when chosen the first diner in the nation to be accepted on the National Register for Historic Places. So, in actuality the narrow “Sterling Streamliner” which entails the diner’s skeletal structure, was most likely part of a line of factory-built, “modernistic” diners manufactured in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.
Once inside the Modern’s domain—whether you dunk your toast in egg yolk seated at one of the tiny tables for two, the more spacious tables for four, or slide along any of the two Deadman’s curves in the caboose—it’s all about the food!
Every summer, right before my sister and her family end their vacation and head for home on the Pacific Coast, it has become a tradition for all of us to meet, greet, and eat breakfast there. Throughout the year, my mother and I frequent the diner on a regular basis.
About the food:
While you wait outside the dining car, you’ll find plenty of reading material with more than 30 daily specials pinned on the wall. More than likely you won’t have time to read every item because turnaround time is fast, as expected at a diner. When your meals are delivered by any one of the pleasant servers, the food is piping hot. You’ll tunnel through heaping portions of delicious fare at unbeatable prices.
For instance, today, I ordered the egg salad sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on toasted white bread for $5.99, with a side of French fries for $2.99. Most places, you’ll pay more than the sum total for a gourmet cup of coffee!
Never surprised at the homespun goodness encountered within the Modern Diner on so many levels, today was even more exceptional. Before my mother and I picked up the tab and left the premises on full stomachs, our server presented us “stainless steel” ice tongs, sealed in plastic, as a goodwill gesture for our patronage.
Odd, I thought, but appreciated. When I phoned my sister to relate today’s unique experience at the diner, she suggested I use the tongs to toss salad or spaghetti. Great ideas for implementing homespun goodness inside the comforts of my own home.
On Sept. 27, 2019, I received this comment under my post on the Modern Diner business page at Facebook:
Thank you for your post and sharing this story! We are so grateful for your patronage! The tongs are a giveaway that is part of Pawtucket Restaurant Week this week! Thank you for supporting Modern Diner and Pawtucket Small Business!
|
as with all your reviews concerning nifty, interesting places and things to do; Homespun Goodness is another dandy to help us all know more of our collective history and society's culture
Never Stop Writing!
m
It's been a long time since I've been to a diner. But last April, while on a cruise, I checked out a diner on our cruise ship with some famous name that I can't recall right now. Anyway I entered and asked what a hamburger, fries and Coke would cost? The manager said, $15.95! I politely declined and we left because dinner served haute cuisine for free. As well as the cafeteria with hamburgers and fries and free with soft drinks at a much lower cost.
I always looked at diners as greasy spoons. Why I mostly cooked at home.
Ron