You’d be hard pressed to find a year in American television and film that doesn’t have at least one scene set in a diner. I’d even go so far as to call it the quintessentially American restaurant. Jane and I eat here every Monday. We go shoot photos for clients, and then we head to Blue Plate to get food. There’s something about this place that keeps us coming back. The food is good- not just good, perfect. If I didn’t know better, I’d be sure that my mom is back there cooking.
The locals and regulars come daily.
They offer the same warm and sassy welcome to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnicity. Your server is invariably accepting, regardless of the condition you find yourself in when you walk in.
Pete Wells, the restaurant critic at the New York Times, says that for a diner to be a diner, “it has to be the kind of place where the server calls you “hon.”
I like that sentiment.
It might be a requirement to have tattoos if you want to work here, everyone does. But the best thing about the staff is their genuine friendliness, helpful service, and of course… the fact that they bring us our delicious food..
And that’s why we need to cherish our local diners, whether it’s a mom and pop or a Waffle House or a this famous Blue Plate in Salt Lake City. They’re some of the few cheap, all-inclusive places to eat and hang out and laugh and cry and stay viscerally connected with other folks.
A few days ago I asked my server at a diner if I could order a patty melt, even though it wasn’t on the menu. “Sure,” she replied with a half smile. “Just tell us what you want and if we have the fixin’s we’ll make it for you.”
Fixie bikes have decorated this exterior before Fixie Bikes were cool.
All photos owned by Jane Groom and Plain Jane Photography
