>>> BEFORE WE HAD FOOD TRUCKS, WE HAD THE MOBILE DINER ON A
HORSE-DRAWN WAGON.
BY THE 1900'S, DINERS WENT FROM BEING MOVABLE LATE-NIGHT FOOD
COUNTERS TO STATIONARY 24-HOUR EATERIES.
THE QUESTION TODAY ISN'T WHETHER DINERS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK,
THE REAL QUESTION IS, IN AMERICAN HISTORY, WHAT TYPE OF
RESTAURANT HAS EVER HAD SUCH SUSTAINED POPULARITY?
BRIAN SULLIVAN TRAVELED THROUGH HAMPDEN AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES TO
BRING US THE STORY OF THE ENDURING AMERICAN DINER.
>> WHICH CAME FIRST, THE COMFORT FOOD OR THE DINER?
THE TWO HAVE GONE HAND IN HAND FOR SO LONG NOW THAT IT'S
DIFFICULT TO SAY.
ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN THOUGH AND THAT'S THE UNIQUELY AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE THAT THE DINER HAS TO OFFER ITS PATRONS.
WHEREVER THEY ARE, IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE WAS
BUILT AROUND THEM, AND IN SOME CASES IT'S TRUE.
OFTENTIMES THE MODEL DESIGN IS INDICATIVE OF THE ERA IN WHICH
IT ARRIVED ON THE SCENE.
CHARLIE'S IN WEST SPRINGFIELD IS A 1948 FOOD--
THE ONE IN SPRINGFIELD IS A 1957 MOUNTAIN VIEW.
WHILE THERE MAY NOT BE ANY MOUNTAINS TO VIEW, THERE IS A
FREIGHT TRAIN THAT PASSES THROUGH.
AND THE ROAD IT'S ON MAY BE A LESS DIRECT ROUTE TO CALIFORNIA
THAN THE PECULIAR ROUTE 66, BUT THIS EATERY, FORMERLY KNOWN AS
THE NEW BAY DINER, CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF
HISTORIC PLACES.
BUT BEFORE THESE STRUCTURES WERE SECURED TO THE GROUND, THEY WERE
FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES THE ORIGINAL FOOD TRUCKS OF THEIR
DAY.
>> DINERS WERE DESIGNED FOR THIRD SHIFT WORKERS.
THE FIRST DINER WAS HORSE AND BUGGY, THEY PULLED UP TO A
FACTORY, THIRD SHIFT WORKERS HAD NO PLACE TO EAT.
THAT WAS THE CONCEPT.
IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.
>> AL'S IS A MASTER DINER MODEL BIT IN 1957 IN NEW JERSEY,
BEFORE OPENING HERE IN CHICOPEE IN 1958.
GUS' DAD CAME ON AS A CHEF IN 1959 AND EVENTUALLY BOUGHT THE
PLACE IN 1975.
GUS HAS BEEN HERE SINCE 1973 AND THE CUSTOMERS KEEP SHOWING UP
WITH AN APPETITE FROM NEAR AND FAR.
EITHER BECAUSE OF FAMILIARITY, TRADITION OR JUST PLAIN OLD
CURIOSITY.
>> I JUST HAD A TASTE FOR SOME BREAKFAST FOOD, I SAID LET'S
FIND A LOCAL DINER, WE WERE GOING TO HEAD TO HOLYOKE AREA,
BUT GOOGLED IT AND SAW AL'S, SO SAID LET'S GO CHECK IT OUT.
>> IT STARTED OUT WITH MY FAMILY, AND IT'S BEEN THE SAME
EVER SINCE.
GUS HAS BEEN HERE SINCE DAY ONE AND THE FOOD HAS BEEN THE SAME,
IT'S GREAT, THEY SERVE BREAKFAST ALL DAY, CAN'T BEAT THAT.
>> TO BE NOTED, THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INCLUDE THIS IS BUILDING AS WELL.
PLACES LIKE AL'S IN CHICOPEE AND SOME OF THE OTHERS WE LOOKED AT
ARE PROBABLY MORE ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT FOLKS HAVE IN MIND
WHEN I THEY THINK OF THAT DOWN HOME RESTAURANT THAT'S BEEN HERE
FOREVER.
BUT THERE'S THE OTHER TYPE THAT SPARKS NOSTALGIA, WE FOUND IT
HERE.
DRIVERS HAD BEST NOT MISS THE EXIT EITHER BECAUSE THERE ISN'T
ANOTHER FOR NINE MILES.
BUT TRUCKERS AND WEARY TRAVELERS ALIKE CAN FIND SUSTENANCE AS
THIS OASIS.
WORDS LIKE OPEN 24 HOURS AND DIESEL FUEL, SERVE ASS THE SIREN
SONG TO LURE TRUCKERS FROM THE LONELY HIGHWAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN
IT'S BREAKFAST FOOD ANY TIME OF DAY.
USUALLY WHEN THE TRUCKERS GET HERE, THIS IS THEIR BREAKFAST
TIME.
>> THEY NEED TO EAT, THEY CAN PULL IN AT ANY TIME.
SO IT'S GREAT THAT THIS PLACE IS OPEN 24 HOURS, WE SERVE
BREAKFAST 24 HOURS.
IT'S FOR THE TRUCK DRIVERS.
>> THE 24-HOUR TRUCK STOP DINER IS A BIT OF A THROWBACK CON
EXCEPT THIS IS THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND ON THE MASSACHUSETTS
END OF 91.
IT GIVES THE APPEARANCE OF HAVING BEEN HERE SINCE BEFORE
THE HIGHWAY WAS BUILT, BUT THAT'S JUST AN ILLUSION.
THE COLEMAN PRINCESS MODEL WAS BUILT IN 1960 AND FEATURES
OUTWARD SLANTING WINDOWS.
BUT IT WAS PURCHASED AND MOVED TO THIS LOCATION IN WHAT LIST IN
THE 70'S.
>> IT WAS OVER BY THE MARKET AND MANY OF THE LOCAL KIDS WOULD GO
TO THE PRINCESS DINER.
ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO MY WIFE AND I WERE TRAVELING THROUGH THE AREA
AND I CAME INTO IN RESTAURANT AND THEY TOLD ME THIS WHAT IS
THE OLD PRINCESS DINER, AND I WAS LIKE WOW.
I'VE BEEN COMING BACK EVER SINCE.
>> THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF TRAVELERS COMING IN OFF THE
STREET, THIS DINER CATERS TO THE TRUCKERS WHO ARRIVE AT THIS
DESTINATION FROM ALL OVER AND QUITE OFTEN THEY'RE GREETED BY A
WAIT STAFF THAT TRAVELED A GOOD DISTANCE THEMSELVES TO GET HERE
AND SHARE IN THIS EXPERIENCE.
>> I LIKE IT, I MEAN THE FOOD IS GOOD.
BUT IT'S THE PEOPLE.
YOU GET ALL KINDS OF CRAZY STORIES, OF ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE
FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE.
>> I STARTED THIS JOB TO HELP MY FRIEND.
SHE WAS WORKING OVERNIGHT SO SHE WAS MOVING ONTO THE DAY SHIFT
AND THEY COULDN'T FIND SOMEONE TO DO NIGHTS, SO I SAID I WOULD
DO FRIDAY, SATURDAY NIGHTS FOR A MONTH OR TWO.
SEVEN YEARS AGO.
STILL HERE, LOVED IT.
I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH THE PLACE.
>> DINERS ALMOST SEEM TO BE THE HORSESHOE CRABS OF THE
RESTAURANT WORLD.
I MEAN THAT IN THE NICEST WAY.
THEY WERE HERE LONG BEFORE ANY OF THE NEW RESTAURANTS, AND HAVE
OUTLIVED MANY OF THE OLD ONES.
IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT WE MAY JUST KEEP GOING BACK TO THEM
OURSELVES FOR THAT SAME COMFORT THAT WE FOUND IN THEM THE FIRST
TIME WE WENT THERE.
>> DINERS WERE THE FIRST, THE ORIGINAL DINNER SHOWS, DINNER
AND A SHOW, RIGHT.
NOW YOU PAY EXTRA MONEY TO GO SIT IN A KITCHEN IN A FANCY
RESTAURANT THE KITCHEN TABLES AND STUFF,
YOU PAY EXTRA MONEY TO CITY -- SIT IN THE KITCHEN.
HERE IT'S ALL PART OF THE EXPERIENCE.