Never really had any of them around here. The closest thing was Dunkin Donuts or Winchell's. Although much was the same with some of the classic diners. There's a couple of small diners still around that are similar to that even today though. Some of course are better than others and I don't know if many really make their own pies. They're not 24 hours either, though I wish they were.

Speaking of which, a couple eggs, hashbrowns, crisp bacon and toast sound appealing this morning. Don't start work for a couple hours so there's time. And a pot of coffee that may not be the best but it's hot and these places have the older waitresses who for the most part still have a good work ethic and earn a good tip.

I'm 51 and don't ever recall those types of coffee shops. Truck stops are open 24/7 here and you can get a good cup of coffee, home baked pie, cake, jello, ice cream, or pudding. Or tea with that. Or a shake.

But did they have have Wi-Fi?

Just kidding. LOL

Also the hamburgers were not full of all sorts of stuff, just lettuce, tomato, onions etc and now sloppy etc and the lunches were real beef sandwitches, real chicken sandwitches, real mash potatoes and homemade gravy, and hot dogs. Suppers/dinners were enough to eat, with small soup/salads and smaller portions real fried chicken and always dessert. Homemade chicken fried steak.
Some truck stops are better than others and do we really need those big meals?

Nope. When was that?

I remember those shops back to my childhood. We had a chain of restaurants called "Decco" (nothing to do with Art Deco) back in Buffalo, they were all the same. All painted blue, they had both a counter and booths, coffee was 15 cents. My Mom took me there for ice cream while she enjoyed a coffee. Next we had "Mister Donut" similar to Dunkin Donuts today. Now I go into a small diner in my town for coffee and/or breakfast. They also sell burgers and lunch.

Yes!

I used to love to go shopping with my Aunt Ruth;
she always had a sinking spell in mid-afternoon, & we'd stop at a coffee shop in one of the department stores (they all had them) for coffee or a fountain Coke & a slice of pie.

& remember old-fashioned drug stores with the soda fountain?

There was one called Hashop's in my hometown, owned by 2 brothers who had come from Syria (to a very small town in north central Texas? go figgur!), must have been before the 1940's because my mother had had ice cream sodas in the fountain area when she was in high school.

You could get an ice cream soda, a "Coke float", a hamburger, a fountain Coke...
& a faded dusty box of your choice of aspirin, anti-acid, safety pins, hair curlers, hairnets, & other things that I'm too bashful to mention.

They had bar stools at the counter & booths along the side.

I loved that place.

Sure, we actually have one of those still. They started back in the 40's, had car service around the 60's (not now though). It's still a very popular place to get good food reasonably--sandwiches, soups, hamburgers, onion rings, + the "specials." There is a counter where you can order old fashioned soda fountain drinks, banana split, root beer float, etc. I'm making myself hungry.

Wildchild, thanks for the memory. We were living in Tacoma, Washington in 1963 , there was a small coffee shop not far from where we lived. Our splurge on our 120.00 a month in the army was to have a coffee and split a slice of pie once a month. We looked so forward to that trip every month. I had forgotten about that monthly treat.

I remember a Robb's Dairy Bar ... built of glass blocks, on the main street into the city.

We didn't go there much - it was mainly ice cream, sundaes, floats, etc.

I've been a big milk drinker (straight from the cow, with sometimes a few hours delay, on the farm when I was a kid), so not sure about the coffee, but expect that they offered that, as well.

ole joyful

We had The Coffee Shop right downtown. Everyone went there after the movies, shopping, parades.
Front had counter to sit at on stools and in the back were the booths, with the slotted music players.

Those were the good ole days!

Best hamburgers and cokes served in coke glasses.

I miss them too! I'm from the bay area and we had several coffee shops that we would go to while I was growing up. Some were small places that just had counter service. The pies used to spin around in glass case. Breakfasts, lunches and dinner were simple and delicious.

We still have diners but there is nowhere to get a good old fashioned bakery dessert after hours. Hardly any place to get one during regular other than places like Marie Callendars or Coco's which are "bakery" chains and not all that great.

The sort of place I mean was diner like but also had baked goods that were good, not the kind shipped in from elsewhere or baked by some chain's formula. We have one family run mini chain that has good baked goods in one of their restaurants but they close by 9:00 PM every night.

There was a street car diner, that we used to visit when we were exiting the big city and headed home.

It was setup again the store nextdoor brick wall.

No table, just stool to sit on at the counter.

Usually we'd order and takeout and indulge in the burgers on the drive back home an hour away.

How about Ice Cream Parlors?

We had one that was shaped like an igloo and a polar bear out front. Year and years ago! Long gone!

yes we had one on main street in the small town I grew up in, called the Busy Bee. It was the morning spot for coffee, deserts and good food too, they had the blue plate lunches where were awesome home made meals for just a couple of bucks. There are still a lot of plate lunch places down in South Louisiana, in fact I saw a tv show recently about them, it sure brought back memories.

we had one that was a drive in too, you would walk up to the little window and give your order and sit in the car till they flagged you to come get it, I remember so well 5 hamburgers for $1 and these were giant fully loaded too, so good and their shakes and floats were awesome. They had the best shrimp burgers and crab burgers, I so miss those. The name of it was The Comey(ko-may) there was an inside sit down area too that was the hang out for the school crowd.

No home made desserts, but I used to love going to HoJo's (Howard Johnson's) or Denny's at 1 or 2 in the morning for coffee. Me and my friends would sit and talk for hours.

In Chicago the Woolworth's and Kresge Dime stores had lunch counters and the Walgreens.

My baby sister used to work at a Denny's while attending college. I went there one night when she was working and ordered a chocolate malt with double malt powder. It was delish!

Matti I think you and a few others come closest to understanding. No chains. No advertising. Just little mom and pop outfits. Maybe more than one restaurant in an area but always family owned not huge conglomerates.

Glenda, We had "creameries" too that specialized in ice cream,shakes and sodas. For you younger folk a soda was not pop or coke. It was syrup and carbonated soda water with ice cream.

I too remember how department stores had snack bars and candy counter. Many had restaurants attached. Even K-Mart had a little grill in the back. None of this fast food stuff. It was all cooked to order.

Growing up in a small town that was all we had, mom and pop coffee shops and soda fountains. All the local meetings were held at them, I loved when one of my parents had a meeting, I would tag along so I could eat out! I was very happy that both parents were very active in the community! Sadly, the town has grown, most of them are gone, one drugstore still has a soda fountain, made sure I took both boys when they were small so they could have the experience.