'60s-themed diner planned for Downtown Crossing
By neilv - 3/10/09 - 5:38 am
The Herald reported Friday that a 225-seat 1960s-themed diner is planned for Downtown Crossing.
The ubiquitous sources with no names say the restaurant will be in the ground floor of a Suffolk University-owned building.
A restaurant planned for a year out wouldn't be such news, except for the Downtown Crossing angle.
Comments
ugh
We don't need a cheesy "themed" anything. Give us something real, like a real diner. Real diners are 24 hours with huge menus, a liquor license but almost nobody drinks there, and "All baking is done on premises." They're also open during most major holidays. That's what Boston needs, but for some reason is too afraid of.
Instead, we'll get some sort sanitized experience like Quincy Market has become. It'll really be just another mall with a "Johnny Rockets" type of place.
Yes, I'm bitter about it. The real Boston will always remain in the outer neighborhoods and adjacent cities.
Is the South Street Diner
Is the South Street Diner close enough? (Even if it does have wraps and feta?)
How do we get new, yet real, places in Downtown Crossing?
SS Diner really isn't a
SS Diner really isn't a diner.
A dinner conjurers up memories of cheap, good, late night / early morning food. SS dinner is damn expensive for calling itself a dinner.
there's a few Dinners in southie that meet those needs, but they're only open during breakfast, thus also not a true dinner.
And they have to have the
And they have to have the rotating dessert case with pies such as chocolate cream in there.
I think it's still there
I heard South Street Diner has had trouble from the new condo owners nearby. There has been a 24hr diner in that spot for as long as I've been in Boston, and I'm sure much longer. They bought places next to a 24hr diner, and near a major train and bus depot. One shouldn't move to an active part of a city for peace and quiet, which is why I find their complaints laughable. But, unfortunately, I think the diner has need to worry.
I won't take the excuse that there already is one as an argument against opening another. I used to live in a suburban town with five 24 hour diners, some near houses, and absolutely no trouble or complaints from any of them.
Also, check what most NY/NJ diners have on their menus. It's normal to have wraps and such at a diner. The menus are huge and still have inserts for specials and such. And.. most of them are Greek owned so Feta is expected. :)
I Don't Get It
A 1960's themed diner? So what's the idea, a 1950's diner that's starting to look run down and haggard?
lots of new diners were built in the 60's
It's just that not many new diners were built in New England anymore. They were built elsewhere. After chrome went out of fashion they moved on to Mediterranean and colonial style, often built with adjacent dining rooms, losing the dining car shape.
Does this count as Mediterranean style?
This is on I15 in Baker, CA just south of Death Valley.
A diner of any sort would be welcome downtown - of course I think of those sort of spare places in old films with the rather garish unattractive lighting, the phone booths with doors along the back wall and breakfast all day.
leave it for the tourists
More details from the Herald piece:
It sounds a fake diner, not a real one. It doesn't stay open 24/7 like real city diners, and it's going to tack on a buck or five to the cost of each menu item for the privilege of basking in a contrived nostalgic interior. Let the tourists whip out their credit cards for this one.