Who doesn’t love a Diner? The huge menus, the late night hours, the fresh coffee and, of course, the grease.  Yes, you heard me right, the grease!  Normally, I would say that in most foods grease is bad, but when it comes to a “real” Diner, grease, my friends, is good.  Can you imagine eating at a Diner and getting a grilled cheese that didn’t leave your hands shiny? Or how about that bowl of chili with the iridescent ring of orange  on top? Now, let me interject here that I’m not talking about a dirty greasy spoon, I’m referring to those bright and shiny, 24 hour beacons of properly greasy food.   Besides the grease, diners create such fond food memories.  After my very first concert (Summer Skank Off at the Hollywood Palladium) we all went to eat at a diner, the Rock n Roll Denny’s in Hollywood  to be exact.  I was thrilled to be out so late (1:00 a.m.), in a restaurant with my friends and surrounded by leather clad rockers.   I can still taste those piping hot fries and the unbelievably good Thousand Island dressing. I can’t think about that concert without also remembering that meal.   So stroll  (or should I say, slide) down memory lane with me as I remember my favorite Diner meals.

When I was in college, my friends and I would frequent Dolores on Wilshire Boulevard.  We would always go there after 11:00 p.m. and pile into one of the huge half-moon booths.  We would “study”, drink coffee and eat for hours.  I always got the same thing: french fries, garlic toast and a side of ranch dressing.  The fries were perfectly cooked, with just the right snap when you bit into them.  The garlic toast was sufficiently greasy and reminded me of my favorite Oh Boy! brand.  The ranch dressing? Well I dipped the fries AND the garlic toast in it of course.  We always bought fruit flavored Mentos candy on our way out and made fun of the commercial, “Mentos, the fresh maker!”

Right after I graduated college, I started going to Norm’s on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica.  I heard they just closed it.  It was like losing a friend.  My boyfriend and I would go there at least twice a month.  Always at 2:00 a.m. and always buzzed.  He would get the cheeseburger with onion rings.  The cheese oozed out onto the plate, the burger squirted grease when you bit into it and they buttered the bun!  I would get a grilled cheese.  Swiss on rye with french fries and a side of mayonnaise.  Yes, mayonnaise.  I liked to slather it on my already greasy sandwich.  The grilled bread was so buttery, that I swear they used a stick to make the sandwich.  We would happily eat our meals, guzzle sodas and pester the server for extra napkins (greasy hands).  I also went to Norm’s alone.  There were Holidays when I was without family and I took comfort in the fact that I could go to Norm’s and order some food to go.  I would sit at the counter and people watch as I waited for that box of greasy goodness.

Later when I was married (the first time) my husband and friends would go to Edie’s Diner in Marina Del Rey every Sunday morning.  Alas, this too is gone.  We would stumble out of bed, throw some clothes on and wait with the other hungover people.   While we waited we talked about how the grease was good for our hangovers and would make us feel better.  Once seated (always on the patio overlooking the Marina), we would order like we hadn’t eaten in ten years.  We all got what we called the “cholesterol breakfast”.  Two eggs over easy (basted in butter), bacon, sausage and buttered toast.  That never changed.  What did was the potato component.  If we needed extra grease it was the hash browns, if not, the home fries.  Then we would order sides to share.  Onion rings, short stacks and french fries.  We would sit for at least two hours.  Eating, drinking coffee and telling tales from last night’s adventures.

I still go to diners, but not as much as I used to…  Good Diners are a dying breed and are harder and harder to find.  I recently tried two different ones with my husband and both were less than okay.  Sigh.  But we will keep looking!  Because there is nothing  a greasy meal in a Diner shared with friends and loved ones can’t cure!