Hey all you hep cats!
While most of the Girls on Food can’t be in Reno, Nevada to celebrate Hot August Nights, (except for Reno Tastebuds) we wanted to share our favorite local 50’s themed diners. Since 1986 owners of classic cars of the 50’s & 60’s gather to go cruising around the biggest little city in the world. Fire up your engines and let’s rock around the clock tonight!
Cafe 50’s
11623 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-479-1955
http://cafe50s.com
Out of all the LA chains, Café 50’s is my favorite. The Café 50’s all have different menus, because they all have different owners. Most LA residents are familiar with the Venice location on Lincoln Blvd, since they see it on the way to LAX. This location has juicy burgers, great shakes and a blue cheese dressing that’ll knock your socks off. But my favorite location is the West LA location on Santa Monica Blvd.
Similar to the other locations, the burgers, fries and shakes are great. This Café 50’s won me over with it’s wall-to-wall 50’s related décor, waitresses dressed in old school uniforms and it has one of my all-time favorite desserts, which is so hard to find in LA- CHERRY PIE. Whenever I get a craving for one, I stop in here for a slice, cover it in whipped cream and a cup of coffee. Yes, just like Agent Cooper from “Twin Peaks”.
Dale’s Diner
4339 E. Carson St.
Long Beach, CA 90808
562-425-7285
http://dalesdiner.com
Dale’s Diner in Long Beach is like walking into a scene from “Happy Days”. It’s black and white checkered floor dining room is full of 50’s nostalgia like jukeboxes, cars turned into booths and vintage signs. Even their menu is old school with classic comfort food. Their turkey avocado sandwich was amazing with super fresh ingredients and crisp lettuce and their patty melt is also a favorite with 1000 island dressing. The portions are generous, the waitresses are dressed retro and the atmosphere is great. When you go, be sure to try one of their shakes voted BEST in Long Beach.
Mel’s the Original Diner
189 Demonte Ranch Prk
Reno, NV 89521
775-852-4357 originalmelsdiner.com
Mel’s, The Original Diner, (as seen in “American Graffiti”) located off of Damonte Ranch Pkwy offers all of the classic nostalgia you would expect to experience. There are jukeboxes on the tables, shiny vinyl records that line the flawless stainless steel walls and classic oldies keeping the patrons dancing and singing along.
The menu is fairly large. The waitress was friendly, and helpful, making suggestions for two extremely indecisive people. I finally decided on the SF Burger with chili cheese fries to start as an appetizer, since I’m a sucker for chili cheese fries! When the food arrived, the fries were piled high and smothered with delicious, chunky chili and melted cheddar cheese. I pulled each fry out one by one, slowly, stalking the fry and admiring the coverage of chili and cheese to fry ratio. It was truly glorious.
Next came the SF Burger, I actually completely forgot I had ordered it because I was so engulfed in the chili cheese fries. The burger came on THICK, grilled Texas toast with melted cheddar, (because you can never have enough cheddar) hearty pieces of center cut bacon, cool avocado slices and a creamy thousand island like sauce. I chose the hand battered onion rings to accompany it. There is something to be said about my meal if I am completely silent while eating. My mom has called me chatterbox since I was supposedly voicing my opinions in complete sentence’s at the age of 3. So for me to eat in silence means there is no time for nonsense!
Get your fanny over to Mel’s the Original Diner and experience the 50’s for yourself. You will NOT, be disappointed! Check out my up close and personal pic of that burger…do you see the beauty in that bacon?!?!
Marji
My next trip to Reno will definitely include the original Mel’s