If the sight of stainless steel makes your stomach growl and your heart ache with nostalgia, you don't have to travel far to satisfy your craving.
For diner enthusiasts, old-fashioned haunts like Eggie's Diner in Plaistow and Charlie's Diner in Lawrence offer a great seat at the counter, a step back in time and, of course, mounds of affordable homestyle food.
Although the word diner is often applied to any run-of-the-mill greasy spoon, enthusiasts understand that true diners are prefabricated structures that were built in their entirety and shipped to a location complete with furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Diners came into fashion in the late 1800s, and the companies that manufactured them stuck around until the early 1960s. Manufacturers, such as the Worcester Lunch Car Company, were largely located in the Northeast. They numbered the structures with a small plaque on the outside.
In their heyday in the '50s, diners were open 24 hours a day and catered to factory workers and others looking for homestyle, fast, inexpensive food. Breakfasts of eggs, homefries, hash and toast, and American classic lunches were commonly on the menus.
"Anywhere you see a major intersection, a diner might pop up," said Gary Thomas, author of the book "Diners of the North Shore."
While many vintage diners were junked as mills began to close and business dropped off, the ones that survived are making a comeback.
"It harkens back to a time that people like to romanticize," Thomas said.
The romance of the old-fashioned diner is definitely alive at Eggie's Diner in Plaistow, a Mountain View diner built in 1952.
Lisa Liguori has been waiting tables and taking care of customers there for 13 years.
"We get a lot of regulars," she said, as she put paper place mats and silverware on the counter in front of each stool.
Among those regulars is Charlie Thrasher of Georgetown.
"This is the best diner around," he said while sitting at the counter on a recent snowy Friday morning.
"The only place that'll let him in," chimed in Joe Roy of Sandown.
They drink coffee from personalized mugs that Lisa had made for them. Roy said everyone who comes into Eggie's has a "usual": his is two eggs over easy with kielbasa, home fries and toast.
But Eggie's specialty is the Eggs Benedict, made with homemade hollandaise sauce. Thrasher confesses that he's never tried it. Indeed, Eggie's seems to provide something more than food to its patrons.
"I just like the diner atmosphere," Thrasher said. "I'm here just about every day."
At Charlie's Diner in Lawrence, the business is a family affair.
Sylvia Kazakides, a self-described cook, cleaner and waitress, owns the diner along with her husband, Charlie, for whom the place is named. She bustles back and forth between booths and behind the counter on a Saturday morning, while her sister waits tables and her son mans the grill.
Formerly Al's Diner, the newly renamed and reopened Charlie's Diner is welcoming back regulars who ate elsewhere when it closed briefly between owners.
Kazakides said she didn't know much about the history of the diner, which was built in 1934 by the Worchester Lunch Car Company, until customers started to teach her about it. She said she often runs into people whose family members used to work there and even learned that there was a song written about the diner.
"There's so much history in this place," Kazakides said.
With its red awning and sloping wood ceiling, Charlie's Diner plays up that history in its décor. It retains the original marble countertop, and old, black-and-white photographs and newspaper clippings line the walls.
"A little treasure, that's what I call it," Kazakides said.
And what about the food?
"The home fries are awesome," Kazakides said. "You can probably ask for anything and we'll make it for you ... except prime rib."
If you go:
Eggie's Diner
127 Plaistow Road
Plaistow, NH 03865
603-382-5063
Charlie's Diner
297 South Broadway
Lawrence, MA 01843
978-687-9678
Further afield
Salem Diner
326 Canal St., Salem, Mass.
978-741-7918
Sneak peek: One of only two surviving Sterling diners, the Salem Diner serves breakfast all day and counts Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky as a regular. Its specialties include Greek fare, such as loukaniko, a Greek sausage, says Zoe Elefteriadis, who owns the diner with her husband, George. Salem Diner also makes homemade corned and roast beef.
Agawam Diner
Route 1, Rowley
978-948-7780
Sneak peek: Located at the junction of Routes 1 and 133, Agawam Diner is a classic-looking diner made of stainless steel in 1954 by the New Jersey-based Fodero Dining Car Company. With a bakery downstairs, Agawam is known for its homemade cream pies. Other specialties include hot turkey sandwiches and fried fish, clams and scallops.
A1 Diner
3 Bridge St., Gardiner, Maine
207-582-4804
This Worcester Diner in Maine not only serves classic fare, but also sells T-shirts, coffee mugs and a book featuring A1 history, stories and recipes. Featured on the Food Network, A1 Diner is known for its flaky biscuits.
