Diners are inexpensive restaurants, sometimes open 24/7, that serve homestyle breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Many diners have a charming throwback 1950s feel, as though they’re lost in time. They’re the kind of place where friendly waitstaff pours bottomless coffee and flip sizzling burgers on a large griddle.
Furthermore, let’s align on two more terms, Guest Potential Value (GPV) and Repeat Visit Frequency. GPV is an admittedly imprecise metric (but one Blackbird endeavors to measure well someday). It is a measure of how much value a restaurant could reasonably extract from one customer on one visit. Contrast it with lifetime value or LTV, which measure a guest’s value over time. GPV is not necessarily average check, either, although GPV and average check in dinerland are pretty close cousins. Repeat Visit Frequency is the easiest of all, defined as how often the average repeat customer visits.
Success and failure in the restaurant business doesn’t make any sense, except that in the back recesses of your mind, it does. Because, ultimately success and failure in the restaurant business boils down to product-market fit (just like it does in every single other industry on the planet), and emotionally product-market fit is something that one can feel. It is just on paper, in the process of trying to codify the condition—and, for an operator, to plan for it—that things seem to go haywire. It may be because we rely on reviews and stars as a stand-in for product-market fit, and that is a deeply flawed and unreliable system. To be sure, we need something better.
Balthazar vs. Polo BarThe towering seafood towers. The iconic maitre d’s. The world famous private reservations line and the A, AA, and AAA guest ratings system. Balthazar? She’s a diner, friends. They’re in the business of saying yes, 1,500+ daily covers at a time. Being a diner is part of Balthazar’s—and proprietor Keith McNally’s—magic. You might wait 45-minutes for a table as a walk-in, but walk in you will. Balthazar is here to please.
Peter Luger vs. Joe’s Stone CrabThe diner-club line between this duo is rather thin, and that’s what makes it a wonderful comparison. Some of the differences are obvious: Peter Luger, the world-famous Williamsburg steakhouse, relies heavily on reservations and only accepts its own charge card for payment. Meanwhile, at Joe’s—though the Miami seafood heavyweight is starting to accept some reservations—walk-ins are still a thing. Another difference is Peter Luger’s product line, which, as a brand extension, helps boost GPV and put it squarely in club territory.
So, there you have it, the Unifying Theory of Restaurants. It’s a pet thesis of ours, but we think it does a lot to help explain how this industry works. Diners and clubs; pick your lane, restaurateurs. Drop your feedback in the comments or join us on Discord, where we’ll be talking about this some more.
But, though these qualities can be found in many diners, there are some which possess few, or perhaps none, of them. It becomes rather tricky to say which of these attributes are strictly necessary to be a diner, and which are merely unexpected treats, turning an otherwise pleasant diner into a great one. Calling oneself a diner is insufficient. The Penn-Can Restaurant and Truckstop, for example, makes no such claim, but in visiting it, one becomes instantly aware that this is a diner of no mean standing. The Ramapo Forum Diner, on the other hand, while certainly a good place to eat, left me with some doubt that it was anything other than a family restaurant. An even more insidious example of a restaurant masquerading as a diner is the Tiffany Diner near Philadelphia. In this case, an early closing family restaurant adopts the title of diner for some evil purpose of which I have no clear understanding.
Some purists, therefore, may consider only the Highway diner to be a true diner, but I have to disagree. While no doubt the call for Suburban diners is different than that of Highway diners, the reason is the same: People need somewhere cheap, bustling, good, and yes, even greasy, where they can meet, eat, talk, and so on. After all, who can go to a true diner and not people watch? A regrettable side effect of all of this is that the line between the Suburban diner and the family restaurant has been blurred, and as such, people sometimes cant tell the difference. In that case, remember: If you are in complete doubt, look for speckled formica, linoleum, stainless steel and moldy wood. Chances are, if you find all of them in the same eating establishment, youve found yourself a genuine diner.
The question has been asked many times. What, exactly, is the definition of a diner? for my own part, I have often stuck to the party line of 24 hour breakfast, or else Ive offered some half-hearted claim that I know a diner when I see one, but to try to describe definite characteristics which make one restaurant a diner while another is not is somewhat difficult, to say the least. However, Id like to make some attempt here to define (or perhaps interpret) what a diner is.
However, despite the elaborate deceptions set up to beguile and confuse us, I think that a couple of things can be said with reasonable assurance. The first is that diners can be roughly divided into two type: The Suburban, and the Highway. The former is usually a restaurant which is open late (if not 24 hours), which caters to the old folks, or the high school kids, and, late at night, to the worst elements (such as my friends). The latter, however, is what the purists idealize when they talk of diners. They spring up to serve the needs of travelers and truckers; two groups which may need sustenance (and especially coffee) at any hour of day or night, and who can only survive the consumption of fast food for so long.
For one thing, there are a number of characteristics which many diners share. Most are open 24 hours a day, or at least extremely late, and serve breakfast for the whole time. Most serve coffee (black as death) as a staple. Another typical characteristic is one of several themes: Hellenic, Neon 50s, or Abandoned Train Car. Fare ranges from American to Italian to Greek, but any diner will be able to give you cole slaw, pickles, some sorts of pastries, waffles, coffee (this point bears repeating), grilled cheese and so forth. Finally, typical diners have jukeboxes at tables, or somesuch.
The Diner’s Surprising History
FAQ
What defines a diner restaurant?
What is the difference between a restaurant and a diner?
Why are some restaurants called diners?
What is the difference between a diner and a bistro?
What is a diner restaurant?
A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a combination of booths served by a waitstaff and a long sit-down counter with direct service, in the smallest simply by a cook.
Are all restaurants diners?
While diners are a type of restaurant, not all restaurants are diners. Diners are typically characterized by their casual atmosphere, counter seating, and menu items such as burgers, fries, and milkshakes. Restaurants, on the other hand, can vary greatly in terms of atmosphere, menu offerings, and overall dining experience.
What are the different types of restaurants?
Here are the 10 most common types of restaurants today. 1. Casual dining restaurants: Casual dining restaurants serve food à la carte at moderate prices with full-table service. Casual dining restaurants—whether they are chains or independently owned—cover a wide variety of cuisines, including Mexican, American, Italian, and Chinese. 2.
What does a diner eat?
A diner is a type of casual restaurant that typically serves classic American fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, and breakfast foods. Diners are often characterized by their nostalgic decor, including neon signs, vinyl booths, and counter seating. They are typically open 24 hours a day and are a popular destination for late-night meals.