By Tine Roycroft

Diners serve up a delicious helping of nostalgia when you head in for an early morning breakfast or a late-night snack. There’s the soft glow from the neon lights, the signs from decades past that advertise Coca-Cola or Moxie, the counters and stools that have seen generations come and go.

But these classic eateries should not be categorized as mere blasts from the past. More popular than ever, diners ~ which originated in 1872 as “night lunch wagons’’~ are still making meals for people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Still, we’ve said goodbye to the bobby socks, poodle skirts and leather jackets of the early diner days. What keeps America going back to its favorite greasy spoons?

Richard Gutman, curator of The Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I., has spent most of his adult life visiting diners and has some excellent hunches as to why these restaurants are still all the rage, especially around Worcester.

“Worcester had a company (Worcester Lunch Car Company) that for 55 years built a lot of diners,” Gutman said. “These buildings were then rolled out to a site, ready to be stocked with food and ready to start cooking. They each have a feel of their own and personalities of their own. Some diners don’t even have a sign! They announce themselves by the way they look.”

One of the diners created by the company was the Miss Worcester Diner, located on Southbridge Street in Worcester (of course), which was first used as a dining car showroom model. At the helm of this small establishment with a big heart is owner Kim Kniskern.

“People come in and ask me if the diner was actually once a train car because of the way it looks,” Kniskern laughed. “It’s been here since 1948. I’ve always been a local waitress and bartender, and I always loved diners growing up, and then, my husband and I just decided to invest in the dining car. It had been vacant for about three years. I’m going on nine years of owning it. “

Miss Worcester was featured on The Learning Channel’s Best Food Ever show and was awarded the title of Best Diner out of hundreds of cozy diners throughout the nation.

The Boulevard Diner is another example of the fine work that came out of the Worcester Lunch Car Company. Since 1936, the restaurant’s patrons have received excellent food around the clock. Owner Jimmy George knows what customers want, as he comes from a long line of diner car greatness.

“I was drafted in at a young age,” George joked about the business that has been in his family for decades. “I had no choice! I started in 1974, at about 13. (The diner) was our home, our kitchen. And my dad always said that you should never put something in front of the customer that you wouldn’t eat yourself, so we made sure all the food was good.”

Two other staples of the Worcester diner scene are the Parkway Diner on Shrewsbury Street and Lou Roc’s Diner on West Boylston Street. Both are examples of why you don’t need to have a traditional dining car to have an incredible diner.

As Gutman pointed out, diners come with their own personalities, and these establishments are no exception. The Parkway provides both a diner, which is classic in its style and filled with brightly colored stools that seat you right up to the counter, and also a sports bar/dining room in the back. The sports bar area provides much more space for the party of 10 that might stop by looking to view the game.

Lou Roc’s Diner may look unassuming from the outside, but step into this diner, and you’ll find great food and almost unheard of portion sizes. On any given day, the crowds flock to this eatery, so expect to wait a little while to be seated. But when you get to your booth, you’ll have some of the city’s nicest people waiting on you, ready to suggest the perfect breakfast item. At Lou Roc’s, owner Peter Prodromidis makes certain all of the details are taken care of, right down to making certain the coffee is always strong, hot and a great accompaniment to your meal.

When you come right down to it, however, you can get a good plate of eggs or a great cup of coffee at a number of well-known cafes or celebrated chain restaurants. If you’re pining for an Italian dish, you can head to a nearby bistro. So why do folks opt for the small, independently-owned diners?

A huge pull of the classic American diner is the atmosphere. When stopping by a coffee shop, you might find yourself waiting in line with about 15 other people, all of them with their eyes down, as they silently scan emails and text messages. They might even complete an entire transaction with the cashier without saying more than their four-word order. Then, they’re off and running with their hot cups of latte and cold pastries.

One of the perks of being a regular at a Worcester-area diner is that the owners truly care about their customers. Wait staffs treat you with friendly kindness, whether it’s your first visit or 91st visit. To put it simply, everybody knows your name, even if they don’t.

“Diners are comfortable places. Anyone can go in, get some fresh, homemade food for a low price,” Gutman said. “They’re well known for purchasing local ingredients. And at diners, you won’t see people looking at their phones as much because there’s a lot of conversation that is going on. You’re literally about 24 inches from the person next to you, so you’re rubbing elbows. You’re involved in their conversations and asking them to pass the salt or the pepper. It’s also the kind of place where you have a relationship with the waitress and the wait staff.”

Boulevard Diner’s Jimmy George feels that the intimate environment allows him do his job while forging great relationships with his clientele.

“You have time to mingle with people at a diner,” George said. “You’re cooking up the food right in front of them, and you get a chance to talk to them. And with diners, you get quality, quantity and fair pricing. That was something my dad, who owned this restaurant before me, always thought was the most important part.”

George believes that everything on the menu is a crowd pleaser, but he has noticed that favorites vary depending on the generation. Many of the young people who visit the Boulevard today are crazy about omelets. Twenty years ago, the popular late-night choice was a pasta dish.

Miss Worcester offers something that you’ll be hard pressed to find at many other restaurants ~ a huge variety of specialty French toasts. Order the S’mores French Toast, the Apple Pie Stuffed French Toast or the Cookies and Cream French Toast, and don’t even think about hitting the gym. But aside from sweet breakfast treats, Kniskern said that a huge perk of her diner is the interaction.

“Miss Worcester is very small, so you always get to talk to me or whoever is working,” says Kniskern. “We’re like family here. I know pretty much everybody who comes in here.”

At the Parkway, John Richards strongly recommends the meatball omelets for breakfast and the Italian Nachos for an appetizer, but admits that he eats just about everything on the menu and loves it. Over the seven years he’s managed the diner, he’s come to know many of the regulars who stop by for their “usuals” and always greets them with a smile.

“I grew up in this business. I knew it from a young age, and I’ve always wanted a sports bar,” Richards said. “And with the extra room, I can do both the diner and the sports bar.”

At Lou Roc’s Diner, Peter Prodromidis said everything at the diner is good and he has a tricky time choosing just one item to rave about. Variety is the name of the game at Lou Roc’s, with a menu that offers several different scrambled egg combinations. He also says the home-cooked hash can’t be beat and is a favorite of his regulars. But the board specials are what really keep the customers on their toes and always coming back for more.

“We have board specials for weekend breakfasts that change every week,” Prodromidis said. “Things that you won’t see at your average breakfast place. And for lunch, we make a bunch of homemade meals ~ Mondays we’ll run chop suey; Tuesdays we’ll run meatloaf; Wednesdays, pot roast; Thursdays are roast turkey and corn beef and cabbage; and Fridays we have fresh seafood.”

No matter your personal tastes, no matter what time it is ~ there’s a diner in Worcester that’s open and just waiting for you to head on in and order up a plate of deliciousness, with a side order of greasy spoon history and welcoming personalities.

Great Diner Memories

The Boulevard
When you work at a diner that’s open 24/7, you see a lot of crazy things. Jimmy George, owner of the Boulevard, has witnessed his share of intoxicated people walk into his establishment and do things that they most likely regretted in the morning. He’s also seen a number of Massachusetts bigwigs come and enjoy his delicious breakfast options. But George’s favorite diner moment occurred when the Food Network show, The Secret Life Of, came to the Boulevard and taped a show. “We had so much fun. We were all laughing, having a great time,” George said. “Sometimes, we had to stop rolling because we were having too much fun!”

Miss Worcester
Kim Kniskern remembered one crazy day at Miss Worcester when a gentleman came in, ready to propose to his love. “It was a great time,” Kniskern said. “He had me make deep-fried Oreos and put the ring in one of the Oreos.” It’s doubtful that any girl (or guy) could say no to a delicious proposal like that!

Lou Roc’s
Peter Prodromidis, of Lou Roc’s diner, remembered when Fox News stopped by to feature the diner on its “Wednesday Morning Diner” segment as an exciting moment in Lou Roc history. The television crew spent most of the morning taping and interviewing customers as breakfast was being served. But despite the bright lights, Prodromis remained humble. “I didn’t feel that famous,” he laughed. “But it was a lot of fun.”