At the Side Car Diner (Gone)
Ventura, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

An old railroad car makes quite a setting for a roadside meal, and At the Side Car in Ventura certainly had the equipment. The restaurant occupied a 1910 Pullman car on East Main Street, giving customers a dining experience that stayed put even if the building looked ready to leave the station.

The car went through several lives, including restaurant and retail uses. Its gift-shop days weren’t the end of the dining story, either. Later restaurant ventures brought customers back inside, eventually including the SideCar Restaurant, which operated for ten years.

UPDATE: The At the Side Car Diner is vacant and closed. The paint is now army green and there's a large for lease sign in front. 06-13

UPDATE: The SideCar Restaurant closed on May 14, 2013, when its ten-year lease ended. Its restaurant history continued well beyond the earlier retail conversion. 10-26

Liberty Diner (Gone)
Perris, CA
Photo courtesy Ralph Squillace

Anyway, this is a genuine streamlined diner car from, I think, the Union Pacific that served as a diner not on 66 but on old US 395 down near March AFB. It was known as the Liberty Diner and was donated when 395 was widened to make room for modern-day Interstate 215. The diner car was donated to and is currently on display at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris. Info courtesy Ralph Squillace

UPDATE: Liberty Diner was relocated to the museum now known as the Southern California Railway Museum. Preserved as a historic railcar rather than a working roadside restaurant, it represents both its railroad origins and its later life feeding highway travelers. 10-26

Tina's Diner
Maricopa, CA
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

A weekend ride through Maricopa could include a stop at Tina’s Diner, an old-time neighborhood eatery popular with motorcyclists. The surrounding highways offer plenty of room to travel, but a coffee break gives riders a reason to slow down for a while.

Inside, the personality extends beyond the breakfast plate. Decorations and murals reflect both Maricopa and Tina’s Philippine roots, giving this little diner a character of its own. It’s the sort of place where the owner is part of the attraction and a meal can come with a little conversation.

UPDATE: Tina’s sis still serving customers in Maricopa. This neighborhood stop has kept going despite the pressures facing small-town restaurants. 10-26

Mel's Drive-in (formerly Kerry's)
Sherman Oaks, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Along Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, the marquee and angular roofline give Mel's Drive-in plenty of roadside presence. Before the Mel’s name appeared, generations of Valley customers knew this spot as Kerry’s Coffee Shop.

The building dates to 1953 and originally opened as Dyle’s Restaurant. Designed by Armet & Davis, it represents an early chapter in the firm’s Googie coffee shop work, with angled rooflines, broad windows, and dramatic signage helping announce the restaurant to passing motorists.

The name changed, but the building kept its knack for catching the eye. A burger and a look at the architecture still make a pretty good combination along this busy stretch of the Valley.

UPDATE: Mel’s remains open in the former Kerry’s building. The restaurant continues to put this surviving example of 1950s coffee shop design to everyday use. 10-26

House of Dimes Diner (Gone)
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

A very old diner in the Jefferson Park area of Los Angeles. Looks like the House of Dimes is still in operation. Many thanks to Adriene Biondo for info.

Here’s a neighborhood eatery with a name that deserves a second look. House of Dimes in Los Angeles’s Jefferson Park area reportedly took its name from tacos that once sold for a dime. Finding lunch at that price would certainly make stopping an easy decision.

The modest restaurant offered a different sort of roadside attraction from the towering neon and sweeping roofs of the larger coffee shops. Its reputation centered on the food, particularly the tacos that helped give the business its identity.

A 2014 account described a mother-and-son operation, adding a family connection to this longtime neighborhood stop. Sometimes the little places have just as much history to offer as the big marquees.

UPDATE: House of Dimes has closed. Its distinctive name remains a reminder of an earlier chapter of neighborhood dining along Jefferson Boulevard. 10-26