Gateway Diner 2 of 5
An old-fashioned touch: a real phone booth!
Skip to image one, two, three, four, or five.
(Gateway Diner 1939-2006)
The Gateway Diner was exemplary of the intimate art deco style structures built by the Fodero Dining Car Co. A business this size relies more on the passion of the owner than business savvy. Doug Grina of Al's Breakfast in Minneapolis, a fourteen seat operation with a line of customers often stretching out the door, once said to me (Me! an anonymous customer), "I told my wife I'll never get rich doing this, but I will always be doing what I enjoy. Good thing she's got a job [too]." The Gateway diner was run for the last quarter century of business by Joe Phillips. He maintained a loyal customer base that, in later years, turned the parking lot into a classic car show every Tuesday night. But he was approaching 80 near the turn of the century and the workload became a bit much. His grandson took over management, promising to keep it running as long as he lived - nearly a decade longer. You can read more in the mini biographies published posthumously in the local paper and on the American Roadside website.
The listing in the Diner directory still shows a tiny photo from its operational era.
Gateway Diner 2 of 5
An old-fashioned touch: a real phone booth!
Skip to image one, two, three, four, or five.
(Gateway Diner 1939-2006)
The Gateway Diner was exemplary of the intimate art deco style structures built by the Fodero Dining Car Co. A business this size relies more on the passion of the owner than business savvy. Doug Grina of Al's Breakfast in Minneapolis, a fourteen seat operation with a line of customers often stretching out the door, once said to me (Me! an anonymous customer), "I told my wife I'll never get rich doing this, but I will always be doing what I enjoy. Good thing she's got a job [too]." The Gateway diner was run for the last quarter century of business by Joe Phillips. He maintained a loyal customer base that, in later years, turned the parking lot into a classic car show every Tuesday night. But he was approaching 80 near the turn of the century and the workload became a bit much. His grandson took over management, promising to keep it running as long as he lived - nearly a decade longer. You can read more in the mini biographies published posthumously in the local paper and on the American Roadside website.
The listing in the Diner directory still shows a tiny photo from its operational era.