There are a lot of small, out of the way, little known towns in Utah that are only really known for the local rodeo. However, in Oakley, Utah there sits a now empty, classic Streamline prefab diner made in the famous age of art deco. Built in 1939 as #1107 from the line, immediately after being finished, this exact diner was displayed at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City to promote the new idea (at the time) of prefab diners.
Again, this exact diner had quite the storied history, and has seen operation in quite a few places over it's lifetime. Right after the World's Fair in NYC, it was bought and sent to Fall River, Massachusetts, where it was operated for 14 years. Afterwards, it was bought by a Greek immigrant by the name of Tommy Borodemos in 1953 and was moved to Middletown, Rhode Island, where it was operated for 4 generations as Tommy's Diner until closing in 2006.
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| A picture taken shortly after it's grand opening in Massachusetts when it was known as McDermott's Diner. |
In 2007, it was bought by it's current owner, who spent a full year restoring it and took three months moving it to it's current location in Oakley where it operated again as a diner for 15 years. It was one of only four pre-war Art-Deco streamline style diners to still be in operation at the time, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009.
"But Saint Grendel, was the food any good?" Heck yeah! I would have highly recommend giving the place a try. Despite not living anywhere near there, the wife and I, along with my brother in law have made the trip out there just to try out the food multiple times and have not been disappointed in the least by either the food or the atmosphere. Unfortunately, as of July of last year, the place closed it's doors seemingly for good because of continual staffing shortages. Hopefully, sometime in the future it can be revived, as it was a grand piece of art deco and great place for tasty eats.
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| A more modern pic of the Diner in it's current locale. |
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