Worcester Diner History

Visit Worcester for Diner History

By Julia Quinn-Szcesuil

If grills could talk, Worcester’s diners would have a few tales to tell. The Worcester Lunch Car Company paved the way for the trend by producing hundreds of diner cars in the early 1900s, many of which still operate as restaurants today. The city has enough of them to make up a marathon tour, but planning a day trip around one or two allows you time to soak up the scene and enjoy the cuisine.

One of the city’s most famous Worcester Lunch Car diners, Miss Worcester on Southbridge Street, is a classic car featuring a counter with stools and booths across the narrow aisle. Serving hungry patrons since 1948, the eatery is famous for the Crunchy French Toast, which is bread dipped in Honey Bunches of Oats cereal and deep fried.

Over on Shrewsbury Street, three diners sit a stone’s throw from each other: the Parkway, the Boulevard and Mac’s. The Parkway’s exterior has been remodeled, but the interior remains intact. The Boulevard Diner, open 24 hours a day, claims the wee hours of the morning as its busiest. Regulars flock there for the Italian food. A few blocks down is family-owned Mac’s Diner, where customers return again and again for the ever-changing lunch specials and the occasional dinner.

But that’s not all of them. The Kenmore Diner is located under a highway overpass, near Worcester’s memorial for the six firefighters lost in the Cold Storage blaze in 1999. Nearby, there’s the Cor­ner Lunch Diner, where the Apple Danish French Toast is top notch. In this city, it’s tempting to eat the most important meal of the day several times a day.

A must-eat destination for every food fanatic, Worcester feeds your body and your mind with some of the country’s best diner food and history.

AAA Horizons vol. 40. No.4. 2010