American diners are dying. I visited 2 to see if they can survive.

"Diners are disappearing across America. From the 1950s to the 2000s, the number in the US dropped from roughly 6,000 to 2,500. I've seen headlines decrying a 50-year-old one becoming a marijuana dispensary and a San Fransico institution that closed after eight decades. But are American diners truly on their way out? I went to New Jersey's busiest diner, and one of the state's oldest, to find out."

"Diners can trace their roots back to Rhode Island in the 1870s. First, they were horse-drawn lunch wagons serving sandwiches to newspaper workers on the night shift. But it was New Jersey's factories that built most of the pre-fabricated diners shipped across the US in the 20th century. It's estimated that the Jerry O'Mahony Company built 2,000 diners by the time it shuttered in the 1950s."

"I left Tops and Summit with a lot more optimism than I thought I would. I don't think diners are going anywhere. While Summit and Tops have taken two very different approaches to an American diner, I think they represent a path forward for the waning category. Tops has innovated, firing up bold flavors and slinging out liquor, much to its customers' delight. Whereas Summit stuck with tradition, and that's worked because the town revels in its history."

Diners in the United States have declined substantially, falling from about 6,000 in the 1950s to roughly 2,500 by the 2000s. New Jersey hosts more diners than any other state but still lost an estimated 150 in the last decade. Origins of the diner trace to 1870s Rhode Island lunch wagons, while New Jersey factories produced many pre-fabricated diners in the 20th century, including some 2,000 by the Jerry O'Mahony Company. Two New Jersey diners illustrate two survival strategies: one pursuing expansion and culinary innovation, the other preserving tradition for a community that values its history. These divergent approaches suggest viable paths for diners to continue operating.

Read at Business Insider