THE ARCHIVE / Themes
Restaurants.
Roadside restaurants sell an anticipated experience before they serve a meal. An enormous fish, a familiar domestic shape or a carefully lettered name can give a passerby something to remember. Look for the relationship between the promise outside and the practical entrance below it. These photographs bring together restaurants of many scales, from buildings that become their own advertisements to places whose personality rests in a single sign.
756 photographs
361–384 / 756
Ross Diner, Quechee, Vermont

Rip's Drive-in, Morgantown, Indiana

Rip's Drive-in, Morgantown, Indiana

Rip's Drive-in, Morgantown, Indiana

South 21 Curb Service, Charlotte, North Carolina

South 21 Curb Service, Charlotte, North Carolina

Anchor Drive-in Restaurant, Breckenridge, Texas

Anchor Drive-in Restaurant, Breckenridge, Texas

The Barrel Drive-in, Douglas, Michigan

The Barrel Drive-in, Mesa, Arizona

The Barrel Drive-in, Mesa, Arizona

Porky's Drive-in, St. Paul, Minnesota

Porky's Drive-in, St. Paul, Minnesota

Reed & Bell Drive-in, Alexandria, Louisiana

Howard Johnson's (roof detail, Burlington, Vermont

Howard Johnson's, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Howard Johnson's, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Howard Johnson's, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Howard Johnson's, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Bill's Hot Dog Stand, Burbank, California

Walter's Hot Dog Stand, Mamaroneck, New York

The Cheese House, Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Beef Burger, Amarillo, Texas
