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.

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756 photographs

145–168 / 756

Red Rock Cafe, NE 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma1979
Red Rock Cafe, NE 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Middle Path Cafe, 11th (Route 66 ?) & Yale, Tulsa, Oklahoma — Tulsa, Oklahoma1979
Middle Path Cafe, 11th (Route 66 ?) & Yale, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Safari Recreation Restaurant, Edison Street, Sunnyside, Washington — Sunnyside, Washington1987
Safari Recreation Restaurant, Edison Street, Sunnyside, Washington

565 Restaurant, Broadway, Tacoma, Washington — Tacoma, Washington1980
565 Restaurant, Broadway, Tacoma, Washington

Kumback Lunch, angle 1, 6th Street, Perry, Oklahoma — Perry, Oklahoma1996
Kumback Lunch, angle 1, 6th Street, Perry, Oklahoma

Kumback Lunch, angle 2, 6th Street, Perry, Oklahoma — Perry, Oklahoma1996
Kumback Lunch, angle 2, 6th Street, Perry, Oklahoma

Louie's Lunches, Route 10, Dilworth, Minnesota — Dilworth, Minnesota1980
Louie's Lunches, Route 10, Dilworth, Minnesota

Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida — St. Petersburg, Florida1979
Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida

Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, central detail, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida — St. Petersburg, Florida1979
Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, central detail, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida

Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, entrance detail, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida — St. Petersburg, Florida1979
Traymore [i.e. Tramore] Cafeteria, entrance detail, 2nd Avenue & 4th Street, St. Petersburg, Florida

LJC's Home Cooking, angle 1, Old Route 17, McClure, New York — McClure, New York1977
LJC's Home Cooking, angle 1, Old Route 17, McClure, New York

LJC's Home Cooking, angle 2, Old Route 17, McClure, New York — McClure, New York1977
LJC's Home Cooking, angle 2, Old Route 17, McClure, New York

House of Blue Lights BBQ (old gas station?), Greenwood Road, Shreveport, Louisiana — Shreveport, Louisiana1979
House of Blue Lights BBQ (old gas station?), Greenwood Road, Shreveport, Louisiana

Astrodome Drive-In, Plattsburgh, New York — Plattsburgh, New York1976
Astrodome Drive-In, Plattsburgh, New York

Drive-in restaurant, Rts. 9 & 96, Rhinebeck, New York — Rhinebeck, New York1976
Drive-in restaurant, Rts. 9 & 96, Rhinebeck, New York

Benton's Cafe-BBQ, angle 1, Route 20, Fabens, Texas — Fabens, Texas1979
Benton's Cafe-BBQ, angle 1, Route 20, Fabens, Texas

Benton's Cafe-BBQ, angle 2, Route 20, Fabens, Texas — Fabens, Texas1979
Benton's Cafe-BBQ, angle 2, Route 20, Fabens, Texas

Skipper's Restaurant, angle 1, Pocatello, Idaho — Pocatello, Idaho2004
Skipper's Restaurant, angle 1, Pocatello, Idaho

Skipper's Restaurant, angle 2, Pocatello, Idaho — Pocatello, Idaho2004
Skipper's Restaurant, angle 2, Pocatello, Idaho

Jesudi's Italian Restaurant, Jackson Boulevard, Columbia, South Carolina — Columbia, South Carolina1988
Jesudi's Italian Restaurant, Jackson Boulevard, Columbia, South Carolina

East Side Diner, E. Main Street, Bozeman, Montana — Bozeman, Montana2004
East Side Diner, E. Main Street, Bozeman, Montana

Elmer's Restaurant, 6th Street, Klamath Falls, Oregon — Klamath Falls, Oregon2003
Elmer's Restaurant, 6th Street, Klamath Falls, Oregon

Herby K's Diner, A1A, diagonal view, Cocoa Beach, Florida — Cocoa Beach, Florida1990
Herby K's Diner, A1A, diagonal view, Cocoa Beach, Florida

Herby K's Diner, A1A, central view, Cocoa Beach, Florida — Cocoa Beach, Florida1990
Herby K's Diner, A1A, central view, Cocoa Beach, Florida