Miss Albany Diner

In 1929, the site was occupied by a lunch cart that provided hot food to workers in the area. It was succeeded by a prefabricated diner built by the Ward & Dickinson Dining Car Company. The current building was erected in 1941 and originally called Lil's Diner. It is a "Silk City Diner model,{{cite book |last=Gutman |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0FM1LJU7EoC&dq=%22albany+diner%22+silk+City&pg=PA259 |title=American Diner Then and Now |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2000 |page=259 |isbn=0-8018-6536-0}} manufactured by the Paterson Vehicle Company in Paterson, New Jersey, one of the leading diner manufacturers of the time. The building is typical of the prefabricated diners that were common from the 1920s through the 1940s, built to resemble railroad cars and incorporating elements of Art Deco design. With its interior of cherry wood and porcelain enamelled steel and a geometrically tiled floor, it is one of the few pre-World War II diners in the United States in near-original condition.{{cite news |last=Liquori |first=Donna |title=Miss Albany Diner Turns a Ripe 50 |work=Times Union (Albany) |publisher=Hearst Newspapers |date=1991-10-06 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-156220006.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194630/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-156220006.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-11-04 |accessdate=2010-09-21}} The interior was depicted by the photorealist artist Ralph Goings in his 1993 painting Miss Albany Diner.Louis K. Meisel Gallery, [http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/artist/images.php?aid=19 Ralph Goings: Miss Albany Diner, 1993] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628233719/http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/artist/images.php?aid=19 |date=2009-06-28 }}. Retrieved 21 September 2010.

The diner changed hands over the years and was called successively Elaine's, the Firehouse Diner, and the Street Car Diner. The "Miss Albany" name was shared by a chain of several now defunct Miss Albany Diners owned by Stillman Pitts which were popular in Albany during the 1920s,Rittner, Don, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-jsdfgEP0ZIC&dq=%22albany+diner%22&pg=PA68 Albany Revisited], Arcadia Publishing, 2008, p. 68. {{ISBN|0-7385-5652-1}} one of which (on Central Avenue) is explicitly mentioned in William Kennedy's novel Roscoe.Kennedy, William, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gGne9WQLx4kC&q=%22Miss+Albany+Diner%22 Roscoe], Penguin Books, 2002, p. 26. {{ISBN|0-14-200173-2}} ("He drove to the Miss Albany Diner on Central Avenue, open all night, found it dark. A sign in the window reported, 'No Food'.") When Kennedy's earlier novel Ironweed was made into a film in 1986, the diner was restored for use as one of the film's principal locations and given the name "Miss Albany Diner".Di Nicola, Dan, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AhAhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZnIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2487,1239248&dq=miss-albany-diner+ironweed&hl=en "Ironweed Producers Hampered by Weather, Anachronistic Sets"], Schenectady Gazette, February 6, 1987, p. 30. Retrieved 22 September 2010. At the time, a product placement bidding war ensued between Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola over whose logo would be on the top of the diner.Di Nicola, Dan, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eXchAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cIkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2370,1076453&dq=miss-albany+diner+albany&hl=en "Tacky Trend: Advertising Playing Big Role in Movies"] Daily Gazette, July 5, 1990, p. 9 (Supplement). Retrieved 22 September 2010.

File:Miss Albany Diner.JPG

In 1988, after the filming of Ironweed ended, the diner was bought by Cliff Brown and his wife Jane. Cliff Brown, a former Albany resident and retired insurance salesman for New York Life, gave it the name used in the film, which it has retained to the present day. At Brown's initiative, the building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 2000 and won a Preservation Merit Award in 2002 from the Historic Albany Foundation.National Register of Historic Places, [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20001124.htm Listings: November 24, 2000]. Retrieved 21 September 2010.Historic Albany Foundation, [http://www.historic-albany.org/pma2002-8.html Preservation Merit Awards - 2002: Miss Albany Diner] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204174142/http://www.historic-albany.org/pma2002-8.html |date=2010-12-04 }}. Retrieved 21 September 2010. In late 2009, Brown was 82 and wanted to retire. The diner was put up for sale,Churchill, Chris, [http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Diner-for-sale-hold-the-change-552945.php "Diner for sale, hold the change"], Albany Times Union, November 12, 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2010. but as of 2010, it had still not been sold and continued to be run by Jane Brown.See the diner's [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albany-NY/MISS-ALBANY-DINER/287635212694#!/pages/Albany-NY/MISS-ALBANY-DINER/287635212694 official Facebook page]. Retrieved 22 September 2010.

The Miss Albany Diner served breakfast, lunch and coffee on a "cash only" basis and was open Tuesday through Sunday until 2:15 pm, with both waiter and take-out service. Its signature dishes included:

• Georgian Eggs (eggs any style over sweet potatoes and scallions and topped with peanut sauce)
• Mad Eggs (a toasted English muffin, topped with eggs, scallions and curry sauce)
• Calamity Jane (omelette with tomatoes, onions, peppers, swiss cheese, sausage and Tabasco sauce)Albany Times Union, [http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Ah-Miss-Albany-557753.php "Ah, Miss Albany"], November 20, 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2002.
• Mad Irish Toast (two thick slices of French toast made from challah bread, filled with pecans and cream cheese and covered in a sauce made from Irish whiskey and butterscotch).Bryson, Lew, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Slbz8kE-QfoC&dq=%22albany+diner%22&pg=PA96 New York Breweries], Stackpole Books, 2003, p. 96. {{ISBN|0-8117-2817-X}}Williams, China and Blond, Becca, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LyNJyEcFSJwC&dq=%22albany+diner%22&pg=PA189 New York State], Lonely Planet, 2004, p. 189. {{ISBN|1-74104-125-2}}

The dishes were created by the owners' son Bill Brown, who had been a chef at the diner for many years.Cavalcante, Joseph, [http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2000/06/12/focus1.html "Where else can you find a good meal at any hour?"], The Business Journal (Albany), June 9, 2000. Retrieved 22 September 2010. Mad Irish Toast was named one of the "Best Bites of 2002" by the Chicago Sun-Times.Ontiveros, Sue, "Best Bites of 2002: Beguiling and delicious, these are the winners for our year", Chicago Sun-Times, January 2, 2003. Retrieved via [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194810/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1475258.html subscription] 22 September 2002.

File:Formerly Miss Albany Diner and Lil's Diner, Albany New York.jpg

In February 2012, two years after Clifford Brown's death, the diner was purchased by Matthew Baumgartner, the head of a property company that owns a nearby beer garden and several other restaurants in Albany. Baumgartner said that the diner's structure would be retained when he and his partners develop the site, but that there were no plans to run it as a diner. Jane Brown and her son retained the rights to the "Miss Albany Diner" name and its signature recipes. The Miss Albany served its last meal as a diner on February 10, 2012.Eligon, John (9 February 2013). [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/nyregion/miss-albany-diner-a-landmark-is-closing.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion "Throwback in Albany Will Serve Last Meal"]. New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2012.Barnes, Steve (9 February 2012). [http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/miss-albany-diner-producers-undaunted-by-sale-closure/21639/ "'Miss Albany Diner' producers undaunted by sale, closure"]. Albany Times-Union. Retrieved 11 February 2012.

In 2015, the diner re-opened under new owner David Zheng as Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar, with new booths, seating about 45 for lunch and dinner daily. Half of the counter remained at the original height, and half was raised to bar height with bar chairs.{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Steve |title=Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar in Albany now open |url= https://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/48738/tanpopo-ramen-and-sake-bar-in-albany-now-open/ |access-date=5 October 2021 |publisher=Albany Times Union |date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108194107/https://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/48738/tanpopo-ramen-and-sake-bar-in-albany-now-open/ |archive-date=8 November 2020 |location=Albany, New York}}

{{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Food|Companies}}

• List of diners
• North Albany, Albany, New York
• Architecture of Albany, New York
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New York

For other historic diners in the same architectural style see:

• Mickey's Diner in St. Paul, Minnesota
• Road Island Diner in Oakley, Utah (previously sited in Middletown, Rhode Island and transported to Utah in 2007)
• Village Diner in Red Hook, New York

{{Reflist|33em}}

{{commons category|Miss Albany Diner}}

• {{cite web |last=Bonafide |first= John A. |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lil's Diner |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=189 |date=April 2000 |accessdate=2011-07-30 |publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation}} [http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=266 Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 2000]
• [http://www.timesunion.com/default/media/MAD-Eggs-2704.php Mad Eggs from Miss Albany Diner], brief video by Albany filmmaker Mike Camoin on the website of the Albany Times Union
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl2b020Ni8o Miss Albany Diner], brief documentary video on the official YouTube channel of Hudson River Valley Profiles (Shenise Productions)
• [http://www.suntimes.com/recipes/breakfast/29960,foo-news-aroad10r.recipe Recipe for Miss Albany Diner's Mad Irish Toast] on the website of the Chicago Sun-Times

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}

{{Albany, New York}}

Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)

Category:Diners on the National Register of Historic Places

Category:Diners in New York (state)

Category:Art Deco architecture in New York (state)

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1941

Category:Restaurants in Albany, New York

Category:Restaurants established in 1941

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Albany, New York

Category:1941 establishments in New York (state)