Diners: Long Island "Greecey" Spoons to Stockbridge, Mass "Churches"
- Mar 16
- 2 min read
SECOND BREAKFAST
Had a hankering this morning for challah French toast. Invited a friend to join me at an historic 80-year old diner that’s located directly across Old Country Road from where Avis Rent a Car had its first world headquarters.
It remained there until they were bought by Cendant Corp who merged us with Budget AND relocated us to Parsippany NJ. That original site is now a mall that includes a corner Shake Shack. In December, I posted about that transformation.
They are famous for serving your order in a metal skillet:
Their interior reminds me of diners from my youth…places we frequented after all the bars closed.
Back then, on “one more Saturday nights”, I’d occasionally tell our waitress that they should get copies of local church bulletins and give them to us kids so we could show them to our parents as proof of attendance. 😘
On some of those "nights in white satin," we’d see if their countertop juke boxes had this annoying song:
For even more insanity, we’d play its “B” side: where the song played backwards.
Like all good New York diners, Thomas’s serves breakfast ALL DAY. Because I added sides of an English muffin and challah, I couldn’t finish today’s eggs ‘n home fries main course.
So I had the leftovers for dinner…a second 🍳 breakfast…and for tomorrow’s holiday, added something GREEN…See, I'm half Irish (my Mom was a Burns) and me mate Eileen is a pure-blood: Dad was a Duffy and Mom was a McGrane.
“Only in America land of opportunity…”
In New York many food establishments such as Thomas’s are owned by people of Greek descent.
And while Arlo Guthrie tells us that with the exception of his song's namesake...
“...you can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant” ...
...that freedom of choice DOES NOT exist here:
After-hours Club (songs from the song lyrics mentioned in this post)
"Just what the truth is I can't say any more..."
- HOW True then...and NOW...
While I like the intention of this next one....
Sadly, it's NOT the experience of many in our United States...
Finding this background story is a main reason I write...
These folks originally from Long Island ended up in the Berkshires like Eileen's brother and his family. They tell us the song's origins and visit the sites in Arlo's song.
It contains the Guthrie Center that does charity work like having a FREE musical instrument lending library for children...Lots of area migrants' children are helped here.
Here's Arlo LIVE...
Post is making me hungry...