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American City Diner (Demolished)

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1987, Kullman Industries. 5532 Connecticut Ave. NW
  • American City Diner (Franz Jantzen)
  • (Franz Jantzen)

This shiny blue and silver aluminum, stainless steel, and glass-block diner incorporates features from 1940s diners originally made by Kullman Industries of Newark, New Jersey. In 1948 there were thirteen manufacturers of diners; in 1987 there were four. In hopes of reviving the diner, Kullman Industries put together the most striking and typical diner elements, relying principally on photographs of a 1945 classic design (for which the plans are lost) to make this prototype at a cost of $1 million. Curved corners of glass blocks and the curved aluminum cornice give a snug exterior appearance to a surprisingly large interior, measuring 1,800 square feet. To increase its “authentic” nostalgic ambiance, the billboard mural was painted from a photograph taken by Margaret Bourke-White in 1937 for Life magazine of a billboard in Louisville, Kentucky.

The diner closed in 2018 and remained vacant for years, falling into disrepair. It was ultimately demolished in 2023. Restaurateur Tim Walsh is planning an open-air venue for the site. 

Writing Credits

Author: 
Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee
Updated By: 
Catherine Boland Erkkila (2023)
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Data

Timeline

  • 1987

    Built

  • 2018

    Closed

  • 2023

    Demolished

What's Nearby

Riggs National Bank, Chevy Chase Branch (Chevy Chase Savings Bank)
Chevy Chase Arcade
Chevy Chase Historic District
Saratoga
Embassy of Austria, Chancery

Citation

Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee, "American City Diner (Demolished)", [Washington, District of Columbia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DC-01-NW35.

Print Source

Buildings of the District of Columbia, Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 378-378.

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