Longfellow has a new diner, and it's pretty cute. The fully restored vintage dining car has been busy pumping out boozy shakes and all-day breakfast to all walks.
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From the Restaurant
Hi-Lo Diner is a fully restored, original 1957 Fodero Diner. It spent sixty years just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, outside of Pittsburgh as the Venus Diner until 2014, when it closed its doors. The diner traveled by semi-truck to Cleveland where it underwent an exterior restoration. We brought the diner here to Minneapolis in 2015 to finish restoration and open its doors again. We are so thrilled to be the caretakers of this special place.
A true diner is a modular building that was manufactured and shipped to the site as a finished restaurant. In the post-war period, the diner was a solution to surplus war manufacturing and rapid population growth. Most diners were made by a handful of companies in New Jersey during the 1920’s-1960’s. You are sitting in a 1957 Fodero Diner, manufactured in New Jersey by the Fodero Dining Car Company, an Italian–American manufacturer.
With the 1970’s came a waning in the popularity of diners, linked with the decline of inner cities and the growth of suburbs. As people and cities changed, the diner went from a community hub to an outmoded relic; many were abandoned and lost forever. There were only 4000 diners manufactured and of those only 1800 remain. Today, diners are recognized as a uniquely American institution and an important part of our cultural heritage. The importance of their preservation has been growing in recent years. We are proud to play a role in the continuation of this part of American history.
Promotion
Patio now open! Specials offered daily.
