I desperately miss the 90's and the middle class we used to have. I also miss basic cheap eats. If someone tried to make an authentic type of diner today, it would immediately become swamped with influencers.

How can I get away from all this? Is there a town somewhere where everyone is over 45 and there is no cell service and a full meal is $5?

Heck I would settle for a small NorCal town that doesn't have gangs or meth.

> Is there a town somewhere where everyone is over 45 and there is no cell service and a full meal is $5?

Yes, but they're suspicious of outsiders and newcomers. They're afraid the newbies will vote away everything that makes that town feel like home.

I miss pre-COVID prices. Our local diner is now $20+ for a simple breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon, coffee/tea) for two people. Pre-COVID is was ~$10 with tip.

Your imagined past was enabled on the back of exploitation poor people and minorities.

That hasn’t gone away, so I don’t think that’s the difference that makes a difference here.

Tastes have changed and I think people have been highly exposed to tastier dishes.

There's also the "Denny's" problem. Classic diners tend to be pretty much the same as a Denny's in terms of quality.

Yeah, chain restaurants have dominated most of the market everywhere out through and including the exurbs.

But if you go to somewhere deeply rural you can still find cheap crappy diner food.

Some of the random non-chain diners in the middle of some forested area are super nice and somehow not expensive, like the kind you stop at on the way to a ski trip. I'd think they'd be pricey cause of tourism or difficulty getting supplies.

Waffle House is your jam.

Only in the southern US unfortunately

WH is all over the place in the US. I live in CO and go regularly. I’m 90% sure I saw one when I was in Utah.

I'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere near a major urban area thats not in the south. They do exist sporadically in rural areas and along highways in many other areas

You guys are two ends of the spectrum; WH exists in more than just the south, but it still doesn’t show up nationwide - e.g no PNW locations.

TIL! I’ve been to PNW, but I was too busy eating clam chowdah to notice.

Bonus, there's a solid chance of being ringside to an epic local MMA fight.

I suspect that people want a theoretical cheap, simple meal, but what makes things cheap now is less the simplicity of ingredients, but really lowering the labour effort. So, something like the free breakfast at a cheap motel: bulk egg mixture, sausages that might as well be 50% cardboard pulp, big tubs of factory waffle batter, churned out onto disposable plates. Unless that's exactly what you have in mind, of course!

I’ve got a place by me that does 2 eggs, 2 pancakes (or French toast), 2 sausages and toast for $4 before 8 AM.

And I don’t go there. The spots that get twice (or more) as much for that meal really are quite a bit better. And their coffee is truly foul. Classic diner coffee is fine, but if I’ve had better coffee on an airplane I’m not prone to going back.

IHOP and Denny's fit that. They're quiet about the value menu.

Especially today. I used to go to a place where every time I ate, my wife would roll her eyes as I talked about how good the prices were. Even they’re expensive now. Still cheaper, but damn. I don’t eat out nearly as much anymore. It’s sad. Diners are my favorite.