The Worcester Lunch Car Company monopolized the New England market with its colorful diners. Although Worcester sent a smattering of diners as far as Florida and Michigan, the cars were most popular in their home territory. From 1906 to 1961, the company built six hundred fifty-one diners, with as few as ten or as many as seventy seats. Known for their small size, solid construction, and old-fashioned styling, the cars featured oak and mahogany woodwork, intricate ceramic tile patterns, and a backbar of stainless steel. Their distinctive porcelain enamel exteriors with names emblazoned on them proudly proclaimed their presence along the roadside. Day and night, these diners fed generations of New England's working class; today, fewer than one hundred lunch cars still operate.

The Worcester Lunch Car Company monopolized the New England market with its colorful diners. Although Worcester sent a smattering of diners as far as Florida and Michigan, the cars were most popular in their home territory. From 1906 to 1961, the company built six hundred fifty-one diners, with as few as ten or as many as seventy seats. Known for their small size, solid construction, and old-fashioned styling, the cars featured oak and mahogany woodwork, intricate ceramic tile patterns, and a backbar of stainless steel. Their distinctive porcelain enamel exteriors with names emblazoned on them proudly proclaimed their presence along the roadside. Day and night, these diners fed generations of New England's working class; today, fewer than one hundred lunch cars still operate.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was birthplace to the burgeoning "night lunch wagon" manufacturing industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These horse-drawn food carts eventually evolved into classic American diners. For many years, diner builders like the Worcester Lunch Car Company and J.B. Judkins Company operated in the Bay State, while few new diners opened for business after 1960. This left the state with a high concentration of some of the best-preserved diners built during the early to mid-twentieth century, including the Capitol Diner in Lynn, the Route 66 Diner in Springfield and Buddy's Diner in Somerville. Eatery historian Larry Cultrera discusses this appetizing history and the not-be-missed items on unforgettable diner menus.

Across Maine, iconic diners come in different shapes and sizes. From the fluffy pancakes as big as a plate to piles of perfectly crisped corned beef hash, these beloved spots have served classic comfort food to generations of hungry patrons. For more than ninety years, Moody's Diner in Waldoboro has offered famous homemade pies to regulars and visitors alike. From the Lumberjack Breakfast at the Palace Diner in Biddeford to the steak and cheese omelet at the Deluxe Diner in Rumford, author Sarah Walker Caron reveals the stories and recipes behind the state's most iconic community eateries.

In the land of mountains, milk and maple syrup, community is culture. Hear the stories of diner owners and their regulars. Whether driving through college towns, along rural country roads or down bustling city streets, the historic diners you'll find are integral to the communities they serve. Over time, Vermont diners have remained gathering places for regulars, locals and travelers alike. So much more than just eateries, places like the Birdseye, Chelsea Royal and the Country Girl Diner are where strangers become friends, where generations learn to understand one another and where simpler times are celebrated. Author Erin McCormick reveals how Vermont's diner culture came to be.