Hollywood Diner
Dover, DE
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Cruising along Route 13 through Dover, there's still a little bit of Hollywood waiting beside the highway. The Hollywood Diner is the real deal, a Fodero dining car built in 1954 with that unmistakable streamlined shape, shiny metal trim and enough roadside neon to make you want to pull over even if you weren't planning on eating.

The Hollywood opened for business in the mid-1950s and was part of a small group of Hollywood Diners scattered around Delaware. Back when Route 13 carried a steady stream of travelers through the state, places like this were made for the road. Pull into the lot, grab a stool at the counter, order something off the griddle and get back on the highway when you were good and ready.

There's even a little extra vintage machinery inside. When this photo was taken, the original jukebox was reportedly still working. A surviving Fodero diner with a working old jukebox is a pretty good combination. Drop in a coin, pick a tune and suddenly that plate of eggs and home fries has its own soundtrack.

Hollywood Diner
Dover, DE
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The Hollywood also has a much more serious place in Delaware history. In 1962, seven college students staged a sit-in at the diner after Black customers were refused service. The students were represented by noted civil rights attorney Louis L. Redding, and the case became part of Delaware's struggle over discrimination in public accommodations. It's a piece of history you probably wouldn't guess just from pulling into the parking lot for breakfast.

Over the years the old dining car went through renovations and changes, and some of its original Fodero appearance disappeared beneath newer materials. Eventually the Hollywood closed and sat vacant for several years. For a while it looked like another one of those roadside diners that might simply sit there until somebody decided the property was worth more without it.

Fortunately, the griddle wasn't cold for good.

UPDATE: New owners took over the Hollywood in 2020 and spent about a year and a half bringing the old diner back to life. The Hollywood Diner reopened in August 2022 and is once again serving customers along Route 13. The old Fodero is still here, the roadside signage still lights the way, and travelers can once again pull off the highway for a meal in a genuine piece of Delaware diner history. 08-26

Forum Diner Environmental style exterior (Demolished)
Paramus, NJ
Photo courtesy Michael Perlman

Paramus, NJ is home to the historic Forum Diner. In late 2009, word was the diner was threatened by a Jeep dealership which has since fallen through. For information on preserving the diner for future generations to enjoy, contact the Committee to Save The Forum Diner. Many thanks to Michael Perlman, Chair & Preservationist for info. 02-10

Cruising along Route 4 through Paramus, you couldn't miss some of the big diners that once competed for attention along this busy stretch of North Jersey. The Forum Diner was certainly one of them. With its stonework, wraparound windows, yellow mansard roof, gold-framed doors, and big roadside marquee, the Forum looked more like a roadside palace than one of those little stainless-steel lunch cars tucked onto a downtown corner.

Forum Diner Interior
Paramus, NJ
Photo courtesy Michael Perlman

Built by Fodero in 1967, the Forum came along when New Jersey diners were getting bigger and fancier. And this one was definitely big. The sprawling diner covered around 15,000 square feet, seated about 220 people, and had parking for roughly 200 cars. Inside were chandeliers, Greek-style wooden columns, etched mirrors, terrazzo floors, and huge circular booths. Those round booths were reportedly first installed by Fodero here at the Forum before becoming a familiar sight in other big Jersey diners.

There was even a little mob history served up with the coffee. In August 1974, federal agents staged an undercover operation inside the diner and arrested seven members of the Campisi crime family on sports-betting conspiracy charges. Imagine stopping along Route 4 for a burger and suddenly finding yourself with a front-row seat to a mob bust.

The Forum kept serving the Route 4 crowd until 2007. A Jeep dealership was supposed to replace it, but those plans fell through, giving the old diner an unexpected reprieve. When this photo was taken, there was still hope somebody might save the place.

Forum Diner outside look
Paramus, NJ
Photo courtesy Michael Perlman

And here's the really unusual part. For a while, you could buy the entire Forum Diner building for just $15,000, as long as you were willing to pay to move it. The massive structure had been built in sections and could reportedly be separated into seven pieces for a trip to a new home. Unfortunately, nobody managed to pull off what would have been one heck of a roadside moving job.

For years the Forum remained beside Route 4, slowly deteriorating but still recognizable as one of those oversized Jersey diners from another era.

UPDATE: The Forum Diner was demolished in July 2017 after sitting vacant for about a decade. The property was later redeveloped with an iFLY indoor skydiving facility, and the old Forum roadside marquee is gone. 08-26