The Tastee Diner, located deep in the heart of downtown Bethesda, Maryland, is an American treasure.  It is more than just a food establishment.  It is more than just a meeting spot.  It is a place where people can relax and be themselves.  And don’t we all need a place like that somewhere in our lives?

Built in 1939 as a boxcar diner, it moved from its original location on Wisconsin Avenue to its current home on Woodmont Avenue in 1958. Twenty years later, two wings were constructed on either side of the six-booth boxcar.  That same footprint remains today.

Stepping into Tastee Diner is like stepping back in time.  Quarter-fed jukeboxes grace every booth.  Waiters and waitresses bark out orders and refill coffee without being asked.  And weathered pictures of old-school politicians and military heroes adorn the walls.  They don’t just serve comfort food.  They serve comfort for the soul.

A Cast Of Characters

Gene Wilkes has owned the Tastee Diner since 1970.  And over the years he has assembled an unforgettable cast of characters that only adds to the Diner’s quirky charm.

Beth Cox was a 19-year old single mother and needed a job to make ends meet.  Gene took her in, gave her a job as a waitress, and gave her a focus in her life.  Forty years later, she is the head manager and personification of Tastee Diner.  Tough on the outside.  Warm and caring on the inside.  She never forgets a face and tears up when reminiscing about the customers who have supported her over the years.  This is not a job.  This is family.

Head Cook Allen Snowden has been working at the Diner forty years as well.  At this point, he doesn’t need to ask his customers for their order.  He delivers a subtle nod and a wink and suddenly the massive griddle is firing up another custom order.  His smiling face and manic energy fuel the Diner into the wee hours of the morning.

And “David the Waiter” has been entertaining customers for years.  With his GIANT pen and crooked smile, he is primed to take your order, leave a business card and make a joke.  Patrons either ask to sit in his section or demand to be seated on the opposite side of the restaurant.  There is no middle ground!

The rest of the cashiers, wait staff, and cooks round out the ambience.  No wonder Tastee Diner has been attracting regular customers since its inception!

Here Comes a Regular

Tastee Diner welcomes the new but cherishes the regulars.  Some have been eating here every day for forty years.  Some were brought here by their parents.  And now many of those same customers are taking their own kids here for the experience.  In fact, four generations of patrons have been coming to Tastee Diner to eat, relax, and soak in the genuine atmosphere.

Regulars come to celebrate all types of milestones at the Diner.  There have been countless wedding celebrations to go along with countless post-funeral gatherings.  Over the years dozens of people have gotten engaged in the booths or at the counter.  And one pregnant customer needed a late-night dose of creamed chip beef to help satisfy a particularly strong craving.  She immediately went into labor and was quickly transported to a nearby hospital.  She now brings her child in every year to help celebrate her birthday.

Perhaps the most endearing regular was Montgomery County Circuit Judge James McAuliffe.  Throughout his career rising up through the judicial circuit, Judge McAuliffe would stop into Tastee Diner to get away from it all.  Every Christmas,  he would buy up dozens of Tastee Diner sweatshirts and calendars and distribute them to friends, family or anyone who had an affiliation with the Diner.  Upon his death in 2011, he was buried in his favorite, comfortable Tastee Diner sweatshirt.  A loyal patron to the end.

Where People Are People

Tastee Diner is open seven days a week, 24-hours a day.  It was originally conceived as a place for construction workers and police officers to get a hearty meal after finishing their late-night shifts.  But it also attracts a mix of white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, teenagers, and parents.

At any time, there could be a group of real estate professionals at one table, a group of business owners at another table, and group of plumbers and firefighters at another table.  Manager Beth Cox captures the sentiment perfectly:

“When you step into Tastee Diner, people are people.  You need to check your attitude at the door!”

Amen.  And thank goodness for a place where that can happen.

But the 24-hour circuit can have a flip side.  Generations of teenagers have flocked to Tastee Diner. And after dances and parties, they will occasionally get a little too rambunctious or skip out on a check (Not that I know from experience!)  That is handled by the staff and dismissed as “good-natured mischief”.

But the late-night bar crowd is another story.

The scene can turn ugly after 3am on the weekends.  The staff pitches in to ensure that suspected brawlers and hotheads are strategically seated away from each.  But when you accept all comers, life is not always going to be perfect.  Shouting matches, fights, the occasional vandalism.  Tastee Diner has seen it all.  As one late-night staffer puts it:

“During the day, we’re like Oprah.  At night, we’re like Jerry Springer!”

Tastee Diner will always take the good with the bad.  People are people.  But mostly they are good.

The Resilient Diner

All of this history and character was nearly lost on the night of June 21, 2002.  A fire broke out in an electrical outlet near the main grill and quickly spread to the roof.  By the time the firefighters got the flames under control, The Tastee Diner was nearly destroyed.

For the first time in decades, there was a “Closed” sign outside the door of the restaurant.

The regulars were lost without their favorite diner.  The staff was lost without their touchstone and family.  And the community was lost without a galvanizing place to gather, celebrate, and relax.

But resiliency runs through the staff and through the community.  Brick by brick, the process started.

Like life, sometimes it was one step forward, and two steps back.  It was not easy.  There were moments when it seemed the last Tastee Muffin had been served.

But donations stepped up.  The local politicians came together.  The community would not let the diner die.  On September 30, 2002, Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan oversaw the re-opening ceremony for Tastee Diner.

The inside was new.  But it was the same.  It would always be the same.  Resiliency always wins out in the end.

Where Do We Go From Here?

We all need a “Tastee Diner” in our lives.  We need some place we can be ourselves.  We need a place to pass on tradition to our children.  We need a place where we can relax with other people and not worry about our wealth or status in society.  We need exposure to a true cast of characters who can help us see the humor in our own lives.

Things will not always be easy.  There will be a late-night crowd, ready to take a swing at our beliefs.  There will be fires threatening to destroy our morals and our resolve.  We will not always be comfortable in the melting pot.  But we will stay resilient to the end.

When times are at their worst, we will step up.  Our inner circle of friends and family will help us get back on our feet.  They will help us power through any setback.  They will fuel us with the resiliency we need to stay open twenty-four hours a day!

Tastee Diner is us.  We are Tastee Diner. Let’s check our attitude at the door and go make this world a better place.

Until next week, keep smiling!