Sometimes diner food is the only food that hits the spot. It's comforting, reliable, filling and fairly cheap.
I grew up going to the iconic Oriental Diner – we called it "The O" – and the Brady Street Diner with my dad. Unfortunately, those places are now gone, but there is no shortage of classic diners to visit when I get the hankering.
What makes a diner a diner?
This is debatable. But for me, it requires "counter seating," a menu featuring both eggs and burgers (and sometimes meatloaf and "diet plates"), water without asking, a small ceramic bowl of plastic creams, individual jelly packets, frilly toothpicks in sandwiches and bottomless cups of coffee brewed in a drip machine.
This time, I picked diners only in the city of Milwaukee, but a few of my favorites are in the 'burbs, too. (I'm talking to you Benji's!) Maybe I need to write a part 2 in this series. For now, order up!
Jo's Cafe
3519 W. Silver Spring Dr.
(414) 461-0206
Hours: Open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Payment: Accepts cards or cash.
Landmark Family Restaurant
3451 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
(414) 481-1300
Hours: Monday-Thursday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Payments: Accepts cards and cash.
Lisbon Cafe
8518 W. Lisbon Ave.
(414) 463-2714
Hours: Open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday.
Payment: Cash only.
Ma Fischer's
2214 N. Farwell Ave.
(414) 271-7424
Hours: Open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Payment: Cash or cards.
Miss Katie's Diner
1900 W. Clybourn St.
(414) 344-0044
Hours: Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Payment: Cash and cards.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
