Tour the architectures in the Southwest - 66 Diner
(Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)

At the moment of entering in 66 Diner, a sound track of “American Graffiti” echoed in my head. To tell precisely, it was just "Rock Around The Clock" as the theme song. Ron Howard, who played the role of an honor-roll student but didn’t seem to be a popular movie director, and Richard Dreyfus, whose body developed a middle-aged spread in spite of a role of teenager, were likely to appear at any moment. A waiter who came to take an order was almost Richard Dreyfus.

I personally remembered the Art Deco that was popular in the 1920's even if it was a 1950’s architecture. I arbitrarily named it as the Art Deco Revival. But, I don’t know whether such category exist and it was a little simplified.

To tell the truth, I didn’t see it in the daytime. However, I recommend to go there when the neon sign was turned on in the evening. A passenger boat was one of the important designs in the Art Deco. 66 Diner which neon illuminated seemed to be just a passenger boat that was at anchor. A lot of linear neons produced a sense of speed and the image of a boat was emphasized by the streamlined exterior, a round window, a vaulted ceiling with indirect neon lights and the entrance with a round corner.

So, the exterior appearance in the night made me imagine that the restaurant opened all night and local youngsters gathered until morning. In fact, it closed at 10 p.m. and didn’t provide any alcoholic drink. Therefore, it had a lot of families and was no degenerate place where unruly youngsters gathered.

In my memory, the characters of “American Graffiti” acted a little bad but not so much that they can not return to a community, and they seemed to outgrow a bad behavior as soon as they graduated from a high school and get a job in a decent local firm. A bad boy in that time might be healthy compared with a present one. Through Japanese news that tell only the American lesions, I amplified the negative image on America and inflated the delusion arbitrarily.

How about a “healthy bad” as the concept of this restaurant ?

When I felt into such thought, the dished ordered were served. The amount is too much, the vegetables are only raw and the oil is too used. The nutrition balance is, to all appearance, not fine. It may not be very healthy.

66 Diner is located along the highway Route 66 that once appeared in songs and novels as its name suggests. The thousands of kilometers of roads from Chicago to Los Angeles have turned into expressways, but even after the role of the main road has ended, travelers tour following the nostalgic scenery. This 66 diner is also one of the places where many pilgrims stop by as one of the landmarks that represent route 66.

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Transportation
10 minutes by car from downtown Albuquerque.

Link
66 Diner

City of Albuquerque
Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau

Accommodations
Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North
Courtyard Albuquerque
Doubletree Hotel Albuquerque
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
Hotel Andaluz
Hotel Parq Central
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque

America's Best Value Inn
Econo Lodge Old Town
Hotel Blue
Monterey Non-Smokers Motel

Botteger Mansion of Old Town
Casas de Suenos Old Town Historic Inn
Downtown Historic B & B
Hacinenda Antigua Inn
Brittania & W.E. Mauger Estate B&B
Los Poblanos
Old Town B & B

References

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2018.01 Photos and text in English version and Japanese version

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66 Diner

Photo by Daigo Ishii