Avalon Diner
2417 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas
713-527-8900
The Avalon Diner, attached to the Avalon Pharmacy, is known for excellent small-tread waffles at breakfast and some of the best lunch-counter cheeseburgers out there. The beef patties glisten with oil from the griddle and come fully dressed with tomato, lettuce, pickle, onion, mustard, and mayonnaise on a bun that has been butter-toasted crisp on the inside. Possible companions include French fries, chili fries, chili cheese fries, wet fries (topped with brown or cream gravy), and onion rings; and while malts are excellent, our beverage of choice is lemonade — squeezed to order and served in a tall, ice-frosted tulip glass that quenches our thirst just to look at it.

Becky's Diner
390 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine
207-773-7070
Becky's is a friendly wharfside diner where fishermen and dockworkers sit side-by-side with white-collar folk, all here to enjoy an honest meal at a fair price. Lunch of baked beans and franks or Friday's haddock chowder is exemplary, but breakfast is the great meal of the day. Muffins can be ordered merely toasted or split and buttered and cooked on the same grill where millions of orders of bacon and eggs have grilled, thus absorbing the luscious flavors of breakfasts past. Hash browns are soft and chunky; eggs arrive glistening with butter. On the side, Italian toast is served in hefty oval slices that are buttered and crisp-cooked.

Blue Benn Diner
314 North Street, Bennington, Vermont
802-442-5140
The Blue Benn, an original Silk City dining car, was planted on this site along Route 7 in 1949. To this day, it remains a true-blue hash house with a menu that includes such square meals as pot roast, turkey dinner, and meat loaf and mashed potatoes. In addition to the expected, there are international dishes including Syrian roll-ups and vegetarian enchiladas, and such modern fare as a grilled salmon Caesar salad. In fact, the interior is plastered everywhere with literally hundreds of kitchen specials, plain to fancy. Breakfast delights include corn bread French toast and stacks of crunchberry pancakes with turkey hash on the side, as well as eminently dunkable, locally made doughnuts.

Connelly's Goody Goody Diner
5900 Natural Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
314-383-3333
A diner with the spirit of a drive-in, Connelly's Goody Goody opened as a root beer stand in 1931. For many years it was a favorite place for hot-rod cruising, but we think of it mostly as a diner because of its no-nonsense menu of burgers and hot lunch and an extraordinary egg dish known as the Wilbur, a mammoth omelet filled with spicy chili, fried potatoes, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. It is a soulful meal, profoundly satisfying ... and an alleged cure for even the worst hangover.

Dutch Kitchen
Route 61 (exit 124b off I-81), Frackville, Pennsylvania
570-874-3265
In some ways, The Dutch Kitchen is tradition itself, serving three squares a day, from bacon and eggs (and toast from homemade bread) in the morning to full-house turkey dinner for lunch and supper. Beyond those basics, it reflects the soul of a region with a rich culinary heritage. Here is the best of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania — one of this nation's most delicious melting pots. From tortellini soup and potato-cheese pierogi to Jewish wedding cake, the menu is a culinary cornucopia. The salad bar reflects Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in the form of countless relishes, pickled vegetables, sweets and sours, and composed salads.