You may not remember this, but in another time, the diners were everywhere. It was the 1990s. The 2000s. Edged along main roads, tucked into quiet corners, in the heart of the city and dotted along the drags of the suburbs, there were diners. Diners opening their doors to us at all hours of day and night. Late night metropolitan Denver was alive with neon welcomes, saying: Come. You. Yes, you. Sit. Eat. Stay a while. It was easy to take refuge at a table where coffee cost a dollar or two and the hours could pass gently.
I asked the internet where the diners have gone. I ask how many there were 20 years ago, how many there are now. The internet doesn’t have any easy answers.
The search results cough up vague stories about the 2008 recession, and how the turn began. Restaurants closing as people who may have been dining out on a tight budget were instead dining at home. The search results talk about the changing population. The rising costs of everything—food, rent, labor. The search r…
