By Eric Model
Yes, traffic is heavy in the area. The used car lots are still there too.
But the traffic circle is long gone. Route 46 now cuts through the center of what used to be the circle. There is a traffic light at either side. Remnants of the original circle lie along the parameter.
As importantly, though it’s been more than 20 years since it left, Rosie’s Diner was a fixture on the circle. It is still missed.
Rosie’s dates back to 1946 when it started out as the Silver Dollar Diner – there at the Little Ferry Circle. Soon a fixture for travelers on the east coast, the Silver Dollar Diner gained new notoriety when it was chosen to be featured in a series of classic Bounty television commercials featuring Nancy Walker as Rosie the waitress. In honor of the advertisements, the Silver Dollar Diner was renamed Rosie’s Diner in the 1970s.
I recall it as Rosie’s Farmland Diner. Early on, it was just another roadside landmark along the ride of the Public Service bus route 165 on the way to or back from the city. In later years, it became a late night eating destination for a burger or tuna melt.
Rosie’s Diner, a 1946 Paramount Deluxe Dining Car, remained in New Jersey until 1990. At that time, Rosie’s owner sold the land under the diner to the auto glass repair shop next door. The business did not want the diner, leaving Ralph Carrado to sell the building. His offer to place “the most famous diner in America” in the Smithsonian Institution was rejected.
In Jerry Berta, a willing buyer was found. Berta was an artist producing ceramic replicas of classic diners, with the original Rosie’s as one of his inspirations. He already owned a diner, a 1947 dining car located on the site when he found out that Rosie’s was for sale. Berta bought Rosie’s and moved it to Rockford, Michigan at its current location next to another diner (eventually a third diner was added to the spot). The purchase price at the time was $10,000 for the 24-by-60-foot (7.3 by 18 m) building.
In 1990, when they closed the place here in New Jersey, it was reported that some folks drove more than 250 miles for one last meal there along the Little Ferry Circle.
Once it closed, work crews sawed the diner in half the next week to load it on flatbed trucks for the move to Michigan. The restaurant opened in its new location on July 5, 1991.
Its passing from New Jersey was mourned by aficionados of road food and American popular culture alike. But we were comforted by the notion it was being adopted by folks who cared for it and would treat it well.
And for a while it was given some TLC – first by Berta and then starting in 2006 by its most recent owner Jonelle Woods.
And over the years, the place remained known and liked by locals for its good food. It was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and on Travel Channel’s Diner Paradise. It was a destination for those in the area and those from beyond.
But now, for the second time in six years Rosie’s is on the auction block.
Shandra Martinez in an article in the The Grand Rapids Press quotes a Doug Heuker of Lastbidrealestate.com explaining how the property will be sold to the highest on April 26.
Back in 2006, Jonelle Woods bought the property for about $450,000, just before it was to be auctioned off. Berta, the original owner who brought the diner out from New Jersey, had sent it to auction after a default on the land contract.
According to the recent Michigan newspaper article, the auctioneer doubts the selling price will be “anything near” the previous sale price when the restaurant was operational.
“Someone is going to have to put in some money to bring it up where it should be,” said Heuker.
That Grand Rapids Press article reports that Rosie’s red seating is worn and ripped in some places. Melted ice has dripped through the ceiling in a few cracks.
Along with the eateries (the three diners) also being auctioned is an 18-hole mini-golf course at the back of the four and a half-acre property. There are also classic cars being sold along with the buildings and its fixtures.
The looming auction came to be after the diner abruptly closed in early October, supposedly for a short-term renovation project. But it was not long before she told employees that she was out of money and had no choice to shutter the business.
No matter what happens at the auction in Michigan, it seems there is still another Rosie’s Diner, a look-alike of the 1946 Paramount. It is in fact the same type of building. But unlike the Rosie’s in Michigan which is an original transferred out of the Garden State, the second version of Rosie’s, in Colorado, is just an authentic period diner adapted in detail to be a twin. In fact, this retro prototype is a template for a series planned, the goal of forming a chain of restaurants in the Denver area. Currently, there are locations in Monument and Aurora.
Original or not, those Rocky Mountain region look-a-likes are still more than we have back here in New Jersey. These days, we only occasionally drive by the site, now home of an auto glass repair shop. Still, the spirit of the place can still be felt by some of us old enough to still remember and care about it.
We wish the original Rosie’s well – wherever it may end up.
Eric Model explores the “offbeat, off the beaten path overlooked and forgotten” on SIRIUS-XM Radio and at www.journeysinto.com.