2022: So sad to report that the Frazer Diner closed on December 31, 2022 🙁 if someone else reopens it I’ll create a new post!
https://chestercountyramblings.com/2023/01/02/what-will-become-of-the-frazer-diner/
ORIGINAL POSTS:
2017 Update: Not major changes at the Frazer – happy to report! Still sitting pretty on Route 30:
Just remember not to take photos when inside the diner and you’ll be all set!
Original 2010 report:
Friends, I recommend that you visit the Frazer diner when you’re driving down Route 30 looking for an authentic diner breakfast, surrounded by a well preserved vintage diner interior.
According to that handy reference “Diners of Pennsylvania” (written by Lincoln Highway Scholar Brian Butko and Kevin Patrick) The Frazer Diner was established in 1929 and built by the Jerry O’Mahony Co, and is currently the only remaining example of a mostly unaltered 1930s O’Mahony diner. And wow, is the interior nice. The clock even works!
I have a personal fondness for the Frazer Diner as Retro Roadsis and I ate here on a Boston to Lancaster road trip back in 1999.
During that visit to Lancaster I was re-introduced to the musician who would later be known to you folks as Retro Roadhusband, and he and I now happily live within 15 minutes of this classic diner. So funny to think that when I was eating breakfast at the counter there all those years ago, I had no idea that my life would be so changed by that roadtrip and that I’d be living so close to that diner, married to that guitar player. Cool stuff, in my book!
Retro Roadhusband and I ate there late last November, when I snapped these photos. As you folks will know, I take pains to ensure that people don’t appear in most of my photos, but was still a bit shaken when I was reprimanded by the waitress for taking photos. Determined to work through that, I approached her after we had eaten and since we were one of the last couples in the diner, asked if I could snap a few shots, making sure that no people were in them, and she gave that the OK, explaining that some folks don’t like to get their pictures taken. (Like she has to tell me- I don’t like getting my picture taken at all!)
Gunnar
July 11, 2010 at 7:13 pmWhenever I ask if can take pictures somewhere, the answer is invariably no, so I’ve stopped asking. I just try to be really, really quick about it with my point-n-shoot. (I did get pretty badly reprimanded for taking pics of a flight attendant giving emergency directions as a flight was taxiing on the tarmac. I didn’t mean any harm and wanted to document every second of the trip, but it really freaked out the attendant and she even told the pilot!)
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
July 12, 2010 at 6:43 amGunnar- If it weren’t for discreet point and shoot photographing you would not see ANY interior shots on Retro Roadmap, I follow the same process as you do a lot of the time. I’ve actually found that it helps to get better shots to use a point and shoot than to “scare” people with a big 35mm camera. I also on purpose will put my camera on the table or whatnot when I’m in a diner, so folks know I have it. So far so good!
Marc Sanders
July 11, 2010 at 8:35 pmI remember eating here as a kid with my aunt when it was Lin’s(?), a Thai restaurant. Eventually they moved down the street, not sure if they are still there. I think I have a soft spot for Asian food served in a diner, Chung Sing in Ardmore is a frequent lunch spot.
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
July 12, 2010 at 8:03 amI never knew it was a Thai resto, but have noticed in my diner travels a number of vintage diners that have been modified to Asian cuisine- Chung Sing for sure, and there’s one I remember driving by in Springfield MA that had the unfortunate luck of having its stainless steel being painted red and yellow stripes for the Chinese restaurant. yikes!
beth
July 11, 2010 at 8:36 pmLOVE the Frazer Diner. Jonah and I lived in Malvern for a year and we ate there all the time.
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
July 12, 2010 at 8:01 amAnd I didn’t even know that area was officially called Malvern ’til I did this writeup! No wonder it was hard to find Frazer on the map 🙂
neil perone
September 19, 2010 at 7:32 pmthis frazer diner is unbelievable, just beautiful . i only wish it was 15 minutes from my house.
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
September 19, 2010 at 9:41 pmWe definitely are lucky that it’s near us!
Norm James
October 18, 2010 at 10:10 amI was in Frazer Pa last Tues-Wed, Oct 12th and 13th for a seminar. I ditched the free breakfast at the Holiday Inn I was at up the street. I saw the diner when I arrived Tuesday. I allowed myself a good 45-minute, pre-dawn visit. I’m not sure what I learned at the seminars, but I certainly learned of a great pre-50’s diner to visit again!
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
October 18, 2010 at 10:43 amNorm- always a thrill to hear someone has checked out a Retro Roadmap place when they’re traveling, as that’s one of the main reasons for the map. And from the looks of your site it appears you have quite the sign collection – that too is right up Retro Roadmap Alley. Thanks for swinging by, and welcome to the neighborhood!
Rich and Bert Livingston
October 21, 2010 at 7:12 amMy wife and I did live 15 minutes from the Frazer Diner (Exton, PA) – but, we retired and moved to Florida last January.
We were regulars at the diner one or more times a week – and always on Saturday or Sunday.
The food was tasty and inexpensive. The owners and waitresses were regulars and we got to know them all.
We haven’t found quite the same atmosphere where we now live (Southwest Florida) but, we’re still looking.
History, good food, friendly people. It doesn’t get better than that.
Don Coggins
January 17, 2011 at 4:58 pmGreat place to eat and meet old friends.Sit at the counter and meet new people everyday and see the evry day regulars.I try to have breakfast at least three days a week.
Don Coggins
Berwyn,Pa
Don Coggins
October 17, 2018 at 12:23 pmGreat place to eat and meet old friends.Sit at the counter and meet new people everyday and see the evry day regulars.I try to have breakfast at least three days a week.
Don Coggins
Berwyn,Pa
Norm James
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmI was in Frazer Pa last Tues-Wed, Oct 12th and 13th for a seminar. I ditched the free breakfast at the Holiday Inn I was at up the street. I saw the diner when I arrived Tuesday. I allowed myself a good 45-minute, pre-dawn visit. I’m not sure what I learned at the seminars, but I certainly learned of a great pre-50’s diner to visit again!
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmNorm- always a thrill to hear someone has checked out a Retro Roadmap place when they’re traveling, as that’s one of the main reasons for the map. And from the looks of your site it appears you have quite the sign collection – that too is right up Retro Roadmap Alley. Thanks for swinging by, and welcome to the neighborhood!
Rich and Bert Livingston
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmMy wife and I did live 15 minutes from the Frazer Diner (Exton, PA) – but, we retired and moved to Florida last January.
We were regulars at the diner one or more times a week – and always on Saturday or Sunday.
The food was tasty and inexpensive. The owners and waitresses were regulars and we got to know them all.
We haven’t found quite the same atmosphere where we now live (Southwest Florida) but, we’re still looking.
History, good food, friendly people. It doesn’t get better than that.
neil perone
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmthis frazer diner is unbelievable, just beautiful . i only wish it was 15 minutes from my house.
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
October 15, 2018 at 9:00 pmWe definitely are lucky that it’s near us!
beth
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmLOVE the Frazer Diner. Jonah and I lived in Malvern for a year and we ate there all the time.
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
October 15, 2018 at 9:01 pmAnd I didn’t even know that area was officially called Malvern ’til I did this writeup! No wonder it was hard to find Frazer on the map 🙂
Gunnar
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmWhenever I ask if can take pictures somewhere, the answer is invariably no, so I’ve stopped asking. I just try to be really, really quick about it with my point-n-shoot. (I did get pretty badly reprimanded for taking pics of a flight attendant giving emergency directions as a flight was taxiing on the tarmac. I didn’t mean any harm and wanted to document every second of the trip, but it really freaked out the attendant and she even told the pilot!)
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmGunnar- If it weren’t for discreet point and shoot photographing you would not see ANY interior shots on Retro Roadmap, I follow the same process as you do a lot of the time. I’ve actually found that it helps to get better shots to use a point and shoot than to “scare” people with a big 35mm camera. I also on purpose will put my camera on the table or whatnot when I’m in a diner, so folks know I have it. So far so good!
Marc Sanders
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmI remember eating here as a kid with my aunt when it was Lin’s(?), a Thai restaurant. Eventually they moved down the street, not sure if they are still there. I think I have a soft spot for Asian food served in a diner, Chung Sing in Ardmore is a frequent lunch spot.
Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
October 15, 2018 at 9:00 pmI never knew it was a Thai resto, but have noticed in my diner travels a number of vintage diners that have been modified to Asian cuisine- Chung Sing for sure, and there’s one I remember driving by in Springfield MA that had the unfortunate luck of having its stainless steel being painted red and yellow stripes for the Chinese restaurant. yikes!
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