Know When To Fold 'Em Or Butt Out

I had to be out on the road yesterday (cue to Willie Nelson), and while I was on the move I popped into a local Tastee Diner for a repast. Welcome to Tastee Diner

Tastee Diner-- Laurel, Maryland

I was told the restaurant was under new management and Michael (management) came by my booth to make sure I knew the new rules. As of Sunday, January 1st, there was no longer any smoking in the restaurant, but amenities were provided outside.

Thank you!

It's interesting to reflect on these cultural changes since Prince George's County used to be one of the largest tobacco growing areas of the world.

Tobacco Drying Barn

If you are down in the lower part of the county, you can still see tobacco drying barns out in the fields, and I remember being taken out of the city to witness a tobacco auction as a child. It was fascinating.

Auctioning Tobacco

I was sure the manager was going to launch into a diatribe with me about how this ban was going to affect his restaurant, since it's heavily populated with truckers and blue-collar workers, but instead he told me he was glad they had banned smoking as it's "an addiction, and if someone can't make it through a meal without having a cigarette, then they have serious problems." I told him my issue in restaurants was people talking on cell phones and how annoying it was to listen to someone prattling off during digestion. Apparently they haven't banned the use of walkie talkies in restaurants since I was sitting between booths of truckers, and I got to hear all about road diversions and shifting loads and other such fascinating matters.


I would have posted pictures of the food, but I was told the chef was very protective of his cole slaw recipe. Tina the waitress let me know that she thought it was too sweet, preferring a little more vinegar, but I was reassured that it was made fresh "twice a week." There was also a screaming match in the kitchen about a bowl of barbeque sauce being held on reserve for a special customer, so I guess these creative types can get quite touchy.


Directly across the street from the Tastee Diner is one of the last remnants of Western Civilization as we know it: The Little Tavern.

Harry F. Duncan founded the Little Tavern chain in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky, but in 1928 Harry and his wife Doris moved to Washington, D.C. where they established the first Little Tavern shop at 814 E Street, N.W. Using a Baltimore design group, the Duncan's came up with a design for a hamburger stand based upon traditional Tudor cottage architecture. In 1939, Washington had about 21 Little Tavern Shops with almost 50 located between the Baltimore and Washington corridor. Their motto was "Buy 'em by the bag." If you've never had one, I can tell you my running joke has been in calling them "little gray balls of death."

The Little Gray Ball of Death...and Coffee
Harry F. Duncan

There are three surviving Little Taverns. Two are in Baltimore, and this one shop in Laurel. If you study the picture below, you can see the word "hamburgers" in neon. A friend, when being told of this blog piece, told me an interesting bit of trivia regarding this particular building. The "hamburger" neon for this building is still using the original red glass for the neon, where they fed clear neon through colored glass, rather than the more contemporary method of coloring the gasses through clear glass tubing.

Since 1928. Wowza!

I hit the road to get back into D.C. and almost immediately had to come to a screeching stop. I had to blink. Could it be?

Route 1: A Great American Highway

The last of the Kenny Roger's Roasters in Washington??? I got out to poke around, knowing how The Playaz would love seeing Kenny on America's Number One Highway. Playaz Ball
Kenny once sang "Something's Burning," but it sure wasn't happening at Roasters. Sorry, Gentlemen Playaz.

Kenny's Is Klosed...And Being
Rennovated Into An El Pollo Loco

Once I was back in Washington on my home turf, I started running some errands before I went to see the film, Munich. Talk about irony:

Former Little Tavern, Now Paolo's
Wisconsin Avenue, Georgetown

Check out the little building to the right, on the corner. Does the shape look familiar? It should. It used to be a Little Tavern.

While I was out and about I passed the Georgetown Post Office, and it made me think of another type of auctioning that used to go on in Washington. This is a piece of Washington history you will never hear from the tour guides.

Post Office, 1215 31st Street, Georgetown

If you are in Georgetown, and you walk by this building, look down at it's base along the front and you will see what is revealed in the picture below. Do you see those black doors? Those doors lead to a cell that housed slaves being held for auction. Every time I pass the post office, I look at those doors in awe and shudder, thinking about a part of Washington's past I am sure it would just as soon forget.