Although Americans enjoy dining on many different styles of cuisine, the consummate American restaurant is the diner. Diners, much like America itself, are a melting pot of many different meal options. Meeting the demand for American restaurants to be open as many hours as possible for their patrons, diners often are open from early in the morning until late at night. Many diners are even open 24 hours a day, for maximum convenience.

Diners first became popular in the 1950s, when they began to pop up along major highways. They offered basic food for all meals, including pancakes and waffles for breakfast and hamburgers, soup, and even steak for dinner. These chrome covered highway diners are not only still around today, but many are treasured landmarks that travelers make a point to stop by and eat at.

In addition to waffles and pancakes, diners also offer other favorite American breakfast foods. Eggs are typically available in nearly every variety, from scrambled to fried to over easy. Omelets are also wildly popular with diner patrons, and many diners have an entire page of their menu devoted to different omelet options. Most diners offer breakfast foods all day, while other American restaurants either do not serve breakfast, or only serve it for a few hours in the morning. Some restaurants will limit their breakfast service to weekend mornings, while diners keep the same menu seven days a week.

Diners are known for their wide variety of entrees. One of the reasons why they are the most popular American restaurants is that a family or group of friends can all eat together, but enjoy very different meals! Many diners offer fish and seafood specials, such as flounder, sea scallops, and even shrimp scampi. While hamburgers are staples, many diners offer specials, such as veal parmigiana, chop steak, and chef salads.

Desserts also play a central role for many of these American restaurants. Most diners have glass cases to display their luscious cakes, eclairs, and brownies to their best advantage. Fitting the stereotype of large American appetites, diners are known for large portions, and dessert is no exception. Many cakes, available for purchase to take home for parties, are twice or even three times the size that a home made one would be.