Experience What It Was Like To Dine At The 1939 World's Fair At This Old-School Diner In Oakley, Utah

Diners have been a classic part of the American restaurant landscape for over 100 years. And while there are still great hole-in-the-wall diners in America, such as New Orleans' Clover Grill, relatively few are in the classic railcar-style buildings that defined diners for a generation. But one pristine example in Utah has been in business for nearly a century — even though it began its life as a World's Fair exhibit.

The 1939 World's Fair in Queens, New York, featured prefab diners near the fair's entrance, including Dining Car #1107, built by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Diners of this era visually resembled train cars and were thus known as "dining cars," which eventually shortened to just "diner." Little is known about the diner's tenure at the World's Fair, but it may have been part of an exhibit with a similar surviving diner now known as White Mana, which the fair advertised – per New Jersey City University — as the "diner of the future" and an "introduction to fast food."

Today, this fair exhibit operates as a restaurant in Oakley, Utah, serving diner staples like burgers, pies, and milkshakes, as well as all-day breakfast options. The story of how it got there is a complicated one, involving generations of owners, multiple moves, and law enforcement. But the result is a historic treasure — one of just four pre-World War II Streamlined Moderne diners still in business.

When the 1939 World's Fair closed, O'Mahony Dining Car #1107 was sold to a Massachusetts businessman named Al McDermott. He moved the diner to Fall River, Massachusetts, where it operated for 14 years as McDermott's Diner — one of many that he owned. In 1953, McDermott replaced the original with a newer building, a structure that is still in operation as the historic Al Mac's Diner-Restaurant.

McDermott sold O'Mahony Dining Car #1107 to Tommy Borodemos, a Greek immigrant and World War I veteran, who moved it under police escort to Middletown, Rhode Island — not far from the origin point of American diners in Providence. Borodemos opened for business as Tommy's Deluxe Diner in 1953. He fed Middletown for years before passing the business down to his children, who continued service for decades.

After 53 years, Tommy's Deluxe Diner closed in 2006, and ownership sold the property to Tim Horton's. A year later, the building itself was sold to a buyer named Keith Walker, who was particularly interested in its rich historic character. But this time, the frequently-moved diner would take a longer journey than ever before.

After its 2007 sale, O'Mahony Dining Car #1107 was destined for the mountains of Utah. Unfortunately for Keith Walker, the 42-ton restaurant was too heavy for interstate highways to handle. So, he took the nearly 2,500-mile journey using back roads and a flatbed truck, accompanied by a police escort to protect the unusually large load from other drivers (and vice versa).

In 2008, after extensive historic renovations, the diner reopened in near-original condition as the Road Island Diner in Oakley, Utah. The unusually spelled name was an homage to both the diner's longtime home of Rhode Island and its long road trip to Utah. That restoration work paid off, and the diner was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Despite this preservation success, Road Island Diner closed in 2021 amid staffing issues.

Luckily, the diner soon found new ownership committed to its historic appeal, and in 2023, it reopened as Oakley Diner. Owner Steve Smith remodeled the building, which included additional restoration work, such as relocating the bar stools and the main counter back to their original locations. Both foodies and historical preservationists can appreciate that Oakley Diner kept O'Mahony #1107 alive as one of the few remaining classic diners that can take you back in time.