White Manna

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White Manna is the shared name of two diners in northern New Jersey. Both originate from the time of the 1939 New York World's Fair and are both in operation today.

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[edit] Jersey City, New Jersey

The Jersey City White Mana Diner is a fast food restaurant in Jersey City. It was built as the "diner of the future" for the 1939 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, and touted as an "Introduction to Fast Food." The Tonnelle Avenue landmark, as well as the White Manna Diner in Hackensack, was manufactured by Paramount Diners of Oakland, New Jersey, in the late-1930s.

According to the web site "Diner Facts," "Paramount diners featured a distinctive curved roofline, and rounded glass block corners." The exterior of the small, front-rounded diner was originally white enamel with orange/red trim rather than stainless steel. The interior features a distinctive geometric-patterned tiled floor, circular steel counter in white with blue trim and chrome bar stools: "designed so the cook/server wouldn't have to walk more than three steps in any direction to cook a burger, draw a soda and serve a customer."

Louis Bridges owned five "White Manna" Diners in New Jersey. He purchased the diner of World Fair claim and brought it to Jersey City. It opened on June 2, 1946, offering ten-cent hamburgers, The second "n" in the name was later dropped from the Jersey City location in the 1980s. "Our sign originally had two Ns," says Costa. "Coca Cola used to service our signs, and one day they brought it back with one N. They misspelled it, and it stuck." Carhop service to five a.m., begun in the 1950s, was discontinued in the 1980s. The White Mana Diner, however, still remains open 24 hours a day, reportedly selling 3,000 hamburgers a week. The exterior of the diner was altered with brick construction when a dining room was added to the circular grill area.

The current owner Mario Costa, born in Portugal, bought the diner for $80,000 in 1979 from Bridges’ brother Webster. [1] He had rented the diner to Costa but was going to raze the building. Costa worked at the diner sweeping the floor and cooking burgers to put himself through high school and Jersey State College (now New Jersey City University). In 1996, Costa decided to sell the diner and lot for $500,000, but when he found that the buyer intended to demolish the diner for a fast food franchise, he went to court and negotiated for the repurchase of the business at additional cost. [2]

The Jersey City Historic Preservation Committee declared the diner a local landmark in 1997, which helps secure the preservation of the familiar building and the signage "HAMBURGERS SINCE 1946" and "CURB SERVICE."

It is rumored that the reason the burgers taste so amazing is that the grill has not been cleaned since the opening. The aged grease adds to the taste, with infamous mobsters, politicians, athletes, and Hollywood stars eating off that grill, the taste of the burger is unique.

[edit] Hackensack, New Jersey

White Manna of Hackensack's neon sign
White Manna of Hackensack's neon sign
White Manna of Hackensack
White Manna of Hackensack

The Hackensack White Manna Diner is a fast food restaurant located at 358 River Street. The diner has been at the site since 1946, and it is on the banks of the Hackensack River.

The White Manna Diner of Hackensack has also been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Burger, Burger, Burger: How a Fast Food Landmark Almost Vanished - New York Times
  2. ^ White Mana Diner

[edit] External links