The titular diner is the space where all the guys gather to reflect on their romantic failures, their hopes for the future, their fears, and just generally shoot the shit.
Diner follows a group of twentysomething buddies in 1959 as they prepare for the wedding of their pal, Eddie (Steve Guttenberg).
All of them are searching for something — Boogie (Mickey Rourke) for a way out; Shrevie (Daniel Stern) for a connection with his wife; Billy (Timothy Daly) to marry the best friend he loves; Fenwick (Kevin Bacon) for someone to see the intelligence underneath the prankster; and Modell (Paul Reiser) for a sandwich or a ride. But the only thing they can count on are their nights in the diner and the strength of their bonds.
That meant the first order of business was to find the right setting for this central meeting spot.
He first scouted real diners in the Baltimore area, but they were all outside of the production budget. Then, he found the perfect space for the classic '50s eatery in the Baltimore suburb of Fell's Point while driving around, a vacant lot on the harbor, the Domino Sugar sign in the distance.
He then visited a "diner graveyard" in New Jersey. "We were lucky enough to take [our diner] from that diner graveyard and have it shipped to Baltimore," he recalls. "We put it on the piece of land that I saw, and that's how it happened."
After filming wrapped, the diner was returned to its junkyard, but later the city of Baltimore brought it to a new location and transformed it into a vocational training school for those interested in working in the restaurant business.
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