Photo of the Week: December Deluxe

The Deluxe Diner sits at the intersection of Devon and Clark, at the cross roads of Edgewater, Rogers Park, and points west in Chicago.  It's not a restaurant that I visit frequently, but it does seem to be one that I find my way to once a year or so.  The first time would have been about 1996 or 1997.  Back then it was called "Stacks and Steaks" and I can attest that the stacks were large though I never tried the steaks.  At the time, I had a friend who went to school at Northwestern and our options for a late night cup of coffee were limited to the IHOP at Howard and Western, or the Deluxe.  There's not a whole lot open in Evanston past midnight.

I have two distinct memories from the Stacks and Steaks days: 1) They had curtains between the booths, and 2) there always seemed to be someone in there who was talking to him or herself.  Once, there were two people talking to themselves simultaneously, as though they were carrying on a conversation with each other but from opposite ends of the restaurant.  That was an odd night.

Today the curtains are gone, and the crowd isn't as "interesting" as it once was (though at 2am anything's possible), but The Deluxe Diner still manages to satisfy my desire for greasy diner food on rare occasions.  For a couple of years they tried closing at midnight (which was stupid), but recently they've come under new management and it's open 24 hours again.  I wandered over there last week during a snowstorm, the first of the year, and captured this photo.

Photo Details: Canon S95 at 28mm, 1/15sec at f2 and ISO500.  The "DINER" lettering is actually red-- I used a red filter (in post processing) to make it appear white.  I thought the image could use a little more pop.