The Modern Diner is known for both its diner classics and its variety of ever-changing breakfast specials. The Pawtucket restaurant was chosen to be the first diner in the nation to be accepted on the National Register for Historic Places. Customized and factory-built, it is a Sterling Streamliner, a line of “modernistic” diners manufactured in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.

Diners originated in Providence with horse-drawn canteen created by Walter Scott in 1872 to sell pies, coffee and light food to people who worked at night when restaurants were closed. Diners are an All American invention. They are the precursors of the all-pervasive fast-food outlets today. Simple inexpensive fare and quick service have always been their hallmarks.