Twenty-three years ago this month, Omar Martinez got an idea. It was early November, Thanksgiving was right around the corner, and several of his colleagues at the Tysons Corner location of Silver Diner did not have plans for the holiday. Like him, many were immigrants—far from home and family, not to mention uninitiated into the American tradition of gathering around a roast turkey with cranberry sauce. Instead of a celebration of gratitude, for them, it was a day of loneliness. Which got Martinez thinking.

In the late 1990s, Mike Koch and his partner, Pablo, were looking for a change of scenery. For decades, they’d been living and working in Washington, D.C. But as friends began exiting the rat race to beaches out east, they headed in the other direction—to the rural rolling countryside of Garrett County, where they bought an old farm. “It’s a little piece of heaven ... this beautiful micro-climate. The terrain is mountainous, and the soil is rocky. Which makes it perfect for goat farming.”

In the early 2000s, Bonnie Moore was not impressed with her son’s school lunch. “There were more than 20 ingredients in the hamburger alone, and that didn't count the bun or condiments,” says the former chef sous chef at the renowned Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. “From an ethical perspective, that bothered me. Nutrition security should be a human right.” And so, she made it her mission to help local school districts focus on healthier food.

Around 5 a.m. every morning, French-born baker Didier Rosada embarks on an old-world practice that he’s been perfecting for most of his lifetime. With little more than flour water, yeast, and salt, he rallies his team to start baking at Uptown Bakers in Hyattsville, Maryland. “And then the magic happens,” says Rosada, as throughout the day, simple dough transforms into a sea of fresh bread. Before the next sunrise, the first delivery trucks head out the door, with beautiful baguettes, boules, and buns arriving on the doorsteps of restaurants like Silver Diner.

Seven days a week before 8 a.m., a box of bread gets delivered through the back doors and into the busy kitchens of Silver Diner. It’s an artisanal bounty—buns, ciabattas, sourdough, wheat, rye—baked that very morning by French-born baker Didier Rosada, of Uptown Bakers in nearby Hyattsville, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C. And for more than a decade, his old-world, just-out-of-the-oven loaves have made all the difference for local chefs like Ype Von Hengst, now part of his ongoing commitment of providing his guests with the best food possible.

Three words we live by: must love mom. From the early inspiration for our founders, whose mothers sparked a lifelong love of sharing food, to the many mother-daughter teammates who work at our various locations (and sons, too!), to the many families who choose our tables and booths for everyday and extra-special meals together, Mother’s Day is every day at Silver Diner.

Fresh, quality, comforting food—that’s what “home” means to Chef Ype Von Hengst, and it’s an ethos that he’s carried with him from a small-town childhood in the Netherlands, where he first learned his way around a kitchen with the help of his mother, all the way through an illustrious culinary career, including in his creative menus at Silver Diner today. “When I used to cook as a kid, I learned to not just love making food,” he says, “but also the joys of hospitality and service—putting a great meal around the table and having time with my friends and family.”

What makes a diner a diner? Well, if you want to know the answer, and everything else there is to know about America’s most iconic kind of restaurant, there is one man to call, and really one man only. And that’s why nearly 40 years ago, our founders dialed up Richard Gutman, the Boston-based architect, best-selling author, and bona fide diner historian who has become known as the “Diner Man,” over his decades-long career, which included helping us launch the very first Silver Diner.

In the middle of winter, Chef Ype Von Hengst is dreaming about warmer weather. That’s when spring menu development begins at Silver Diner, all in hopes of finding a few new stand-out dishes to add to the regular rotation, and help the restaurant remain committed to constantly evolving for the next generation.

When owners Bob Giaimo and Ype Von Hengst wanted to open a restaurant, they went on a road trip. But not just any old road trip. Instead, in the 1980s, they took planes, trains, and automobiles to visit 500 diners across the United States to understand just what makes this kind of iconic dining establishment so special.