DINER DIN

While I certainly appreciated Reichl’s mention of our diner, I wish she would have portrayed the diner “scene” more accurately.

The article implies that Richard Melman’s diner (Ed Debevic’s) is the leader and innovator in the field while everybody else just tags along. Melman opened his first diner in 1984, while our company and many others opened “new” diners long before that.

I also felt the comment about Edie’s Diner in Marina del Rey being a copy of Ed Debevic’s to be unfounded. While there’s very little that’s new under the sun when it comes to diners, the guys at Edie’s attempted to do something original and pulled it off tastefully, without mimicking Debevic’s “throw as much junk on the wall as you can” style.

Speaking of copy cats, Reichl also fails to mention the true offender, Johnny Rocket’s. They copied everything that wasn’t tied down from other area diners including our exterior design, interior decor (right down to the fabrics, wall coverings and counter designs), uniforms, signage, posters and even our unique way of cooking hamburgers.

Imitation may be the highest form of flattery; however, it’s disturbing when the plagiarist gets credit for something they’ve merely copied.

RALPH KOSMIDES

DOUG CAVANAUGH

Ruby’s, Balboa