A Little Piece of the Recent Past

“Try the blue dish special,” said the nice man who seated us, struggling to be heard over Buddy Holly earnestly singing about his Peggy Sue. He led us to one of the pearly pink booths, furrowed his brow, looked at the menu, corrected himself. “I guess it’s blue plate, isn’t it?” he said.

The Rose City Diner, 45 S. Fair Oaks, Pasadena, (818) 793-8282, may not have the lingo down pat, but the look is practically perfect. If the place weren’t quite so bright and clean and shiny you could easily believe that it had been here since the ‘50s, cheerfully serving malts and hamburgers and pie a la mode.

Actually, this little piece of the past has been here less than two weeks. And when it comes time to eat, you know it. The service is very friendly but fairly slow, the kitchen has trouble distinguishing between a rare burger and a well-done one, and it hasn’t quite figured out how to keep the batter on the fine fat onion rings. Still, the place has a happy air, the music is loud, the portions are large and the prices are low.