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Free to Use and Reuse: Diners, Drive-Ins and Restaurants

This selection of rights-free pictures highlights architecture, signage, and people at diners, drive-ins and restaurants--one in each state and the District of Columbia. All pictures are from the Prints & Photographs Division unless otherwise credited. Browse more content that is free to use and reuse

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  Restaurant cook. Mogollon, New Mexico. Photo by Russell Lee, 1940.

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  Restaurant worker Gladys Prior arranges menu board, Paterson, New Jersey. Photo by Martha Cooper, 1994. American Folklife Center.

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  Two Girls Waffle House, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1910.

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  K & J Dairy, 11600 Livernois, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by John Margolies,1986.

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  Restaurant sidewalk counter, New York City, New York. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, 1953.

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  Nan Denton's Drive-in sign, Knoxville, Tennessee. With curb service. Photo by John Margolies, 1979.

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  Twistee Treat Ice Cream Stand, Saint Joseph, Missouri. Photo by John Margolies,1996.

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  Zorba's Greek restaurant, Missoula, Montana. Photo by Carl Fleischhauer, 1979. American Folklife Center.

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  Mel's, a classic American diner, in Grandy, North Carolina. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

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  The Parkette, a nostalgic, 1950s-era drive-in restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.

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  Coffee Pot Restaurant, Lexington, Virginia. Photo by John Margolies, 1982.

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  Washington Street Diner, downtown Athens, Alabama. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2010.

• Bailey's Dairy Treat Stand, built in 1952 as Butchie's Drive-In, Hot Springs, Arkansas. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.

• Neon-rich night time view of the Snow Cap diner, near Seligman, Arizona. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016.

• Chef in North Beach Italian restaurant. San Francisco, California. Photo by John Collier, 1941.

• Interior of the Sushi Rama Japanese restaurant in Denver, Colorado, whose modernism is not limited to its decor. Meals are served on a conveyor belt. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016.

• Peter Pan Diner, Danbury, Connecticut. Photo by John Margolies, 1978.

• William Penn Diner on Route 40, Delaware. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1939.

• Elder Michaux, Happy News Cafe, 1727 7th St., Washington, DC. Photo by Harris & Ewing, about 1937.

• Colorful art on a restaurant wall in the historic Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.

• Customer line at the Varsity Grill, Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

• U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Yard Restaurant, Seventh Street at Avenue D, Pearl City, Honolulu County, Hawaii. Photo by David Franzen, 2001.

• Bang's Drive-In, Route 34, Chariton, Iowa. Photo by John Margolies,1980.

• Tip Top Drive In, Lewiston, Idaho. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2005.

• The Mill, once a classic roadhouse diner in Lincoln, Illinois. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019.

• Truck driver in diner. Clinton, Indiana. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1940.

• This diner in Galena, Kansas, is called the Sweet Creek Diner and Bakery on Route 66. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2021.

• Ko-Ko-Mo, Dine In Your Car sign, Routes 79 & 80, Bossier City, Louisiana. Photo by John Margolies, 1979.

• Southeast Asian Restaurant and Market, Lowell, Massachusetts. Photo by John Lueders-Booth, 1987. American Folklife Center.

• Bert's 50's Diner in rural Mechanicsville, Maryland. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

• Charlie's Diner sign, Route 11, Leeds, Maine. Photo by John Margolies, 1984.

• The Frostop root beer mug advertising sign outside "The Drive In" restaurant in Taylors Falls, Minnesota. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019.

• Diners at Abe's Bar B-Q restaurant in Clarksdale, a prominent home to old-time blues music in the Mississippi (River) Delta region. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016.

• Continental Family Restaurant sign, Routes 5 & 281, Jamestown, North Dakota. Photo by John Margolies, 1987.

• Monowi Tavern, Intersection of Broad Street and Grant Street (State Highway 12), Monowi, Nebraska. Architectural drawing, 2017.

• Jade Island Chinese Restaurant, Meredith, New Hampshire. Photo by John Margolies, 1984.

• Old Nevada abandoned restaurant. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, approximately 1995.

• Hot coffee for steel workers at the company restaurant, Youngstown Ohio. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer, 1941.

• The venerable Meltdown Diner, where varieties of toasted-cheese sandwiches were the specialty along historic U.S. Route 66, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.

• Flight G7 Restaurant, McMinnville, Oregon. Photo by John Margolies, 1987.

• Melrose Diner, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, approximately 1995.

• Modern diner, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, approximately 1995.

• The Hot Dog Corner restaurant in Seneca, South Carolina. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

• Chris's Diner, Center Street, Vermillion, South Dakota. Photo by John Margolies, 1987.

• Tourists at a barbecue place in Luckenbach, Texas. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2014.

• Broiler Cafe, N. Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo by John Margolies, 1980.

• Ross Diner, Quechee, Vermont. Photo by John Margolies, 1995.

• A house trailer becomes a diner of sorts, Wenatchee National Forest, Washington State. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2018.

• Red Wagon Restaurant, Route 12, Lake Delton, Wisconsin. Photo by John Margolies, 1988.

• The Great Western Espresso Coffee Co., Route 20, Cody, Wyoming. Photo by John Margolies, 2004.

• Kütte Swiss Restaurant in tiny Helvetia, once a Swiss colony in Randolph County, West Virginia. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2015.