White Manna

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White Manna of Hackensack's neon sign White Manna Hackensack, NJ neon sign.JPG
White Manna of Hackensack's neon sign

White Manna and White Mana are the names of two fast food diners in the U.S. state of New Jersey, named after manna, the Biblical food. The restaurants were ranked on America's best burgers list along with White Rose Hamburgers, another New Jersey burger joint. [1]

Contents

History

The establishment was originally opened in Jersey City by Louis Bridges, who purchased the original diner that was introduced in the 1939 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens. [2] Both buildings were manufactured by Paramount Dining Car Company of Oakland, New Jersey in 1939. [3] [4] Bridges owned five diners, all named "White Manna". It claims to be the home of the invention the Slider. [5]

Locations

Jersey City, New Jersey

The White Mana in Jersey City 1.9.18WhiteManaBurgerByLuigiNovi1.jpg
The White Mana in Jersey City

White Mana, located at 470 Tonnele Avenue ( 40°44′50″N74°3′42″W / 40.74722°N 74.06167°W / 40.74722; -74.06167 ) [2] in the Western Slope neighborhood of Jersey City was the first White Manna to open, and consists of the original 1939 World's Fair building. [6] When originally introduced, it was called the "diner of the future" and an "Introduction to Fast Food." [2] According to the present owner, Mario Costa Jr., the difference in spelling was the result of an error when the sign was serviced. [7] It is famous for its hamburgers and sells approximately 3,000 a week. [8]

Costa, who had worked at the diner through high school and college, bought the diner for $80,000 in 1979 from Bridges’ brother Webster. In 1996, Costa decided to sell the diner and lot for $500,000, but soon regretted the deal when he discovered that the new owners intended to replace it with a doughnut franchise. Costa attempted to back out of the deal, but the buyers refused to void the transaction. He filed a lawsuit to stop the sale, but lost. Eventually, the buyers agreed to sell it back to him at a higher cost than their purchase price. [8]

In 1997, the Jersey City Historic Preservation Committee declared the diner a local landmark.

Hackensack, New Jersey

The White Manna in Hackensack White Manna Diner of Hackensack.JPG
The White Manna in Hackensack

The Hackensack White Manna Diner is a fast food restaurant located at 358 River Street. ( 40°53′21″N74°2′19″W / 40.88917°N 74.03861°W / 40.88917; -74.03861 ) The diner has been at the site on the banks of the Hackensack River since 1946.

The White Manna Diner of Hackensack has also been featured on the Food Network television series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate , [9] as well as Man v. Food and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. It appeared in Dom Eats Local. [5]

Both the Hackensack White Manna and Jersey City White Mana were featured in the "American Food Feud" episode of the Food Network series Food Feuds . [10]

Related Research Articles

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A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diner</span> Type of casual restaurant

A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a combination of booths served by a waitstaff and a long sit-down counter with direct service, in the smallest simply by a cook. Many diners have extended hours, and some along highways and areas with significant shift work stay open for 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey Meadowlands</span> Region of New Jersey, United States

New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for a large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of New York City. During the 20th century, much of the Meadowlands area was urbanized, and it became known for being the site of large landfills and decades of environmental abuse. A variety of projects began in the late 20th century to restore and conserve the remaining ecological resources in the Meadowlands.

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White Castle is an American regional hamburger restaurant chain with about 345 locations across 13 states, with its greatest presence in the Midwest and New York metropolitan area. Founded on September 13, 1921, in Wichita, Kansas, White Castle has been generally credited as the world's first fast-food hamburger chain. It is known for its small, square hamburgers commonly referred to as "sliders". The burgers were initially priced at five cents until 1929 and remained at 10 cents until 1949. In the 1940s, White Castle periodically ran promotional ads in local newspapers which contained coupons offering five burgers for ten cents, takeout only. In 2014, Time named the White Castle slider "The Most Influential Burger of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slinger (dish)</span> American late-night dish

A slinger is an American Midwest diner specialty typically consisting of two eggs, hash browns, and a ground beef patty, all covered in chili con carne and generously topped with cheese and onions. The eggs can be any style. Hot sauce is usually served on the side. The slinger is considered to be a St. Louis late-night culinary original. It is described as "a hometown culinary invention: a mishmash of meat, hash-fried potatoes, eggs, and chili, sided with your choice of ham, sausage, bacon, hamburger patties, or an entire T-bone steak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Tower Hamburgers</span> Restaurant

White Tower Hamburgers was a fast food restaurant chain that was founded in 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With its similar white fortress-like buildings and menu it is considered to be an imitator of White Castle chain that was founded in 1921. The chain was successful and expanded to other cities, including Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New York City, Albany, Boston, Richmond, Virginia, and as far south as Sarasota, Florida. During the Great Depression, White Tower sold hamburgers for five cents. The whiteness of the restaurant was meant among other things to evoke the notion of hygienic conditions, and the chain had staff dressed as nurses, dubbed the "Towerettes," to help make this argument.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food photography</span> Photographs of food

Food photography is a still life photography genre used to create attractive still life photographs of food. As a specialization of commercial photography, its output is used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants. With the advent of social media, amateur food photography has gained popularity among restaurant diners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Heights, Jersey City</span> District of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

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A hamburger is a specific type of burger. It is a sandwich that consists of a cooked ground beef meat patty, placed between halves of a sliced bun. Hamburgers are often served with various condiments, such as dill relish (condiment), mayonnaise, and other options including lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slider (sandwich)</span> Small sandwich

A slider is an American term for a small sandwich, typically around 2 inches (5 cm) across, made with a bun or dinner roll. Sliders can be served as hors d'oeuvres, snacks, or entrées. They have become a popular game day appetizer in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the hamburger</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snuffy's Malt Shop</span> American restaurant chain in Minnesota

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White Rose Hamburgers is a diner franchise located in Highland Park, New Jersey with a second location in Roselle, New Jersey. The restaurant franchise was ranked on America's best burgers list along with White Manna, another New Jersey burger joint.

Paramount Dining Car Company was a manufacturer of stainless steel modular diners that was one of several such manufactures based in New Jersey. The company, founded by Arthur E. Sieber, was originally based in Haledon, New Jersey, and later relocated its facilities to Oakland, New Jersey. Sieber was granted patent 2,247,893 by the United States Patent Office on July 1, 1941, for his design of a portable diner that could be built in parts and assembled at a separate location.

References

  1. Genovese, Peter (2019-01-17). "White Rose System and White Manna make America's best burgers list". NJ.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Karnoutsos, Carmela. "White Mana Diner". Jersey City, Past and Present. New Jersey City University . Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  3. "North New Jersey Diner Directory". Diner City. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  4. Patrick, Kevin. North Jersey Diner Tour, Society for Commercial Archeology, September 26-27, 2015. Accessed January 29, 2024. "The White Manna in Hackensack, and the White Mana in Jersey City are the most famous little, white hamburger diners in the state.... They were both built by Paramount, which designed the circular Jersey City White Mana as a prototype displayed at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair..... The square Hackensack White Manna was the hamburger unit Paramount actually built, and sold after World War II to a new generation of grill men who brought fame to the little hamburgers un-officially but widely known as sliders."
  5. 1 2 "A 'Food Network' star is coming to NJ.com. Watch 'Dom Eats Local,' a new web series debuting next week". NJ.com. 2019-10-08. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  6. Wirstiuk, Laryssa (May 17, 2013). "Neighborhood Spotlight: Jersey City's Western Slope". Jersey City Independent. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
  7. "Cheap Eats". New Jersey Monthly. December 21, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  8. 1 2 Stewart, Barbara (February 23, 1997). "Burger, Burger, Burger: How a Fast Food Landmark Almost Vanished - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  9. Best Thing I Ever Ate: With My Hands
  10. Food Feuds: American Food Feud