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

The 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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburger</span> Food consisting of a beef patty between rounded buns

A hamburger or simply burger is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis; 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haledon, New Jersey</span> Borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States

Haledon is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,052, an increase of 734 (+8.8%) from the 2010 census count of 8,318, which in turn reflected an increase of 66 (+0.8%) from the 8,252 counted in the 2000 census.

<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 foods, 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">White Castle (restaurant)</span> American fast food restaurant chain

White Castle is an American regional hamburger restaurant chain with 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, it has been generally credited as the world's first fast-food hamburger chain. It is known for its small, square hamburgers 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">Louis' Lunch</span> Restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut which allegedly invented the hamburger

Louis' Lunch is a fast food hamburger restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut which claims to be the first fast food restaurant to serve hamburgers and the oldest continuously operated hamburger restaurant in the United States. It was opened as a small lunch wagon in 1895 and was one of the first places in the U.S. to serve steak sandwiches. According to Louis' Lunch, the hamburger was created in 1900 in response to a customer's hurried request for a lunch to go. In 1917, Louis moved the business into a square-shaped brick building that had once been a tannery.

<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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wetson's</span> American fast food chain

Wetson's was an American fast food hamburger chain that existed from 1959 to 1975. At its peak, Wetson's had approximately 70 locations in the greater New York metropolitan area.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackensack Bus Terminal</span> Regional bus station in New Jersey

Hackensack Bus Terminal, also called the Hackensack Bus Transfer, is a regional bus station in downtown Hackensack, New Jersey, owned and operated by New Jersey Transit. The bus station was built in the 1970s and was extensively renovated in 2007 while starting in 2006. An outdoor central island boarding–disembarking area surrounds an indoor waiting room and ticketing facilities. Service from nearby bus stops travels to locations in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties as well as the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Station in New York City. In October 2018, the Hackensack Transit Connector, servicing the bus terminal, the city's train stations, and the County Courthouse Complex, was initiated.

<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>

Evidence suggests that either the United States or Germany was the first country where two slices of bread and a ground beef patty were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold. There is some controversy over the origin of the hamburger because its two basic ingredients, bread and beef, had been prepared and consumed separately for many years in both countries before their combination. Shortly after its creation, the hamburger quickly included all of its currently typically characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus Drive-In</span> Fast food restaurant in New Jersey, US

The Circus Drive-In was a fast food hamburger drive-in restaurant located in Wall Township, New Jersey, that opened in 1954, and operated until 2017. Cars originally pulled up and parked around the round building, which remained until its closing as an open-air indoor seating area. There was also a partially covered drive-in aisle where cars could pull up to experience classic drive-in service.

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

Snuffy's Malt Shop is an American restaurant chain with four locations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. The restaurants have a '50s hamburger malt shop theme, complete with checkered red and white tablecloths and red and white striped awnings.

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