What was once a set built for Barry Levinson’s 1982 flick Diner is now the centerpiece of a new food truck park from The Gathering Project.
The Hollywood Diner, which has been a revolving door for prospective owners since its debut in the film, will now serve as base camp for The Gathering, providing interior space for its offices and exterior grounds for hosting its signature food truck rallies. The park kicked off its run with a soft opening last weekend, and is slated to begin regular weekday lunch service on Monday, Oct. 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Gathering Project’s founder Damian Bohager says that the idea of opening a park is something that he and his team have been mulling over for months, drawing inspiration from initiatives he saw in other cities while driving cross-country last year.
“One of the real eye-openers was how big food truck lots are,” Bohager says. “We thought that needed to happen in Baltimore.”
Dubbed The Hollywood Diner Backlot Food Truck Park, the new concept will highlight a rotating lineup of several trucks parked outside each day, and allow guests to sit and enjoy the eats inside the ’50s-inspired restaurant—which is still decked out with its vintage booths and an old-school soda fountain counter.
“We’re trying to honor the historical significance and not change it like previous owners have,” says Jen Berg, The Gathering Project’s creative director. “We want to highlight the retro legacy, as well as promote the newness of the food trucks. It’s a perfect connection to the history of how food trucks really started to develop in the ’50s and ’60s.”
Additionally, organizers say that a deal with OrderUp is in the works, which will give diners the option of having meals from the featured trucks delivered to them.
In keeping with the organization’s Charm City roots, events at the new lot will emphasize local musicians (a performance by blues musician Quinton Randall is set for this weekend), craft beer from area breweries, and photography by local artists showcased inside the diner itself.
“We’re local and small, it’s not like some big corporation is coming in and putting in a Starbucks,” Berg says. “We’re preserving a part of Baltimore’s history, that’s the best part.”
On the corner of Holliday and Saratoga streets, the iconic diner space has been neglected for a long time, and now is being used by its Gathering owners as just a setting to enjoy your food-truck meal (which will be especially nice in the colder months).
But soon, a Kickstarter campaign will be launched to help cover the costs of restoring it back to its former glory.
“Being able to eat together as a community is one of the most positive things that you can do for an area that hasn’t been given some TLC in a long time,” Berg says. “It’s a recipe for changing the vibe and creating a real sense of home.”
Looking ahead, Bohager says that he has a lot of ideas about how to utilize the space as temperatures rise in the spring and summer, listing possibilities such as hosting dinner service, karaoke nights, and even outdoor film screenings. Fittingly, he notes that once the screenings begin, Levinson’s Diner will be a top priority.
“Of course we’re going to do that,” he says. “Already, I’ve seen how excited people get when they come into the diner and say, ‘That’s the booth where Kevin Bacon and all of them sat!”