ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
A project is under way in Liberal to move the historic Bob’s Diner to the grounds of the Coronado Museum, and one of the people particularly excited about the project is former owner Dianna Caldwell.
“I know it was in 2020 when the diner got moved into the Mid-America Air Museum, and I had donated it after I’d talked to Ron Warren and asked if the City of Liberal would be interested in it,” Caldwell said. “There was a commission meeting when they agreed to take it, and then everything just went from there. The diner was originally built in 1957 and owned by Bob Glassey from 1957 to 1961 and then Carl Rich from 1961 to 1991, which is when I bought it and took it over. We always worked to make the diner a place with good food and a place where people felt comfortable and almost like they were eating at home. The diner only had 10 seats, and we had several customers who didn’t mind waiting half an hour or so to get a seat, because that’s how much they enjoyed the restaurant. We always had good, homemade food, and everyone just felt good when eating there. The diner was a place where everyone visited with each other, and complete strangers would become friends in the span of a meal. I had a stroke and ultimately had to give the business up, but instead of selling it, I thought ‘Why not just donate it?’ I talked to my daughter, Susie, about my idea, and then she got in touch with the City of Liberal leadership, and after they asked how much I wanted for the diner, I said ‘I don’t want to sell it, I want to donate it, I want you guys to have it.’”
Caldwell said she is glad the diner continues to get recognized and talked about years after being closed.
“I think it’s absolutely wonderful the diner’s going to the Coronado Museum. I think it’s a great idea to move it by Dorothy’s House and to another spot that’s got historical significance, I can’t think of a better spot for it to go so it can get more visibility and visitors,” Caldwell said. “I know they’re trying to raise $15,000, and I would encourage everyone to make some sort of contribution. I know there are still a lot of people there in Liberal who remember eating in there and would be more than happy to donate because they loved it so much when it was around. It was somewhere where everyone felt at home, and I can’t tell you how many people brought in their children and then grandchildren to eat in there.”
Caldwell also talked about her time working in the diner.
“When Bob’s Diner originally opened, hamburgers were $0.25 and dinners were $0.50, which is unheard of today,” Caldwell said with a chuckle. “I absolutely loved working there. I worked under Carl Rich for a long time before he sold the diner to me, and we were able to not only keep our old customers but also bring in a bunch of new customers because it was just a place where everyone could feel comfortable. My children also worked there with me, and we came up with some really good sandwich names, and my grandchildren also came on board. And something else that was really neat was how we also had a lot of people come in and eat from out of town because they’d heard about us from a friend or relative who lived in Liberal, and they decided to check it out. I remember there was one day we were working on the lot, and the customers actually couldn’t come in, so they were waiting in the alley for their orders to be taken, and I told Bob Carlile ‘You’ll have to be the carhop today’ because it was so busy at that time and I couldn’t do everything, and that was fun to watch. There were a few times when snowstorms came through, and we had a few guys take meals to the customers who couldn’t actually come in that day since the roads weren’t good. Also, whenever we know someone was having a birthday, we’d have a cake for them and we always remembered what they liked. There were also a bunch of pranks played throughout my time there, and we’d always have a laugh afterward.”
Caldwell added it will be great seeing the diner being passed down to future generations.
“Many of the customers I used to serve, they brought their children and grandchildren in to eat, and I think it would be great for people in the community to go pay a visit to,” Caldwell said. “The idea of good, old-fashioned, homemade cooking in restaurants has fallen more by the wayside in modern times, in my opinion, and I think it’d be a great piece of history for people to visit. I think it’ll bring back a lot of wonderful memories for a lot of people, and there aren’t very many people who haven’t been in there, so it’s all about passing it down to the next generation. I think it’ll be wonderful to have Bob’s Diner move out to the Coronado Museum. It’s a great piece of Liberal history and I think especially the children will get a kick out of it because I don’t think too many of them will have actually been in a real diner.”
