29 Diner
10536 Lee HighwayFairfax, VA 22030
703-937-4731
A piece of the past jammed into 21st century Fairfax, the 29 Diner is an official historical landmark and a great place to eat, especially late at night. The Diner is little more than a glorified trailer on the side of Route 29; they’re open twenty-four hours a day most days of the year. The booths are small, the tabletops are cracked, the lighting is something akin to a prison hallway, the jukeboxes play almost nothing but country music, and all of that simply serves to bolster the “greasy spoon” feel of the place.
29 Diner’s menu offers a fairly standard variety of diner foods: burgers, fries, breakfast foods, shakes, etc. Many of the best choices cost only a few dollars. The burgers, a mere three dollars each, only come well done but are also well prepared. Similarly, the “two eggs any style” comes with four pieces of toast and at $2.75 is a great bargain. The most expensive items on the menu are several steak options between twelve and sixteen dollars; besides those, nothing costs more than ten dollars, making the Diner a terrific place for anyone looking for a decent meal on relatively little money.
While most of the patrons and staff are genial, keep in mind that, like any place at strange hours, the Diner can sometimes attract “interesting” characters. Nothing particularly unsavory has ever occurred there, to my knowledge, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to be there alone after about one or two AM. Another thing to keep in mind is that the Diner can get somewhat crowded in the wee hours on Friday and Saturday nights, most often with crowds wandering over from nearby bars letting out. If you’re not a fan of potentially raucous inebriated individuals, you might want to consider going earlier in the evening or on a different night.
-D.S. (08/05/08)