Rock Island Diner

Turquoise white and yellow text on a yellow and turquoise bakckground with a checkerboard outer edge

Rock Island Diner was a UK-based 1950s-themed restaurant chain. Its first location opened in London in the mid 1980s. Stylistically, the restaurant aimed to emulate American diners of the 1950s. The menu featured classic American diner food like hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes. Servers at Rock Island Diner were called “Dinettes”. The Dinettes were a major draw to the restaurant, and would perform choreographed dances on the counters, often to 1950s rock and roll songs. Rock Island Diner was an integral part of a trend in the 1980s and early 1990s of rock-themed restaurants in London. The restaurant was located adjacent to Madame Tussaud’s Rock Circus, a rock and roll-themed wax museum. Due to the success of the London outpost, Rock Island Diner opened at least additional locations in the mid-1990s, however all Rock Island Diner locations were closed by the early 2000s.