Real-Deal Diner: The G-B Grill in Alton, Illinois
The G-B Grill (1858 East Broadway, Alton, Illinois; 618-465-9896) sports a big plate-glass window that looks out onto the brownfield that once was Alton's booming industrial corridor. The diner has been run by the same family since 1910, and current patriarch Jim Boukas has been looking out that window for 45 years now.
Suzy Rust Don't believe everything you read: The G-B Grill only serves breakfast and lunch; it closes at 3 p.m.
What he has seen amounts to a time-lapse chronicle of America's decline as a manufacturing behemoth.
In 1966, when Boukas came over from Greece to help out at his uncle's eatery, workers from the steel mill, the lead smelter, the box factory and the glassworks lined up on the sidewalk at noon, waiting to grab a seat or a stool and a plateful of no-frills fare. 
Suzy Rust Jim Boukas has been looking out this window for 45 years, watching the decline and fall of the heartland's manufacturing economy.
The union jobs are long gone, casualties of a double-barreled blow delivered by our nation's Environmental Protection Agency and an EPA-less China. But the diner's clientele remains employed -- mostly in the public-service sector, as police officers or board of education members.
Location Info
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
