There is something iconic about diners; they dot the American landscape and play an important role in cinema and television. They’re a comfortable, familiar place to run into friends, family and even foes. Here, we explore some classic “diner moments” that have appeared on screen.

Coffee & Cigarettes

Jim Jarmush created Coffee & Cigarettes (composed of 11 short films)  solely under the premise of drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. In each vignette, a group of people are gathered over a cup of coffee and cigarettes, pondering life – one of which stars Iggy Pop and Tom Waits. Warning: you may need a cup-of-coffee-diner-sesh after watching!

Heat

One of the most iconic scenes in Heat is when Al Pacino sits down with Robert DeNiro at a diner, and the two stars engage in intimate conversation. Fun fact: It’s actually the first time the two actors ever appeared on screen together. Also, the scene was completely improvised!

The Sopranos

The very last scene of The Sopranos season finale (possibly the greatest scene of television ever filmed) takes place at a diner. The family sits down, Tony puts on Don’t Stop Believing, then the scene cuts to black. It’s probably the most intense ending of all time, but you’ll have to watch the entire series to understand why.

True Romance

Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott, this epic film is known for its various scenes of riveting dialogue – like when Christian Slater takes Patricia Arquette out to a diner for a piece of pie after a triple feature. Slater “always likes to get pie after a movie.” And we just might strongly approve of this tradition..

The Big Lebowski
Who doesn’t love The Big Lebowski? It’s one of the marvelous Coen brothers films, loosely based on Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. One of the greatest ‘diner scenes’ is when Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are discussing the kidnapping and Goodman alludes to the fact he can get “The Dude” a toe.                * White Russians not included *