Lakewood, Colorado: Davies Chuck Wagon Diner

It's a bit like stepping back in time when you enter Davies Chuck Wagon Diner and sit down for an old-fashioned lunch at the counter. Some of the regular customers have been there so many times, they look like they are part of furnishings. It's somewhat cramped in there; the kitchen is just a couple feet in front of you and the door just over your shoulder.

Not sure why they put a fiberglass horse above the front door, but it just wouldn't be same without the palomino greeting you for your mid-day meal.

This diner has been a chrome landmark on Colfax for decades, and is listed on the National Historic Register. You will know it by its giant 36-foot-tall neon cowboy chef sign and plastic full-size Palomino horse above the front entrance. It is a 46-ton stainless steel time capsule of a diner complete with jukebox booth selectors that was manufactured in New Jersey and shipped in two halves out here in 1957. Original owner Lyman Davies was an avid lover of horses and arranged his diner in western style. In the 1990s this place caused an uproar when the city government attempted to do away with its cowboy and horse under a new restrictive sign code, but the diner won, ultimately leading Lakewood to a complete reversal of heart to encourage even more such signage along the Colfax strip.