When it comes to diners, New Jersey is in a class by itself.
The website Eater once proclaimed it “the Diner Capital of the Country.” That most Jersey of television shows, “The Sopranos,” set its enigmatic finale in a diner, with Tony and the family gathered in a red Leatherette booth. Even Barry Levinson’s 1982 film “Diner,” which was set in Baltimore, was shot in a diner that was trucked down from New Jersey.
So it was only natural that “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the new biopic about one of New Jersey’s most famous sons, Bruce Springsteen, would use the diner as a cinematic device — a theatrical stage where he lives and watches life unfold.
“You can get the endless cup of coffee in a diner,” Warren Zanes, who wrote “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the 2023 nonfiction book that the film was based on, said in an interview. “It’s a place where people who are on the early side of a dream coming true can sit, drink the coffee, and dream that dream.”
Some of the sitting, drinking and dreaming in the film takes place at Frank’s Deli & Restaurant in Asbury Park, N.J. Its owner, Joe Maggio, 69, said that he would call it a “deli restaurant,” not a diner, but the two certainly share a fair bit of DNA.
Remarkably little has changed at Frank’s since Maggio’s parents opened it in 1960. Its paper place mats carry ads for a dog trainer, an antique store, the local funeral home and a roofing company. Its expansive laminated menu offers everything from the No. 1 breakfast special (six ounces of orange juice, two eggs, two strips of bacon, home fries, toast and coffee for $13.25) to Schickhaus grilled frankfurters, club sandwiches, tacos and souvlaki.
But there is one new addition to its décor. A photo above the register shows Maggio posing with the actor Jeremy Allen White, who played Springsteen in the film, which shot several scenes at Frank’s.
Maggio even has a cameo in the film. (“What else did I do?” Maggio said of his moment on the silver screen. “I stood by the grill like I did for 55 years.”)
But Frank’s is much more than a location in the film, which sets key scenes at diners, delis and dive bars. It is where Springsteen’s fictional girlfriend, Faye (Odessa Young), works as a waitress. She uses its phone to make unanswered calls to Springsteen, and cries over the dishwasher when he decides to move to Los Angeles.
The film also sets key scenes between Springsteen and his manager, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), at a lunch counter in Midtown Manhattan, where they contend with questions about life and art. Diners become settings for first dates, life changes, pit stops on cross-country drives and business meetings.
Of course, the diner has long served as a public square of sorts in TV shows and films set all over the country. There was Mel’s Diner in the sitcom “Alice” (Phoenix), Monk’s on “Seinfeld” (Manhattan, recognizable to New Yorkers as Tom’s Restaurant), Luke’s in “Gilmore Girls” (the center of the action in the fictional Stars Hollow, Conn.).
But diners have special salience in New Jersey. During his failed bid to become the state’s governor, Jack Ciattarelli was said to have visited more than 130 diners.
They’re both a staple and a symbol for residents. And that includes Springsteen.
The Boss is still a regular at Roberto’s Freehold Grill, his hometown diner, which has a railroad car design, plenty of stainless steel and an old neon sign. He parks his vintage blue Chevy outside and slips into one of its booths with little fanfare. He filmed his video endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign at the counter. Roberto Diaz, who has owned the diner since 2022, will post the occasional photo on Facebook when he stops in.
Roberto’s, with its ceramic mugs, clattering silverware and its cash-only register, is a reminder of a not-so-distant past in an era of fast casual lunch spots serving salads in compostable bowls, paid for with contactless cards. It’s a piece of the kind of Americana Springsteen evokes, with a hint of nostalgia, in songs like “Girls in Their Summer Clothes.”
Frankie’s diner, an old friend on the edge of town
The neon sign spinning round
Like a cross over the lost and found
The fluorescent lights flick over Pop’s grill
Shaniqua brings the coffee and asks, “Fill?” and says “Penny for your thoughts now my boy, Bill”
At Roberto’s, there are several nods to Springsteen, including a painted signpost at one end of the counter that features arrows pointing to Roberto’s, E. Street, Thunder Rd., 10th Ave., and, of course, Freehold. Next to the A.T.M. is a wall of framed photos of Springsteen with customers and Diaz. And the menu features a panini called The Boss: scrambled eggs, Trenton pork roll, Cheddar cheese on ciabatta bread.
But it’s not a museum. It’s a place to eat, drawing all kinds of hungry people including, just last Thursday, Springsteen himself.
His order? Three eggs (sunny-side up) and orange juice (with extra ice).
Michaela Towfighi is a Times arts and culture reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early career journalists.
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