Recently, food website Tasting Table rounded up the 15 most iconic old-school dinners from across the country, and one Arizona spot made the cut.
"MacAlpine's Diner & Soda Fountain keeps the old-school charm alive and well," the list says of the local spot serving diner classics on the northeast corner of Seventh and Oak streets in midtown Phoenix.
The business began in 1929 as Birch's 7th Street Pharmacy. In 1938, Fred MacAlpine bought the pharmacy and popular soda fountain and changed its name. The longstanding spot has maintained the family name ever since.
Along with its sandwiches and burgers, the soda fountain also serves unique drink creations such as the Fireball Soda, made with vanilla ice cream and cinnamon Fireball candy and the summery Main Squeeze, which combines lemon soda and strawberry ice cream.
MacAlpine's Diner is one of very few original soda fountains still operating in the country.
Zach Oden
"The style of this diner is very unique, with dark wooden booths reminiscent of its early days, matched with old juke boxes, a green checkered floor, and mid-century milkshake mixers," the list says. "You can visually see the history that the diner has lived through."
And living through all that history hasn't always been easy. MacAlpine's closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and then remained closed for four years after the death of one of the owners and other health issues in the family. But thanks to money raised through a GoFundMe, by selling pies and from a historic preservation grant, the diner was able to reopen.
It's currently open for lunch Sunday through Thursday, and lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday.
