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Skyline Restaurant

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Skyline Restaurant

Skyline Restaurant (formerly The Speck and nicknamed "The Skyliner") is a diner in northwest Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Established in 1935, the restaurant initially sold fried chicken by a gas station. It gained popularity during the 1950s, and Skyline's menu of American cuisine has changed little since then. Michelle Nelson has owned the diner since 1999; previous owners have included Benny and Phyllis Lum, as well as Ken Hom, who eliminated drive-in service. Skyline's burgers and milkshakes have received a generally positive reception. In 1975, James Beard said the restaurant's burger was among the best in the country, and Food Network Magazine said Skyline had the best burger in Oregon in 2009.

A spin-off restaurant called Sky Two operated during the 1980s, and a second location called Skyline Burgers operated in northeast Portland from 2011 to 2014.

Skyline Restaurant is located on Skyline Boulevard at Cornell Road in northwest Portland. KOIN has described Skyline as an "iconic drive-in diner that has been serving Portlanders by the thousands every year for the past seven decades". The restaurant has also been described as an "old-school" and "child-friendly, old-fashioned, locally-owned" drive-in with a patio and picnic tables. The Los Angeles Times has described Skyline as a "true '50s diner" with a soda fountain. The Portland Mercury has described the clientele as a "cross-section of high school kids and families, travelers, and even leather-clad couples roadtripping on Harleys".

In 2001, Willamette Week's Jim Dixon said of the interior: "There's an espresso hut tacked onto the Cornell Road side to service the stream of commuters that pours by every morning and an ATM inside... The dining room, a warren of roomy booths and a few small tables, still wears the faded glory of an 40-year-old upgrade." He also wrote, "Wood paneling, acoustic tile ceiling, and those Jetson-y light fixtures from the days of Sputnik provide a fitting setting for food that might have been transported from the Kennedy era as well."

Skyline is open seven days a week, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The restaurant has a sign advertising the "Best Burger in Portland". Classic rock is played outside, and orders are announced over a speaker. According to Martin Cizmar of Willamette Week, the restaurant's soundtrack has "lots of Beach Boys and the pre-Tiffany version of 'I Think We're Alone Now'."

The restaurant serves American cuisine such as burgers, chili cheese burgers and tater tots, and French fries. The menu also included fish and chips with coleslaw, fried chicken, hot dogs, tuna melt sandwiches, chili, and a Cobb salad. Vegetarian options included a garden burger and a beyond burger. There are two dozen float, malt, and milkshake varieties, including banana, butterscotch, caramel apple, chocolate-covered cherry, hazelnut, marionberry, mocha, peanut butter, peppermint, and pineapple. Pie shake flavors have included banana cream and coconut cream. Skyline has also served a 30-ounce shake. The weekend breakfast menu has included omelettes and pancakes.

Originally known as The Speck, Skyline Restaurant was established in 1935. It initially sold fried chicken next to a gas station, and gained popularity in the mid 1950s. Benny and Phyllis Lum owned the business for fifteen years, before selling it to their relative Ken Hom. Hom, who is of Chinese ancestry, considered adding Chinese cuisine to the menu, but did not "because of the restaurant's tradition". Hom did, however, eliminate drive-in service due to limited interest by customers.

In 1986, The Oregonian's Elizabeth Amsden said Skyline "has changed little since it started serving a hambuger menu more than 25 years ago". She described booths with black cushions, white formica tables, copies of a column written by American chef James Beard on display, and 1950s popular music in the background. Hom had owned the business for a decade at the time. He told The Oregonian that 70 to 80 percent of customers were visitors from downtown Portland. Amsden noted, "At 800 feet elevation, the Skyliner closes for three weeks every winter to give employees vacations when severe weather often affects business. Sometimes it closes two or three times in winter months when snow or freezing rain becomes too severe for car travel on the roads winding up and down the hillside."

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