I’ve been through Andy’s cars (because you see, Andy’s Diner is composed of several interconnected train cars) at various times in various states, and I’ve never been disappointed. In the daytime state, which I enjoyed again for lunch this weekend, Andy’s is a great, no-nonsense diner where the waitresses express rush-hour exasperation to the floor manager by announcing, “I’ve got a full car!” During the daylight hours, a) the food is diner-licious b) the place is staffed with the sweet-n-salty types on which movie waitresses are based and c) the cars and the passages between them become a confusing maze one must navigate to find the bathroom.

At night, some of the cars are rentable to the public for parties, some of which I’ve attended. Since there are private party cars and a diner car and a public bar and lounge, these separate capsules fill with drinking folk to become distinct units of experience that you can float gracelessly between, like a “pick your poison” sort of thing. Oh, here’s that car with the DJ and the spirited dancers. (Not mellow enough.) Oh, here’s the lounge room where I made out with the woman impersonating Betty Paige. (Too mellow…and hey, I wonder where she went.) Oh, here’s the empty, shadowy diner car. (I shouldn’t have loaned my camera to that guy dressed as Andy Warhol.) Oh, here’s where the party is spilling over into the bar, and the costumed party kids are mingling with the regulars, to good effect. (We can all get along – even the camera thief and I.)

In this nighttime state a) the drinks are dive-alicios b) the place is staffed with the sweet-n-salty types on which movie bartenders are based and c) the cars and the passages between them remain a confusing maze one must navigate to find the bathroom. On the right night, there are few better places to find yourself lost.