Cheap Eats 2011: Blue Plate

Ask people to envision a soda fountain in their heads and chances are most will imagine some kind of ’50s-themed Disneyland attraction, with checkered linoleum floors and waitresses delivering orders on roller skates and all that other Johnny Rocket’s crap. Thankfully, downtown lunch spot Blueplate forgoes the typical cheesy retro-diner decor (there isn’t enough room inside to pull it off, anyway), allowing the nostalgia to originate in the taste buds. Although it obviously prides itself on the daily specials that are its namesake—the menu cycles through a different classic American entree ($10) and sandwich ($8) each day—the perennial dishes are no slouches themselves, particularly the sliders ($7). Not feeling vintage enough? Cap the meal with an ice cream float ($3.50-$4) made from one of the intriguingly flavored house sodas. Still not taken back far enough? Well, what the hell do you want? The Fonz pounding on a jukebox?