Missouri has a way of holding onto its past, especially when that past involves perfectly charred burgers, stacks of pancakes that tower like skyscrapers, and chili recipes older than your grandparents.
Scattered across the state, a handful of diners have refused to change their menus, their neon signs, or their commitment to feeding locals the exact same way they did half a century ago.
I stumbled into one of these places on a road trip last summer, ordered what the waitress called “the usual,” and realized I was tasting something that hadn’t changed since the Kennedy administration…