Hey, I want to keep watching such videos well into my 30′s and I’ve got to tell you that if you start drinking coffee with your burgers; well….it just wont go down like that. keep the cafe seperate from the hamburgesa.

A fascinating topic, Josh, and much more than a quirky mention. I’ve been thinking about this for years.

The idea of coffee with a meal has all sorts of interesting connections with class, age, the evolution of the restaurant industry since the Depression, and American’s eating habits in general.

This isn’t confined to just hamburgers, nor to old people. Old people are just carrying a tradition that goes back to the days of the diner being central to American culture.

When I was growing up, every Saturday my dad would bring us to a new pizza parlor. We went to hundreds over the years, almost never visiting the same parlor twice and sometimes driving hours to cover new ground and distinguish new styles. We had dreams of writing a book and took careful notes at each stop. Alas, my brother and I grew up and the book never materialized, but the memories are wonderful.

In any case, my dad always, without fail, ordered a cup of coffee with the pizza. The young me always thought that was a bad idea; here we are trying to discover the best pie ever and his coffee was messing with the flavor. However I was bothered more by the fact that it was hot — drink should cool the mouth after greasy burning cheese, not fan the flames. As a teenager and adult, I recounted the coffee/pizza combo over many a meal, wondering if anyone else had a similar experience. Even though I grew to drink a lot of coffee, my line has always been drawn at pizza.

A few months ago, I had an exhausting day at work and stopped at some random Ray’s Pizza-type takeout joint for a slice. I also, without thinking, ordered a coffee. In the middle of my sloppy dinner, I froze with the thought: At age 38, I had officially become my dad.

I realized, after all those years of bemusement, that the slice and the coffee are two different experiences and address two different needs. The thing that hamburgers, pizza and coffee have in common is that, in America, they are essentially blue-collar, utilitarian foods. They have all been elevated to gastronomic heights of course, but at heart they are simple foods traditionally served in simple ways, like over the counter of a diner or pizzeria.

If you sit down at a diner stool and don’t order a coffee, you’re a weirdo. Why would an adult ever order a soda at a diner? Soda is for kids. If you order water at a diner it just shows you’re a cheap bastard and your hogging a stool. Milk? Nobody orders a milk at a truck stop, and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen milk at a pizza parlor. Behavior like that can get your ass kicked. (With the exception of coffee milk, best served with two hot weiners “all the way”, but that’s only acceptable in one small corner of the world.) Besides, it’s expected. In a “real” diner, the waitress pours you a coffee without even asking. Grown-ups drink coffee, period.

I asked myself, “why am I having coffee and pizza right now…?” The answers were obvious. 1) I was tired and needed a coffee before I got on the subway. 2) I was hungry, didn’t feel like going to the ATM and wanted something quick to eat. There was no thought of pairing, like the way beer and pizza go together, wine and cheese or even coffee and cigarettes.

And I thought back to those days with my dad. He worked nights back then and usually slept days. He really needed that coffee on our Saturday morning pizza excursions. We went out for pizza recently and I asked him why he always orders a coffee, and he confirmed as much. And he orders coffee with everything else, too. Just like me.

As an aside, perhaps this is why White Castle served coffee. It was a legacy from the days of the diner. Pie, hamburgers and coffee are greasy spoon staples. It’s telling that McDonald’s tapped into the soda-fountain pharmacy counter model for youth appeal.