The History of New Jersey Burger Restaurant White Mana Owner Mario Costa | Eater NY
"On Tonnelle Avenue at the corner of Manhattan Avenue sits a white-paneled, circular building with a dotted red crown that looks like it could “light up and lift off into outer space” — a stainless, old-school diner built for the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows to showcase how you could cook, serve, and plate burgers “without moving your pivot foot.” That was a year before McDonald’s first opened. Louis Bridges bought the building and transported it to its current location in 1946; the long‑time owner, who began working there as a teenager in 1972 and bought it in 1979, has changed little about the place or himself. Filmmaking has passed through: one sheet taped to the wall indicated filming dates for Bob Dylan’s biopic A Complete Unknown, and Timothée Chalamet filmed a scene there when the diner was disguised as a Chinese restaurant. The cook works the central flattop, “smashing minced onions into burger patties with a metal spatula, and sliding them to the middle with a loud scrape,” serving three thin patties per paper plate; three plus fries and a soda cost $7.50. The patties are about an ounce (bigger than White Castle) and, with American cheese, those onions, and “cool, crunchy pickle slices,” occupy a modest portion of absorbent, springy, moist buns that pick up a thin sheen from the greasy air — someone who worked hard since breakfast could manage nine; the writer had six. The owner’s explanations and little rituals are preserved in his own words: “The sliders got their name because of the action on the grill. It has nothing to do with size.” He tested a bun theory — throwing out top buns and replacing them “with a second bottom half” because bottoms are softer — and the writer notes, simply, “He was right.” The owner still jokes about his role and reputation: “I’m a hamburger salesman.”" - Mike Diago
