Description

Ayres Diner, now Nickos Diner, is located on North Florida Avenue and is the last remaining Tampa diner of the 1950s. The diner was made famous when Elvis Presley stopped in to have a burger after his concert at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.

A menu from the historic Ayres Diner can be viewed on the Tampa Bay History Center’s Blog.

You can see read more about Tampa’s neon signs in the book Vintage Tampa Signs and Scenes.

3 Responses

1. Dave Morrison says:

   February 18, 2012 at 10:27 pm

   Wasn’t there another Ayres Diner located just north of I-275 adjacent to the old Jim Walters building? It sat on the West side of the street until the early ’80s. I ate there a couple times with some buddies and I thought that they moved this one over to the NW corner of Himes and Cypress, no?
2. Bryan says:

   February 19, 2012 at 8:32 pm

   Although Ayres Diner was before my time, Tampa Pix has this write-up on the three of them:
   http://www.tampapix.com/tampa50s.htm
3. william says:

   May 16, 2012 at 5:05 pm

   my grandfather Mel. Ayers owned this dinner and a few more in that time he was know as the dinner king … after selling the dinner in the 80s he past away shortly after miss you gramps love you, your
   grand son William..

Onward

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