I'm in love with this book:London Caffs by Edwin Heathcote, photography by Sue Barr. It's a history and exploration of the "caff," which appears to be the British term for diner. The Forward and Introduction give a history of the caff, then the rest of the book profiles different caffs in different London neighborhoods, like The Wilton Snack Bar. The book is only 5 1/2" by 5 1/2," and the photography is really beautiful and spare.

The gradual demise of places like the local caff are why I despise so viciously Starbucks. From the introduction:

...once inside these stuffy, buzzy rooms, you are ensconced in a disappearing world sheltered from the latest fads, corporate gimmicks and design trends, sheltered from an alienating and increasingly alien culture of globalised and sterilised shopping, eating and consuming. Most of all, you are sheltered from pitiful illusions of a class-free society and the results of an attempt to homogenise the urban landscape and social hierarchy until the things that made us glad and proud to be alive have been ironed out.

And:

Caffs remain as outposts of the unmodernised, the undesigned; the last vestiges of the family business in a swamp of corporate conformity which has homogenised our streets so that they have become the blandest and ugliest of any European capital. Their tenacity is both a surprise and a testament to their necessity. Our streets and our city need the caffs more than they ever have.

Here here! New York City needs its caffs more than ever as well, as it slowly succumbs to suburbanization: Ikea in Red Hook, Home Depot in Chelsea, Target in downtown Brooklyn, Starbucks fucking everywhere. See some cool photos of caffs at Buildings of London (just keep clicking on the picture).