In Episode 401 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stumble up to Haven Bros. Diner in downtown Providence, Rhode Island to explore the storied history of not just Rhode Island’s, but the nation’s longest running food truck. This Providence icon has been rolling through town in one form or another since 1893.
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[CROWDED BAR NOISES]
[LAST CALL!]
RAY: Oh man, I don’t think I can do another drink.
JEFF: Me neither, I’m ready to float out of here.
[BAR NOISES FADE]
[CITY STREET NOISES]
RAY: I could really use some food to soak up some of this beer.
JEFF: Me too. We need some greasy goodness.
RAY: What’s open at this hour in downtown Providence?
JEFF: I know just the place. Let’s head this way toward Dorrance Street.
[WALKING ON SIDEWALK]
JEFF: Our destination is just up ahead. Illegally parked next to City Hall by Kennedy Plaza.
RAY: YESSSS! A food truck. Perfect!
JEFF: Not just any food truck, this is Haven Brothers. This isn’t just the longest operating food truck in Rhode Island, it’s the longest running in the nation. This place has been a Providence, Rhode Island, icon since the year 1893.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger and welcome to Episode 401 (Four Oh One) of the New England Legends podcast!
RAY: Four Oh One! That’s perfect!
JEFF: (LAUGHING)
RAY: Four Oh One is the area code for all of Rhode Island and has been since 1947.
JEFF: That’s right! That is the area code here.
RAY: Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. We’re always on the lookout for roadside oddities, wicked strange history, ghosts, monsters, and the just plain weird. Most of our story leads come from you, so please reach out to us anytime through our website.
JEFF: We’ll explore the Haven Brothers mobile diner right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
[CITY NOISES]
JEFF: Hungry, Ray?
RAY: I am!
JEFF: Then it’s a good thing we’re here.
RAY: So we’re standing in front of a truck that’s parked on the corner of Dorrance and Fulton Streets, right next to Providence City Hall.
JEFF: It’s parked illegally, by the way.
RAY: Really?
JEFF: It has been for years and years. They’ve received countless parking tickets, and plenty of people have tried to get them shut down, or at least moved from this location, but they obviously have some friends in the building next door, because they’re still here.
RAY: So there’s a white truck with kind of like a tow truck cab, and a flatbed behind it. The diner on the flatbed is maybe 30 feet long, stainless steel, like old-time diners, and a set of stairs that folds down to the sidewalk so you can walk inside. On the side of the diner it reads: A Providence Tradition. Haven Brothers Diner.
JEFF: Should we go inside?
RAY: Absolutely. I’m starving.
[WALKING UP THREE METAL STAIRS]
RAY: It’s cozy in here!
JEFF: It is!
RAY: There’s a sign that says Welcome to Haven Brothers Diner, the oldest operating diner on wheels. Established. 1893.
JEFF: Yup, this food truck on wheels goes back a long way. Back before there were automobiles to pull it.
RAY: I’m looking at the menu, they have a ton of milkshake flavors.
JEFF: 150 flavors if you’re counting.
RAY: Yup, a ton. The rest of the menu has the kinds of items you’d expect. Fries, sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs. They also have an item called the Garbage Plate. It’s a bed of French fries, topped with mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, and nacho cheese… yeah, we’re getting that.
JEFF: And maybe pair it with their Triple Murder Burger?
RAY: My God I hope there’s a defibrillator around here somewhere.
JEFF: I’m sure there is. Okay, to find out how this icon got here in downtown Providence, let’s head back to the year 1893.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s June of 1893 here in Providence, Rhode Island. Back in March, Grover Cleveland became the first president of the United States to serve a second, non-consecutive term. He was president from 1885 to 1889, then there was President Benjamin Harrison, and now Cleveland is back. Locally, the people in Providence are buzzing about the trial of Lizzie Borden which just began in nearby New Bedford, Massachusetts.
JEFF: Yeah, there’s a lot happening politically in the news. But the biggest concern for most people is the economy. America is in an economic depression that started back in February. Unemployment is skyrocketing, the banks are in crisis, but still, Providence is building and working where it can.
[HAMMERING AND SAWING CONSTRUCTION SOUNDS]
RAY: Construction projects from bridges to buildings are keeping Providence working. And all of those workers are getting hungry.
JEFF: Enter Anne Philomena Haven. Anne is an immigrant whose husband, Patrick has recently passed away. Fortunately for Anne, her husband left her with a life insurance policy, so she’s come into some money. She could go and try to live on the payout, but she’d rather get herself busy. Anne likes to cook. She likes being busy. That’s when she gets an idea.
[HORSE NEIGHING]
[WAGON ROLLING]
JEFF: Anne gets herself a horse-drawn wagon. She paints the sides of the wooden wagon with country scenes so it stands out. Her plan is to sell lunch food like sandwiches, soups, and pies to workers from her cart.
[FACTORY SOUNDS]
[WAGON ROLLING UP]
RAY: Anne brings her wagon around to various factory and construction sites, and quickly becomes a success. Hungry people flock to her wagon to fuel up before getting back to an afternoon of work. The more Anne continues to show up at the same places at the same time each day, the more local workers count on her food. Some stop packing their own lunches and figure they’ll just buy their food from Anne. The grub is good! Her prices are reasonable.
JEFF: And Anne loves the work. She feels useful, she’s feeding others, and she’s making a pretty good living for herself in a time when not too many women are out there in the working world. Considering women aren’t even allowed to vote, this job makes her feel seen too.
RAY: Anne’s family refers to their wagon as the lunch cart. No matter what you call it, as months pass, this food wagon is quickly becoming a rolling Providence landmark.
JEFF: A few years pass, and the reputation of Anne Haven’s food wagon is still growing. Now in her sixties, Anne finds herself needing more help to keep up with the demand. So, her daughter Catherine and Catherine’s husband, Dennis Gannon, take over the operation of the mobile diner. Pretty soon, Catherine and Dennis bring on their two sons, William and John.
RAY: And then one food wagon becomes two. It’s a new century, and Providence is growing. They call their food wagons Haven Brothers as a nod to founder Anne, and the two brothers who helped run the business.
JEFF: By 1930, Haven Brothers has a fleet of mobile dining cars that are popping up all over the city in various neighborhoods. Everyone knows these wagons for good food and fair prices. And that brings us back to today.
[TRASITION]
RAY: So there’s a lot more to say on this one.
JEFF: There is. Some sings claim the mobile diner was established in 1888, others say 1893. I guess we won’t argue too much about a few years. Either way, it was long ago.
RAY: That’s fair. In the 1950s, the company purchased a vintage 1946 silver diner trailer that was converted into the 30-foot by 10-foot trailer that we still see today. Back then, most of the other Haven Brothers wagons were taken out of service so they could focus on the main one.
JEFF: There have been only three owners of the business. There was Anne Haven, who started it, in 1953, the family sold the business to the Mollicone Family, and in 1986 the current owner Sal Giusti (Guh-stee) purchased the business. Today his kids mostly run it.
RAY: As Providence continued to grow, as second and third shifts began to pop up at various factories and businesses, people needed late-night food, and few restaurants were open for that. Haven Brothers was ready to fill a need. They switched from providing lunch to dinner and late night food.
JEFF: In the 1990s, the night life was also heating up in Providence. There was an opportunity to hit the bar crowd as they filed out of local watering holes. Eventually, Have Brothers settled on this spot right here next to Providence City Hall. The hall closes by 5PM, and the food truck pulls in to its usual spot soon after and stays here until the wee hours of the morning. Over the years there have been parking tickets, there have been people trying to get them to move, but at the end of the day, when something hangs in there this long, it becomes part of the city’s identity. City officials let them stay.
RAY: The Haven Brothers mobile diner has been a fixture in Providence since at least 1893. Almost everyone in town has eaten here at some point, as have their parents and grandparents. So it would make sense they’ve got some friends in city government who dined here as a kid or even as an adult. Sometimes doing the right thing means to look the other way, especially when it comes to a legendary icon.
JEFF: Though Haven Brothers wasn’t the first, nor the last food truck, they are the only food truck to remain in operation for more than 130 years so far. This mobile diner has made its way down to New York City to park outside of Rockefeller Plaza for a spot on the Today Show. This was back in 2008. Hosts Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer used to work at NBC in Providence, so for them this was a familiar site. The truck has also been featured on the Travel Channel show Man Vs. Food Nation and even had a documentary film made about it.
RAY: I love that this place endures. To make it this long they’ve obviously been doing something right. What do you think, Jeff. You ready to try the food?
JEFF: I’m ready.
[DING]
[ORDER UP!]
[OUTTRO]
RAY: And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
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To see some pictures related to this week’s story you can click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on Episode 401.
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Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.
