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Brownlee Diner / Little Juarez Curio Shop

Route 66, Glenrio, TX
Phone:

East < GO > West

This small 1952 diner is sometimes called the Little Juarez Cafe but it was never the "Little Juarez Cafe". It was simply the Diner or the Brownlee Diner, Joeseph Brownlee being the builder and owner when it was a new. The "Little Juarez" name came about when the building was used as a curio shop, apparently after the diner closed and from some very faded lettering on the roof top sign for the curio shop.

The building looks a bit like, but is not, a Valentine Diner. It was simply built to resemble one and was painted white with Texaco green stripes to match the gas station next door.

The corrugated metal cornice runs across the front of the little concrete block diner and wraps part way around the sides of the building. As well as adding a bit of interest to the design it also housed lights that would illuminate the exterior of the building. The windows are original, but many of the glass panes were cracked and taped.

Small wing walls with rounded shoulders extended from the front corners and also on the sides under the point where the cornice ended. The sign on top of the building stood above a block pillar that protrudes out from the building and extended down to the ground.

In this 2012 photo there is some faded ghost lettering on the east side of the sign that read “Little Juarez" along with a sombrero left over from its days as a curio shop, apparently after the diner closed. The larger sign on a pair of poles out front was blank.

Photo(s): 2013