Time for a Cup of Coffee and a Piece of Pie

When the Thomas Restaurant chain opened at 5530 East Washington Street, local residents had the opportunity to feast on some classic mid-century diner-fare.  In this postcard image, c1940, you can see that the structure had features of the Art Deco style, an era not often seen in the neighborhood.  Paul Diebold in Greater Irvington (1997) pointed out that the front of the building was clad in pigmented glass.  Note the neon signs--another novelty for the Irvington commercial strip at the time.  The chain had three other restaurants in Indianapolis at 32 East Georgia Street, 318 North Meridian Street, and 6245 North College Avenue.  A local landlord in need of a parking lot flattened the streamlined building in the 1990s for a nearby blood plasma center.