Blue-plate special

For other uses, see Blue Plate Special (disambiguation).
A typical blue-plate special board, from the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, New Hampshire

A blue-plate special is a discount-priced meal that changes daily. The practice was common from the 1920s in American and Canadian restaurants through the 1950s, especially in diners and greasy spoons . As of 2007, there are still a few restaurants and diners that offer blue-plate specials under that name, sometimes on blue plates, but it is a vanishing tradition.

A collection of 1930s prose gives this definition: "A Blue Plate Special is a low-priced daily diner special — a main course with all the fixins, a daily combo, a square for two bits."[1]

  1. ^ White, Sarah (2001). "Anthology of Thirties Prose". 1930s Project. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2012.