This is a long shot, but does anyone remember Ed Lentz's restaurant on I-44 at the Richland exit? When I was a tiny kid, we ate there so often that, according to family lore, I told someone that my dad worked there.
As a three or four year-old, that place held endless fascination for me, and may be a source of my love for old-style diners today. I remember being enthralled by the little juke boxes on each table, and by the big stand in the middle that sold all sorts of little trinkets. I particularly remember the ostrich with the mercury solution that you would put next to a glass of water, and it would regularly dip its head into the water for a drink and then raise back up.