Des Moines lost one of it's coolest buildings back on Sept 21st. Porky's Diner on Douglas Ave. was torn down to make way for a new grocery store.
The building was built in 1959 & I think it was originally known as "Boots Western Drive-In". In '79 or '80 I think it was a bar for a while, then it was turned into "Pistol Petes Video Arcade" for a few months, maybe a year.
In 1982 it opened as Porky's Tenderloin and quickly became THE place to go with your cool car. They had car cruise nights every Wed & Saturday night & if the weather was nice, you either got there early or you had to park way in the back (if you could even get in). After a while they added motorcycle nights on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
Porky's Diner (Razed 9/21/09)
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© Google Maps
By Parabellum @ 2009-10-23 04:56:19
Anonymous
@ 2019-11-12 01:09:20
In the early 1970's, it was a hamburger restaurant called 'Corkys'. I think Pistol Pete's lasted about two years. Too bad, because they were better than Subway any day of the week.
Anonymous
@ 2019-11-12 01:11:31
BTW, the Hy-Vee grocery store has yet to be built, and it's 10 years later.