<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Palace Diner's cheeseburger and fried chicken sandwich were worth the hour-and-a-half wait for a counter seat on a Saturday morning.Erin McDowell/Business Insider</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>I recently visited Palace Diner in Biddeford, Maine, which is nearly 100 years old.</li><li>I waited over an hour for a spot at the diner's 15-seat counter but thought it was worth it.</li></ul><p>On a road trip from Connecticut to Portland, Maine, I stopped off at Palace Diner.</p><p>The almost <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oldest-restaurant-in-every-state-2017-9">100-year-old restaurant</a> is famous for two things: its classic 1920s railcar interior and a chicken sandwich people travel for miles to try.</p><p>One of only two Pollard-style dining cars remaining in the country, Palace Diner was named one of <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.eater.com/best-american-restaurants-review/2018/11/13/18071890/best-restaurants-america-2018">Eater's</a> essential restaurants in 2018 and the diner's chefs were nominated for a <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.portlandfoodmap.com/maine-beard-award-winners-nominees-semifinalists/">James Beard Award</a> in 2020. It even appeared in a 2022 episode of the hit Netflix series <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/phil-rosenthal-best-pork-chop-recipe-da-arturo-italian-restaurant-2023-3">"Somebody Feed Phil,"</a> starring Phil Rosenthal, who praised the diner's "idealized versions of omelets, French toast, pancakes, burgers, [and] sandwiches."</p><p>The diner, which is believed to be the oldest in the state, has changed hands multiple times since it first opened as a popular eatery for local mill workers, the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.pressherald.com/2011/05/21/the-new-palace-diner-will-be-a-family-affair-just-as-its-been-since-1927_2011-05-21/">Portland Press Herald</a> reported. It's now owned by Greg Mitchell and Chad Conley, business partners who met while working at a farm in Harborside, Maine.</p><p>"We came to Biddeford on a whim and within two hours we had met all the right people," Conley told <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.themainemag.com/2815-palace-diner/#close">Maine Magazine</a> in 2015, a year after the pair purchased the diner.</p><p>As for creating the menu, Conley said they "ate a lot of cheeseburgers" in the early days.</p><p>"Even now, the editing and creating process never stops," he added. "We use customer feedback, take suggestions from our servers. We're not afraid to take things off or add to the menu."</p><p>Here's a look inside the historic Palace Diner, and what you should order when you visit.</p>