Big taste, big recognition: The Food Network has named Goshen’s own South Side Soda Shop as the best diner in Indiana!
“Whether they’re housed in a historic building, a train station or a genuine old-school dining car, located smack-dab downtown or on the waterfront, these greasy spoons dish up authentic eats with a dash of charm and a sprinkling of regional flair,” Food Network said in its “50 States of Diners” rankings.
What’s now South Side Soda Shop was founded in 1910 as Dean’s Grocery. In the 1940s, the owners installed a Bastian-Blessing soda fountain, which is still there today. Nick and Charity Boyd took over in 1986, and in the early 1990s added a dining car with booth seating.



All photos by Grant Beachy
“We’ve been part of the community for so long that children who came in the ’80s are now bringing their kids in,” Nick said in a Good of Goshen article about the diner. “We’ve shared our family with the community and have enjoyed being a part of so many other families.”
The Food Network noted that South Side’s menu “is sprinkled with touches from Nick’s native Philadelphia, and they are some of the most-popular dishes. They include the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, served on an Amoroso hoagie roll, and the Philly Chili, in which egg noodles topped with the diner’s award-winning beef-and-bean chili, onions, cheddar, and sour cream are served in a soda glass like a savory sundae.” South Side also offers soda fountain specialties including floats and malts and more than 30 flavors of homemade pie, including the diner’s renowned lemon meringue.
Congratulations, South Side Soda Shop! Suddenly, we’re hungry…
https://www.foodnetwork.com/…/ph…/best-diners-in-the-country

Writing, editing, and photography by Scott Weisser and Neil King
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