Oak Park resident Robert Nava and his partner James Perino made time travel possible by opening The Depot American Diner (5840 W. Roosevelt Road) this past January.

Fashioned in the mold of 1940s diners like the one pictured in Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks"-a replica of the painting happens to be perched on the bathroom wall-the diner serves up all the 1940s favorites.

"The '40s was when diners were really true to their nature," Nava said, expressing his disdain for the "gimmicks" and "glitz" of the 1950s. "This is a post-war, home-cooking kind of diner."

The restaurant's location stood vacant for more than two years in the "Island," cut off from the rest of Austin by the Eisenhower Expressway. When they saw their chance, the two chefs-who met while working at an Evanston hotel-snatched it up.

It had been a diner for the last 60 years, starting as Red's Chili and going through numerous proprietors.

"Each owner just slapped a new name on and opened for business," Nava said. "Nobody did anything to it, so the place was tired, worn out."

To spruce things up, Nava called his sister from Florida, who decorated The Depot to look like it might have over 60 years ago. Dark red leather booths line the wall, and spinning stools of the same color line the counter. Pictures of other old '40s locales decorate the walls.

Above the grill (which is manned by either Nava or Perino) along the creamy yellow walls are black-and-white drawings of the different "blue plate specials." Every day of the week a different dish is served on a white plate with a blue rim.

Other little quirks add to The Depot's personality. All sodas are served in old-fashioned glass bottles. Nava said he orders Coca-Cola from Mexico because it still contains cane sugar, just like in the 1940s, unlike the American version, which is sweetened with corn syrup.

The Depot is right next to a bus turnaround (hence the name), so the menu is fashioned to look like a bus schedule. All the prices are listed as times-for example, a cheeseburger is 6:56.

The Depot also features a small space, which the owners love.

"It's so intimate," Perino said. "You can just talk across the room to customers, like you're making food in your kitchen at home."

The two owners said the intimacy stands in stark contrast to some of their previous places of employment. Perino spent time as chef at Spago. Nava was executive chef at the Chicago Hard Rock Café and The Signature Room. They've tried to take some of their fine dining experience and incorporate it into the menu at The Depot.

Everything (except the bread and French fries) is homemade at the restaurant. They bake their own doughnuts, roast their own coffee and brew their own tea "loose leaf" without any tea bags.

"Our real focus was to do scratch-cooking, make everything in-house" Nava said. "All our salad dressings, all our cakes, our pies, coleslaw, we make it all."

The Depot features all your regular diner fare: burgers, omelets, chili, and open-faced sandwiches. Thrown in are authentic 1940s items like phosphates (flavored seltzer water fountain drink) and red velvet cake (a cocoa-based cake with cream cheese icing fashioned to look like red velvet).

The blue plate specials have become a customer favorite, Nava said. The dish rotates every day with everything from meatloaf to pork chops, pan fried chicken breast, a fish fry, barbeque and penne pasta with meat sauce.

The media has taken notice of the unique offerings at The Depot. David Hammond (also an Oak Parker) of the Chicago Reader said, "The food is fabulous" in his March review. Joanne Trestrail said in the June Chicago Magazine that "The food-classic diner fare, but better-keeps us coming back," adding that the hot turkey sandwich "dazzles." The magazine also named The Depot "Coolest Retro Diner" in its Best New Restaurants 2007 issue.

Through it all, Nava is jut having a good time, meeting new friends and sharing his culinary expertise.