blue plate
adjective [attributive] North American
(Of a restaurant meal) consisting of a full main course ordered as a single menu item.You'd be amazed what happens at the diner, a blue-plate special restaurant in an industrial district near the airport....
- Diners that serve a standard menu of coffee, burgers, fries and blue-plate specials offer comfy booths along with their comfort food.
- The restaurant features 20 different beef and bison burgers, blue-plate specials, beef filets, salads and roasted ‘beer can chicken;’ plus cedar-planked steelhead salmon.
Origin
With reference to the original blue plates divided into compartments, on which fixed-price restaurant meals were served.