Everyone goes to diners! They're easy to spot -- gleaming stainless steel and colorful porcelain enamel. Their glowing neon signals a buzz of activity: burgers sizzling, milkshakes mixing, crockery clinking and waitresses dishing out everything from waffles to wisecracks.

Copia conjures up the culture of American diners in three exhibitions that highlight the essence of the people, food and ambiance.

Opening this weekend, "Counter Culture" celebrates the diner as an icon of America's culture and examines the hold it continues to have on our psyches and appetites. The exhibition includes the diner experience through furniture and food-related accessories, photo murals, paintings, sculpture, photography and oral histories, as well as diner imagery and ephemera that place it within a broader cultural sweep.

The very word "diner" evokes a world where people from all walks of life gather at counters and booths to enjoy the comfort food. The food is good, and there's plenty of it as orders are called out in diner slang: "got a hockey puck with breath, paint it red; Zepplins in a fog; two from the Alps"-- translation: a hamburger, well done with onions and ketchup, sausage in mash potatoes, and two grill cheese sandwiches.

America's love affair with the diner started on the East Coast and spread west across the nation. Its ancestor, the horse-drawn lunch wagon, served night workers in need of quick food in the wee hours. To accommodate its popularity, the diner grew in size and developed into a long, narrow building that could be trucked to a permanent site. It became a melting pot, with workers of different nationalities combining their talents to produce a meeting place where anyone could come in and share a home cooked meal.

The diner developed from a Depression-era men-only hangout to a family restaurant during the baby-boom to a seemingly vanishing enterprise during the Vietnam era only to emerge as a nostalgic, retro experience for "boomers" and their children. Interest in the American diner continues today. A number of vintage diners have been restored and relocated to sites throughout the U.S. Historical societies include diners along with other notable sites on their tours, and the list of diners on the National Register increases annually.

Equally important is the preservation of diner culture. Diners, born and bred in America, evolved as part of the social fabric of their communities.

"Counter Culture" was organized by Copia with guest curator Richard J.S. Gutman, a leading authority on diners and the author of three books on the subject. He is the director and curator of the Culinary Archives & Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.

In conjuction with "Counter Culture" is a photographic exhibit, "Dishing It Out: Career Waitresses Across the U.S." -- and among the profiled waitresses is one from Napa's own icon, Buttercream Bakery.

Through interviews and photographs, writer and visual artist, Candacy Taylor, has created an exhibit about waitresses across the U.S. to reveal their careers and bring awareness to their importance as workers within their communities. "Dishing it Out" is organized by Copia in cooperation with the artist.

The third show, now open through Oct. 2, is "Blue Plate Special." At the age of 6, John Miller went regularly with his father to Kitty's Diner where Fast Eddie, the grill cook, served up mega burgers. At day's end, Kitty, a product of the Depression, topped off ketchup bottles with water to make them last another day. Since then, Miller's fascination with the American diner and fast food culture it has endured.

These childhood memories are the inspiration for Miller, now an assistant professor at Illinois State University's School of Art, In his series, "Blue Plate Special" the artist, has created a full menu of traditional greasy spoon fare, executed in blown, hot sculpted or mold blown glass. With whimsy and wit Miller pushes the medium to its heights to explore new textures, color and form: cheeseburgers and fries, and eggs sunny side up.

Copia is at 500 First St. Napa. Hours are Wednesday through Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). General Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for children 12 years and younger, accompanied by an adult). Wednesdays are half price for Napa and Sonoma residents. Memberships are available. For additional information, call 259-1600, or visit the Web site at www.copia.org.