Between the town of Wagener and the Barnwell County line in South Carolina, Highway 39 Diner is a rectangular yellow building set back from the road far enough that the diesel-engine growl of trucks rumbling past seems far away even before you enter.
Inside, sounds are anything but motorized. Conversation at tables in the high-ceiling dining room rings with enough brio to be convivial but not distressingly loud. Customer chatter is punctuated by the voice of chef Sharon Smoak singing out to her waitstaff from the kitchen’s pass-through window when an order is set on the sill and ready to go: “Table! … Appetizers! … Super sub! … Tacos, loaded! … Meat lovin’ large!” Each time an order is clipped to the ticket holder wheel at the kitchen window, the server who fastens it there turns the wheel and dings a service bell to alert the kitchen.
