(Bloomberg) -- When the Kellogg’s Diner in Williamsburg underwent a desperately needed makeover in 2008, fans of the then-80-year-old greasy spoon rebelled against the flashy new signs and refinished chrome facade. “It’s too new,” a local bartender complained to the New York Times about the restoration. “Why reinvent something that’s already good?”
Late last year, Kellogg’s shuttered, another victim of the increasingly tenuous economics of running a diner. The model—lengthy menus that require increasingly expensive ingredients, extended business hours and modest pricing—has become unsustainable in today’s climate. It hasn’t helped that many diners are family-owned and resistant to change and that some sit on pricey real estate that could be put to more profitable use. Food-savvy New Yorkers expect fresh ingredients (not the frozen staples in use on many diner menus), and the surly ethos of old-timey diner service doesn’t carry the same charm it once did.
Before Starbucks arrived in the mid-’90s, diners were vital third spaces for New York City denizens, three-meal restaurants open all day with exhaustive menus: a wide range of sandwiches, salads, breakfast items and main courses. The eating establishments were already vanishing before the pandemic—in 2019, a photographer documenting them found they were closing at the rate of 13 per year, according to the New York Times. More recently, some of the city’s most well-known diners have closed permanently, including the Odessa Diner on the Lower East Side in 2020 (now home to Superiority Burger), Neil’s Coffee Shop on the Upper East Side in 2023 and the Neptune Diner in Astoria, Queens, which closed in July after a 40-year-plus run.
Yet against all odds, diners are staging a comeback. On Sept. 20, Kellogg’s will officially reopen under new ownership with a revamped menu and an updated design. And it just might shepherd in a new era of diners in a city where the restaurants have been beloved institutions.
“New York City diners are great equalizers,” says Louis Skibar, principal owner of the new Kellogg’s. “You sit at a counter, and you could be a construction worker next to an attorney and maybe a policeman. There’s a mix of people that you can only get at a diner.” Skibar has experience resuscitating old diners. In 2021 he purchased and reopened Old John’s Luncheonette on the Upper West Side (where he once worked as a dishwasher in the ’80s) after the place succumbed to the debilitating effects of the pandemic.
Kellogg’s new chef Jackie Carnesi knows updating the menu is a tricky task: She needs to serve high-caliber food that doesn’t feel too precious or chef-y. Her re-imagined menu is nods to classic diner fare, with strong Tex-Mex influences. There will be huevos rancheros and queso dip, along with omelettes with fillings like jack cheese, poblano chiles and chorizo, plus steak and eggs, as well as a classic waffle.
Skibar believes the legacy 120-seat diner will feel vital again thanks to its refurbished decor, designed by Nico Arze— painted glass countertops and terrazzo flooring, formica ceilings, and reupholstered vinyl banquettes—professional service and Carnesi’s old-new comfort menu. While other restaurants across the city close early, Kellogg’s is keeping to the classic diner model, staying open 24 hours. Likewise, Skibar is making prices affordable, at least to start: Sandwiches and all-day breakfast options will range from $14-$20. (He says one way he’s controlling costs is to purchase meats and produce directly from places such as Hunt’s Point wholesale market in the Bronx, which he estimates will save as much as 40% compared to sourcing from distributors like Sysco.)
New York’s diner scene is also seeing fresh energy from a relatively new segment of Asian-accented concepts such as Golden Diner and Thai Diner, both in downtown Manhattan. These hybrid diner-restaurants creatively blend comfort food from across Asia with familiar American classics, yielding playful mashups like chicken katsu club sandwiches and spicy Thai basil cheesesteaks, respectively.
On the Lower East Side, Kisa is inspired by traditional kisa sikdang, Korean diners frequented by taxicab drivers looking for quick, affordable meals at all hours. According to co-owner David JoonWoo Yun, these casual spots are also becoming endangered on the other side of the globe. “In Korea, a lot of these mom-and-pop diners are disappearing because the owners are retiring,” he says. “The next generation wants to focus more on Western cuisine or fine dining Korean.”
In keeping with the Korean concept of a diner, Kisa offers only four main entrees—bulgogi (marinated, barbecued beef), spicy pork, bibimbap and spicy squid—served with white rice, an array of seasonal banchan (side dishes) and soup. To re-create the look and feel of a traditional kisa, the dining room is adorned with vintage oscillating fans and a tiny cathode-ray tube television in the corner of the room. (Like many American diners, Yun says, televisions are always on in Korean diners, broadcasting news or sports.)
“I feel very nostalgic about these places, and it was sad to see so many of them are going away,” Yun says. “That made us want to bring one to New York.” He and his partners, Steve JaeWoo Choi and Yong Min Kim, established Kisa’s modest pricing—$32 per person—to attract customers looking for more wallet-friendly dining experiences. It’s working; since opening in April, the restaurant has lines out the door every night.
Cha Cha Tang, which began as a pop-up in the West Village this summer, takes inspiration from Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs, the city’s dinerlike eateries. The eclectic menu features traditional dim sum alongside whimsical East-meets-West mashups like a char siu Cobb salad and milk bread French toast stuffed with taro cream. “We’re bridging culture between Chinese food and American diner food,” says Wilson Tang, who teamed up with Mercer Street Hospitality on the project. Cha Cha Tang was so well-received as a pop-up that the partners have made it a permanent fixture in the former Hancock Street space.
Among other things, the diner comeback is an antidote to the luxury and exclusivity that’s become prevalent in New York with its ritzy members clubs and high-priced menus. Which might be why even the label “diner” is now a selling point for chefs. In October, chef Franklin Becker plans to rebrand his Press Club Grill in Herald Square as B&L Diner, with an all-day menu of diner-inspired dishes such as blueberry pancakes with lemon curd, thick-cut housemade maple bacon and matzo ball soup. Here, too, the prices will be user-friendly: Sandwiches will start at $16, and entrees at $24.
Becker, a native Brooklynite who grew up frequenting diners, admits he’s taking poetic license with his interpretation of the New York classic. “I think we’re looking at the word ‘diner’ in a different way,” he says, of the impetus behind the rebranded concept. “It’s more a feel than a philosophy.” Even though the dining experience takes cues from classic diners, from burgers to milkshakes, Becker hopes to maintain the elegance of a conventional restaurant while also pushing the boundaries of what a diner can be.
Kellogg’s chef Carnesi agrees that it’s the feel of a good diner more so than any dish that makes it appealing. She’s confident the space will rekindle New York’s love affair with diners and the joy of having a nourishing, moderately priced meal in a “non-judgmental” space. “There’s something beautiful about going to a diner and not having a server bothering you about how your dining experience was,” she says. “Sometimes it’s nice to be left alone and eat some eggs.”
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