New York’s Diners Need a Comeback

Why NYC Diners Are Declining & Why They Need To Be Preserved

Diners are amazing places.

Think about it, in a country as divided as the United States one of the only things just about all Americans can appreciate is a solid diner close to home. Every red-blooded American knows their diner order by heart. (If you don't know yours by heart, I recommend figuring one out, it saves time!)

No matter how rural the state, there's a diner somewhere in each town. The stereotype of politicians touring every diner in a state are prevalent for a reason, diners are a critical part of American life.

Heck, diners are a critical part of my love life! The first sit-down meal date my wife and I ever went on was a diner.

As a scrappy theater kid in high school, I know all about late night post-show bites at the local diner or Denny's. Tons of family meals at the diner a few blocks from the family apartment are in my core memories.

We all know the menu before we walk in. For a city slicking kid like me, encountering a diner outside of the city was an oasis of familiarity when traveling. You could stroll in, pop up to to the counter and give your order confidently without ever glancing at the menu. Sure there might have been regional differences, corn beef hash or rye toast dips in and out of availability depending where you go, but there's no diner that can't make you one of your favorite home-cooked style meals. Or at least 80 percent of it. No matter where this wise-cracking Brooklyn Jew went in these United States, he could always post up at a diner and be alright.

Diners are unpretentious, suits and boots are welcome alike. The diner counter, like the subway, is an snapshot of almost any neighborhood. Many people with jobs in hospitality start in a diner, some stay for their entire tenure.

Diners are comfort food. Plain and simple.

It was the closing of Odessa back in 2020 that was an inflection point for myself and other patrons of diners in New York City. Odessa was one of the last 24-hour diners in the Lower East side. There were other closures leading up to this but the loss of a 24-hour diner is especially tragic. Without comfort food establishments like diners open at all hours of the night, where will the next generation of young bohemians break out into an impromptu rendition of La Vie Bohème?

Comfort Food is the key phrase here, It could be the simplicity of the diner's menu that is holding it back.

In a new age where influencer marketing is on the rise, it's hard to make a breakfast platter or lamb gyro go viral. Eateries in the city used to jockey for positioning in various listings like the New York Times and/or Time Out New York. Now they design plates and cocktails for a 'viral factor' and court influencers whose job is to maintain a large social media following. The goal is to make something as viral as possible I guess?

But diner food... comfort food... home food isn't eye-catching. Diners aren't 'experiences,' they're spots to grab some grub and catch up with the locals, or crash into after a long night for some breakfast for diner.

New York's diners need a revitalization and a new beginning but that would require New York's trend-seeking crowd to meet the diners where they are.

First off, diners need to upgrade the quality of the food on offer. The jig is up, things are more expensive now.

I've already made an adjustment to higher prices that seemed to arrive with the COVID pandemic and never seemed to go away. Nowadays three or four dollars for a pizza slice is pretty standard (it used to be 2 at the most, damnit). You almost have to get a pepperoni slice or other topping just so you don't feel ripped off.

I buy things more often in bulk now. Toilet paper and paper towels, mouthwash and toothpaste, body wash and shampoo, higher prices are all easier to justify if you're at least stocking up on it and you won't need more for a while.

New York's diners need to acknowledge that the 'cheap and fast' quality diners used to have over most restaurants is now almost gone. Fast food has gotten more expensive too, but it still remains cheaper than a diner, plus you don't usually tip the McDonald's cashier. The middle ground between fast food and a upscale restaurant that diners used to occupy is quickly shrinking.

Yes, diners are supposed to be cheap, but prices are up for now, and prices don't usually go back down once they go up. I'm old enough to remember the price lurch from the 90's to the 2000's and the slow creep up through the 2010's. Diners still maintained $10 to $12 breakfasts and kept a burger under $15.

Entering the 2020s with COVID has resulted in a drastic increase in prices, diners haven't weathered this global transition well this time around. Now breakfast at a diner is $15 to $18 and the burger is pushing $22. With prices like that... You may as well go to a more upscale place or a "real restaurant" as some snobbish types might say.

Diners could also stand to join the rest of us in the modern age. Cash-only establishments are a letdown these days. When Inwood was my neighborhood there was a diner at 204th and Broadway that was cash-only for far too long. Diners must enter the modern age and take card payments. Vegan and gluten free options should be available for popular items

Additionally, as the community centers they are, diners should find a way to reward repeat guests. I'd gladly sign up for a reward program at my local diner, an app, a mailing list... Something! So far I've yet to find a diner with a loyalty rewards program, and I think that's something that could help foster community.

Obviously there are still diners in NYC, there's a little over 500 across all five boroughs. But the fact remains that in a world of viral-friendly food spots angling for influencer-driven promotion, the diner is having a hard time defining itself in the restaurant space and defining its clientele.

But I'm still hopeful for the future of diners, where else in the city can a New Yorker confidently stroll in at 9pm at night and order breakfast for dinner?

New Yorkers will always need unpretentious spots. A place where you're welcome as you are, you didn't need a reservation weeks in advance, and you don't need to look at the menu cause you already know it.

I'm having two eggs over medium with corn beef hash, rye toast, and home fries. How about you?

Don't forget to tip.

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