Plainview Diner to close after 50 years
Plain pancakes topped with butter and syrup at the Plainview Diner. Credit: Yvonne Albinowski
On Sept. 25, the Plainview Diner will serve its last Western omelet, Swiss cheeseburger and spinach pie. After 50 years on Old Country Road, owner John Papavasilopoulos is retiring, said his son and partner, Niko Papavasilopoulos.
When Peter Kalamaras opened the diner in 1972, his cousin, John Papavasilopoulos, just arrived from Kalamata, Greece, was in the kitchen washing dishes. The dishwasher worked his way up through the ranks and, around 1990, bought the business from his cousin. (Kalamaras still owns the property.)
John met his wife, Anna, at the diner — she was a server, and he proposed to her in the parking lot — and when the two had children, Niko and Pam also joined the business. “I started working there when I was 8,” Niko recalled. “I’m only 35 and I still remember the old credit card machines.”
Niko said that his father’s retirement was prompted by the diner’s 30-year lease expiring this year. “We had a tough time during the pandemic,” he said, “but business has picked back up recently. Still, this business isn’t what it used to be and it seemed like the right time for my father to retire.” He doubts his uncle will rent the property to another restaurant. “It will probably become a medical building or a bank.”
A beloved local meeting place, the diner wound up in the national spotlight when, in 2016, 86-year-old server Sylvia Smith retired after working there for 43 years. The story went viral, landing Smith on the Rachael Ray show where she received a hug and an eight-day Caribbean cruise. (Smith died earlier this year.)
These are perilous times for LI diners. In 2019, there were about 100 diners in Nassau and Suffolk counties, one of the largest concentrations in the country, but that was about 40 fewer than there were in 1990, according to Newsday data. Among the ones that have closed are the Corinthian in Central Islip, the Paradise in Hauppauge, the Hampton Bays Diner, Franklin Square Diner, Sayville Modern Diner, Lynbrook Diner, Jericho Diner and Syosset House.
As reported in a 2019 Newsday project, diners face competition from fast-casual chains and breakfast-only restaurants, neither of which have to employ the small army of workers that are even more dear in this tight labor market. And, as is the case with the Plainview Diner, property owners are more inclined to lease their land to a bank or a drugstore than to a diner that must surmount all these challenges.
Niko remains bullish on diners, though he thinks that they must change to survive. “They grew so fast and so big,” he said. “That was great for a few years, but now the overhead has become too much. I think diners need to turn the clock back to what they were originally: a small train car with 20 tables, a counter and a grill. After all, where else are you going to find a hot open-turkey sandwich?”
While John and Anna are retiring, Niko and his sister Pam will still be in the hospitality business: They opened Parea in Huntington Village in 2018. “Still,” he said, “it’s going to be strange waking up in the morning and not wondering what’s going on in the diner.”
A previous version of this story said the East Bay Diner had closed in Bellmore; it has relocated to Seaford. The Empress Diner in East Meadow is now known as the Grand Stage Diner.
On Sept. 25, the Plainview Diner will serve its last Western omelet, Swiss cheeseburger and spinach pie. After 50 years on Old Country Road, owner John Papavasilopoulos is retiring, said his son and partner, Niko Papavasilopoulos.
When Peter Kalamaras opened the diner in 1972, his cousin, John Papavasilopoulos, just arrived from Kalamata, Greece, was in the kitchen washing dishes. The dishwasher worked his way up through the ranks and, around 1990, bought the business from his cousin. (Kalamaras still owns the property.)
John met his wife, Anna, at the diner — she was a server, and he proposed to her in the parking lot — and when the two had children, Niko and Pam also joined the business. “I started working there when I was 8,” Niko recalled. “I’m only 35 and I still remember the old credit card machines.”
Niko said that his father’s retirement was prompted by the diner’s 30-year lease expiring this year. “We had a tough time during the pandemic,” he said, “but business has picked back up recently. Still, this business isn’t what it used to be and it seemed like the right time for my father to retire.” He doubts his uncle will rent the property to another restaurant. “It will probably become a medical building or a bank.”
A beloved local meeting place, the diner wound up in the national spotlight when, in 2016, 86-year-old server Sylvia Smith retired after working there for 43 years. The story went viral, landing Smith on the Rachael Ray show where she received a hug and an eight-day Caribbean cruise. (Smith died earlier this year.)
These are perilous times for LI diners. In 2019, there were about 100 diners in Nassau and Suffolk counties, one of the largest concentrations in the country, but that was about 40 fewer than there were in 1990, according to Newsday data. Among the ones that have closed are the Corinthian in Central Islip, the Paradise in Hauppauge, the Hampton Bays Diner, Franklin Square Diner, Sayville Modern Diner, Lynbrook Diner, Jericho Diner and Syosset House.
As reported in a 2019 Newsday project, diners face competition from fast-casual chains and breakfast-only restaurants, neither of which have to employ the small army of workers that are even more dear in this tight labor market. And, as is the case with the Plainview Diner, property owners are more inclined to lease their land to a bank or a drugstore than to a diner that must surmount all these challenges.
Niko remains bullish on diners, though he thinks that they must change to survive. “They grew so fast and so big,” he said. “That was great for a few years, but now the overhead has become too much. I think diners need to turn the clock back to what they were originally: a small train car with 20 tables, a counter and a grill. After all, where else are you going to find a hot open-turkey sandwich?”
While John and Anna are retiring, Niko and his sister Pam will still be in the hospitality business: They opened Parea in Huntington Village in 2018. “Still,” he said, “it’s going to be strange waking up in the morning and not wondering what’s going on in the diner.”
A previous version of this story said the East Bay Diner had closed in Bellmore; it has relocated to Seaford. The Empress Diner in East Meadow is now known as the Grand Stage Diner.
