Relics of a bygone era

Whether you were a group of teenagers piling into a booth sharing milkshakes and fries, ducking into a 24-hour spot in the early morning hours after a late night of drinking, catching up with family from out of town or going on a casual date – diners were the way to go.

Their expansive menus were sure to have something for everyone, their prices wouldn’t break the bank and they were always open – most of them. But these staples are dwindling relics of a bygone era.

During the pandemic, the Riverdale Diner closed its doors and reopened briefly in 2022 but shuttered again due to a kitchen fire. For years, a sign on the door read, “Closed for renovation. Look for our grand reopening.” But the reopening is nowhere in sight and the future looks bleak.

Riverdale Diner could seat upwards of 100 people with two separate and sprawling sections. The front had a counter and booths along the window with quarter-operated mini jukeboxes. You could curate your musical experience and slip into a nostalgic trance while enjoying your eggs and toast.

The servers would walk around with a pot of coffee, greeting customers by name, asking them about their grandkids and their weekends or have light-hearted conversations about the weather or chew the fat over the latest gossip. Both in age and ethnicity, the clientele and staff of Riverdale Diner reflected the diversity of the community.

“The best banana foster French toast,” one user wrote on the Back in the Bronx Facebook page. “The best grilled Swiss cheese/bacon on rye,” wrote another.

Owned by the Singh family, Shortstop Diner and Coffee Shop sat off 242nd Street for 30 years before shutting its doors in 2017. The quaint eatery was publicized a few years prior when Jerry Seinfeld entered with Amy Schumer for his Netflix show, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”

With its proximity to Van Cortlandt Park and the 1 train, the eatery was never empty, often occupied by a familiar face, as locals testified to feeling like family whenever they entered the diner’s doors.

The Shortstop is now The Last Stop, a college-friendly bar, catering to a young college crowd.

The problem is pervasive across the city. Neptune Diner in Astoria closed last year after four decades and amid final struggles, the pandemic was the last straw for Gem Spa, which served egg creams to the East Village for a century before closing in 2020.

According to a 2024 Crain’s New York Business article, “Rising costs, family dynamics take a toll on city’s diners,” rising food and supply costs, inflation and a dwindling customer base is to blame. Others speculate that owners, getting older with time, rather sell the valuable NYC real estate their storefront sits on and retire into the sunset.

Something else worth noting is this post-COVID which normalized eating at home or getting food delivered, with companies like DoorDash and UberEats seeing record-setting numbers in revenue. While diners were closing, Chipotles, Shake Shacks and Chik-fil-As were opening, ushering in a new age of eating.

Riverdale Diner. What once was a booming, bustling business is now a skeleton of itself; a quiet eyesore in an empty lot along Kingsbridge Avenue; a reminder of the good-old-days when prices were reasonable, and rents were affordable.