Friday, November 23, 2018
Shalimar Diner closing forever on Sunday
From the Queens Chronicle:
After more than 40 years in Rego Park, the Shalimar Diner will close its doors for good on Sunday.
The Shalimar Diner, located at 63-68 Austin St., is the latest eating establishment to close in the borough. In recent years, the Scobee Diner in Little Neck, the Palace Diner in Flushing, the Future Diner in Fresh Meadows and the Flagship Diner in Briarwood have all gone out of business.
In July 2016, Shalimar owner Chris Karayiannis told the Chronicle “I don’t know how long I can last,” in response to the rising costs of running a diner.
One waitress said that the rent was raised and that the landlord offered a 20-year lease but a deal didn’t happen.
It’s a far cry from 1977, when The New York Times mentioned the Shalimar Diner in an article titled “Diners Strike It Rich.” Diners were growing in appeal to families and not just truckers and taxi drivers.
According to the article, “on weekends, hundreds of people form lines in the diners’ parking lots from Rego Park to Bayside to Douglaston.”
NYCDOT helps close diners, too.
18 comments:
Diners today Suck. They will make a killing on real estate money. If you think this is bad open your own diner is see how hard it is.
I bet no one on this site has been her all year long.
Bye .Queens.
They don’t own the property and therefore can’t make a killing on real estate money.
running a business is hard. running a business in nyc is harder.
I've been going to the Shalimar a few times a year for twenty years at least. The quality of the food was always decent.
The Day of the Diner is Dead!
I live at 108 / 62nd Drive. I wish there were a place nearer to me to get a regular old hamburger or something rather than having to trudge for half an hour on foot to the T-Bone diner.
Another factor about the diners fading out is not only the customers getting older, but the loss of customers that can't afford to eat out anymore because of stagnant income.
I love diners, being that I am not a pretentious gourmand nor rich, I used to frequent diners a lot in the 90's and 00's. I haven't been to one in almost 8 years and I actually miss the charm and atmosphere of them, especially those crappy jukeboxes. Better than McDonalds or checkers and shitty ass shake shack any day.
I heard their Thanksgiving dinner kicked ass.
Great now they will tear the diner down and build some tacky building
Another piece of old NY gone. Welcome to the homogenized 21st century.
As for trudging over to T-Bone, those days may be limited too. I see the business for sale on the MLS for 850k, not sure if someone new would buy it and take over or if they'd get rid of it completely and put a taller structure there. It's a very prime spot for more crap.
This city and state don't give a crap about the small businesses. It's all about entitlement programs all day long. Meanwhile, business 101 will teach you that 65% of all jobs are created by small businesses across the nation.
Diners are a middle class affair. They're not fast foot with their dollar menus (although ironically the number 1 meal will now set you back about $10 dollars anyway). The diners were about middle class values with big ass menus and all you could eat servings. Deluxe meals with 1/2 pound burgers and half an onion on top with cheese of course. Enough fries to make a cardiologist cringe and not one but two slices of pickle on the side with a cup of cole slaw!
...those days are gone now with only a few remaining. There's a good one on Crossbay Blvd. in Howard Beach (The Crossbay Diner), you know the kind with a huge menu because the middle class was always optimistic and what better than a huge menu to match your ambitions.These days that's either an offense to tepid snowflakes or an alien language to the EBT crowds.
There's another one further North on Crossbay where it turns to Woodhaven Blvd. just before the A train. I like the one on Metropolitan Ave. right in the heart of Glendale, it still has small jukeboxes at each table.
I got to eat at the Lindenwood diner a couple of times, that's the one where they filmed Goodfellas. It's technically in Brooklyn but Lindenwood is solidly Queens. It's all updated and new looking now though.
The Shalimar was always good because the location was convenient for shopping. There's a good one on Queens Blvd. just a few blocks East of LaGuardia Community, it's been there for ages.
Of course I remember the Georgia Diner. Who didn't stop there after a night in the city. If you were in a rush you'd stop at the White Castle on Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside or next to the Queens Center mall, if you had time to chat it was the Georgia Diner. If it was an all-nighter, you hung out at the Astor Cafe (that diner with a view of the metal cube, when it still rotated). That one was turned into a Kmart, adding insult to injury.
....diners, enjoy them while you can.
Harry Haller
Diner food sucks. That's why they are closing. If the food was fresh and the servers professional they would be able to stay in bussiness. The children of the owners don't want to go into the bussiness anyway. Let's remember they are just bussiness's ,less Diner's are not going to hurt or help NYc or Queens become better.
Get out soon.
Great diner list Harry. I used to frequent the one in Ozone Park a lot, it's called the esquire. The one south of Cross Bay in Howard is solid too and it probably has the best food and servings in all of Queens
I haven't been to the Lindewood Diner in a while, I don't see that shutting down, it's the only place to eat out around there and for some reason that area is not on REBNY's radar.
Even #ManifestHillary and her philandering husband visited Queens diners to pander to voters.
The only diner I have seen survive the changing demographics is Kane's in Flushing, the new locals love the food, its the only good diner left in Queens. Its kind of surprising to see how it thrives considering that area is almost completely Asian. Steak and Eggs, also the best pancakes ever, also their chocolate milk shake, the best.
Some pizza shops have managed to survive changes as well, Amore in College Point going strong in an area that is now mostly Asian. One of the few old school pizza shops left, its so good I will brave the Asian drivers to go there. Amore is superior to all the vaunted places in Brooklyn that the food "critics" love to say is the best.
@Anonymous said...
"Get out soon"
"Diner food sucks. That's why they are closing"
I love a good Diner especially when on a road trip with my American SUV !
#snowflake
#Millennial
What is the landlord now asking for rent, $80,000 a month ?
You can bet housing tower will go up
I think perhaps the only good diner (now)in Queens is Jackson Hole.
Classic Diner in Richmond Hill has best food but it’s a small place although it does have parking. The aforementioned Georgia Diner is great too. I wouldn’t eat anything at the T-Bone but burgers and breakfast!
AAA in Forest Hills
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