NYCs Theater District provides ideal home for new…
Diner 24 is getting an encore of kinds, opening new digs in New York City’s Theater District where clients will probably be serenaded by singing waiters while chowing down on basic eats, Side Dish has discovered.
The new two-story space is slated to open late next month at 1674 Broadway, a landmarked building run by the Emmes Group.
Think “Zorba the Greek,” “Mamma Mia,” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” said proprietor Stratis Morfogen.
The new two-story space is slated to open late next month at 1674 Broadway, a landmarked building run by the Emmes Group. Pauls Signs Inc
“That’s not a Broadway show, but it is theatrical and great entertainment. There will be lots of fun stuff,” he said.
Still, clients will probably be in a position to get an genuine expertise while they eat – 5 of about 16 singing waiters employed so far have Broadway and off-Broadway expertise, according to the restaurateur.
“They don’t have steady work, and that’s why they want to do this now,” Morfogen explained.
The authentic Diner 24 in Gramercy was famed for its “church ladies” — grandmas identified as yia yias in Greek — who got here out of retirement to create do-it-yourself Greek dessert specialties with their own recipes.
It has grown so fast in the past two years, with gross sales leaping from $2.5 million to $6 million a 12 months, that the 2 “yia yias” in their 70s and 80s now work for John Nikolopoulos, or “papou” — which suggests grandfather in Greek — out of his Brooklyn commissary and bakery.
Customers will probably be in a position to get an genuine expertise while they eat – 5 of about 16 singing waiters employed so far have Broadway and off-Broadway expertise, according to Stratis Morfogen. World Red Eye
Nikolopoulos just celebrated his ninetieth birthday. He has been baking American, French and Greek desserts for the past 75 years.
“I feel very good. I’m strong,” Nikolopoulos told Side Dish, scoffing at the thought of retiring. He is thought for making scrumptious cheesecake and baklava, as effectively as bagels, breads, purple velvet muffins and apple pies.
While the candy treats will probably be served in both diners, only Diner 24 in the Theater District comes with singing waiters.
The Theatre District space will seat 235 people with an extra 16 seats exterior and comes with singing waiters. Daniel Kwak
Theater, Morfogen says, is an element of his DNA. Actors in the household embrace his late uncle, stage and screen veteran George Morfogen, who appeared in the collection, “Oz.”
“The new Diner 24 comes full circle for me,” Morfogen said.
The Theatre District space will seat 235 people with an extra 16 seats exterior. It consists of a stage upstairs with a 20-foot runway that divides the cubicles for the performers to be elevated above the company, with stage lighting.
“I want it to feel like an off-Broadway play,” Morfogen said. “There will be so much energy upstairs. We have great food and the performances. It’s exciting for the consumer. It’s dinner and a show and the only place on Broadway where the show never closes.”
The menu will comply with the success of the first Diner 24, in Gramercy, he added.
“I found a formula with Diner 24,” Morfogen said. “We created a diner that is more focused on the new generation, with fresh produce, no longer dependent on a six-page, plastic-coated menu that’s driven from the freezer,” Morfogen said.
“We found a niche, a ‘diner 2.0’ version that is working — with big burgers, crazy shakes and all-day breakfast.”
The menu will comply with the success of the first Diner 24, in Gramercy, Morfogen said. Daniel Kwak
The new Theater District opening got here about organically, he said.
Another restaurateur had invested tens of millions in the space and walked away during a friends-and-family week — and that’s when the Emmes Group reached out, according to Morfogen.
They labored out a revenue-sharing model for rent and a strategy including pricing, which will probably be barely greater at the new spot than in Gramercy.
Burgers, for instance, are $10 at the Gramercy location and $12 in the Theater District, with double-decker smash burgers costing $19 in Gramercy and $23 in the Theater District. The new space will also have a shake bar.
Prices will probably be barely greater in the Theater District. Daniel Kwak
“We are confident that sales in the area will be robust,” Morfogen said.
He initially needed to add performances to Diner 24 in Gramercy, but the space was smaller: 1,500 sq. ft with 75 seats.
“But we go all out for birthdays, with singing waiters and sparklers,” he said.
The Gramercy location advantages from hospitals, police and other establishments with evening employees, as effectively as 16 bars within a few blocks.
“We cater to them all. Midnight to 5 a.m. is our busiest time,” Morfogen said.
“We are confident that sales in the area will be robust,” Morfogen says. Daniel Kwak
Meanwhile at 1674 Broadway, the building — which once housed Birdland, where Count Bassie and Ella Fitzgerlad carried out — just lately welcomed The Lambs, the oldest skilled theatrical membership, based in 1874.
Diner 24’s enlargement comes as Pearl Diner, a stand-alone, one-story construction surrounded by skyscrapers, closed in FiDi earlier this month after 64 years in business.
Morfogen, who grew up working Greek diners with his late father, needs to buy both Pearl Diner and the Ritz Diner, which just lately closed after a stable 25 years on the Upper East Side.
The authentic Diner 24 in Gramercy. Daniel Kwak
“I would love to buy them back. They are nostalgia,” said Morfogen, including that he would take an strategy of, “I’m not in the restaurant business, I’m in the theater business,.”
He’s also taking a trendy strategy, factoring in social media and noting that with “viral content on TikTok, you can fill a tree house in Antarctica with lines out the door.”
And, he’s eyeing new outposts past the Big Apple.
“We are looking to expand the concept not just in New York but across the country,” he said.
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