By Rick Steelhammer | The Charleston Gazette | Feb. 4, 2010

Quarrier Diner

An art deco landmark in downtown Charleston since it opened in 1946, the popular restaurant seated 300 customers, operating from before dawn to long after dark until it closed in 1999. Since then, it has been looked at as a site for a new Kanawha County Library and the locale for a proposed FBI office building, among other developments.

Photo by Ron Dylewski

Battle said an experienced investor is interested in buying the diner and reopening it as a restaurant, if it can be saved from being converted into a site for an office building.

Robert Sheets, who operated the Tap Room bar in the Quarrier Diner's basement for 10 years after the upstairs dining facility closed, said the secluded pub, which opened in 1947, may be the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the nation. "It's a place where people felt safe," Sheets said. "If they went somewhere else, they would be persecuted."

From meetings in the Tap Room, such organizations as West Virginia Pride and the Metropolitan Community Church got their start, Sheets said. "There's a hidden history there, and it should be saved -- it's something we all should be proud of," he said. "By respecting history, we respect each other more."

By Thomas Tracy | From YourNabe.com | Jan. 25, 2010

It’s a plan of expansion and contraction that’s bound to give local diner lovers indigestion.

As they wolfed down their mouth-watering burgers or any number of three-star restaurant style entrees, customers at the Kings Plaza Diner were finding it hard to swallow a rumor that the famed eatery could be closed by next year.

The stomach-churning whispers were made public at last week’s Community Board 18 meeting, when District Manager Dottie Turano told the crowd that a Bed, Bath & Beyond was believed to open in the large property at 4125 Avenue U, once the award winning (the Daily News named it Diner of the Year) and Zagat-rated restaurant (readers praised its value and specialized cuisines) was closed.

“They must have gotten a tremendous amount of money to sell such a long established diner like this one,” said one surprised longtime diner patron. “This diner has been here for many, many years. I guess the mighty dollar speaks.”

But all may not be lost.

According to sources, the Kings Plaza Diner, which has quelled neighborhood hunger pangs for over 30 years, won’t close until after they expand their eatery empire and open a sister restaurant at the former Retro 50s diner on Cropsey Avenue in Coney Island, which can be seen off exit 6 on the Belt Parkway. The Retro 50s Diner, formerly the Nebraskan Diner, has been closed for nearly two years, diner lovers said.

Diner at it appeared in the '70s. © Ron Dylewski

After a previous bid to reorganize under Bankruptcy Court supervision was dismissed less than a year ago, the Highland Park Diner again is asking for the court's protection from creditors.

The new filing comes as the prominent local eatery faces a foreclosure action filed by its previous owner and as it struggles with state and federal tax woes.

Its previous owner, Robert Malley, who in the early 1980s revived it as a restaurant, retired and sold the business to its current owner, Evangelos Zissis, several years ago.

Zisco Restaurant LLC, which does business as the Highland Park Diner, filed its most recent Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rochester on Dec. 28. The filing states that Zissis is the corporation's sole member. The petition lists Zisco's current assets at $145,800 and liabilities at $446,923.

In 2006, Zissis inked a $127,500 mortgage on the restaurant property at 960 S. Clinton Ave. with Malley's real estate company, Malcro Corp.

In November, Malcro filed a notice of foreclosure against the eatery, according to records on file with the Monroe County Clerk's Office. Malcro's current claim on the South Clinton Avenue tract and diner building stands at $99,000, the restaurant's bankruptcy petition states.

Zissis said in an interview this week that a balloon payment on the mortgage is due and he currently would have difficulty paying in full. He filed the Chapter 11 petition in hope of restructuring the loan but has not discussed the possibility with Malley.

Malley did not return a call seeking comment.

The camera leaned in on the salty, slippery American classic — Spam.

Kim A. Kniskern, cook and owner of the Miss Worcester Diner on Southbridge Street, demonstrated how to properly fry the pink stuff, then set it on a platter garnished with eggs, toast and home fries.

The camera zoomed in.

Watch The Learning Channel in a few months and you might see this very dish. The Miss Worcester Diner is scheduled to have its very own episode in a TLC series about exclusive dining destinations. The historic diner was picked from hundreds across the country, according to Ms. Kniskern.

A camera crew, led by a producer from New York, filmed for hours at the diner yesterday, starting well before dawn. They shot the outside of the dining car and the inside, the bacon sizzling, the silverware clanking, the people shouting, the barstools, the coffee mugs and the Red Sox paraphernalia covering the walls.

In between frying eggs, serving customers and generally managing things, Ms. Kniskern, wearing a fitted “Miss Woo” T-shirt, paused to say a few words in front of the camera, coached by producer Laura J.E. Marini.

The Miss Worcester offered a cozy respite to dozens of hungry people yesterday. It is a quintessential American diner, where comfort food comes in big portions for small prices, where home fries and lively conversation are never in short supply.