Diners, 'the New Jersey thing': Legacies and losses

Whenever a South Jersey diner closes, its customers lament.

Whether it's a fire that destroys the building, financial woes, or owners' exhaustion, the New Jersey staples are missed by regulars.

Olga's Diner in Marlton opened in 1959 and shut down in 2008. The sign remains outside the abandoned building. The Freeway Diner in Deptford, open since 1978, shut down in May 2015. The Crystal Lake Diner in Haddon Township opened in 1990 and hasn't reopened after a two-alarm fire back in 2014.

Most recently, Geets Diner in Williamstown, open since 1942, closed on Aug. 1 due to bankruptcy.

Michael Gabriele, a Clifton resident and author of The History of Diners in New Jersey, said the diner business, which accounts for about 600 establishments statewide, is still "alive and well."

"People love them, and it's part of the New Jersey thing. It's how we eat, how we travel, how we talk," Gabriele said. "It's more than just a place to eat. It defines the state."

While businesses tend to close and open all the time, Gabriele said, there are still new diners popping up or rebranding in and around New Jersey.

However, the diner industry has always been a tough one - the long hours, hard work, and the daily grind of working to please the public can take its toll.

Francis Sylvester - whose nickname was "Geets" - and his wife, Rose, founded Geets diner as a truck stop, which sat at Black Horse Pike and Sicklerville Road.

Monroe Township Mayor Dan Teefy said the diner's closing was sad, noting the iconic landmark that has been the large, red, vertical Geets sign that still faces traffic. Many people used that sign as a means of giving directions, he said.

The memory of Geets, like many diners, travels way beyond Williamstown, though.

Kathryn Sylvester, 48, of Bethany, Conn., is the third-eldest granddaughter of the original Geets founder. She said she used to work at Geets from the age of 12 until she went off to college, and remembers cleaning the bathrooms, wiping down the menus, and waiting tables there.

Her father, Frank, sold the diner in 1987. Sylvester said she had last been to Geets about a month ago.

"We always assumed the diner would always be there," she said. "It was kind of like our legacy."

Sylvester said she can attest to the difficulty of the industry, though. Having a diner also means having a large menu, with a broad range of items to appeal to a variety of people who come through.

The taxes are also high, and food costs have risen, she said, which, with competition, makes it tough to stay afloat. It's hard, daily work, often with minimal to no vacation time, too - but it paid off, she said.

"I'm grateful for it. It really formed my work ethic," said Sylvester, now a lawyer in Connecticut. "It's been heartwarming to see the number of people who are disappointed and affected by [the closure]."

Ron Gorodesky, the president of Restaurant Advisory Services, said the land that many classic New Jersey diners sit on is considered valuable real estate, near busy intersections and road circles. It's harder for independent restaurants to make ends meet and coincide with regulations than it would be for a chain, for example.

"Over time, the value of the real estate became more than the value of the restaurant," he said. "That's especially true in Jersey."

Gabriele echoed this sentiment, adding that when chain restaurants began to move in and become more popular, some diners closed. It also might be the case, he said, that some diner owners that have been running them for 20 years would get tired and then pass them down to the next generations, which might not happen as often now.

The Freeway diner owners posted to its Facebook page last year when it closed, saying that after serving its community for 37 years, they were ready to retire.

"This was 'the Diner' . . . the local hangout at the counter . . . the place where our customers could sit and talk for hours comfortably over lunch or dinner ... where one could go for just coffee and dessert," the post says.

Paul Medany, the Deptford mayor, said there's no update or potential buyer information on the Freeway Diner, which still sits vacant off Route 42.

"We all miss the Freeway," he said. "People are funny with diners - they would hit the same diners, they get to know the waitresses and the owners. That's what the Freeway was like."

Nancy Jamanow, the director of community development in Evesham Township, said the Township Council in late July appointed Genesis Property Management to a redevelopment project, which includes the Olga's Diner site.

The diner structure will be demolished and medical offices will be built there. In September, the project will go before the planning board for approval, she said.

Owners say Haddon Township's Crystal Lake Diner will reopen in the future and they are working on rebuilding.

Gabriele noted that growing up in New Jersey, his favorite stop was the Tick-Tock Diner in Clifton. His favorite part? Not knowing what kind of crowd would be there at any given time.

"A big part of the fun would be you'd never know who'd be there," he said. "It would be all kind of people from all walks of life who had nothing in common. . . . The only place that happens is in a diner."

Some diners close then reopen, or close and get bought out, but if you're willing to run a diner, Gabriele said, "you create something that's like an American treasure."

"Everybody's got a story, everyone has to tell a story about their favorite diner, where they used to go," he said.

eserpico@philly.com

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