A Different Type of Diner

We had planned to go to a rather unique diner after skating at Bryant Park during our trip to Manhattan at Christmastime.  Actually, we had each of our meals planned for our entire trip, even our breakfasts. 

After skating at Bryant park, we walked the few blocks to this diner on Broadway only to find that the line to get into the diner was wrapped around the building and then, as we peered around the corner, we noticed the line was more than a block long!  Instead of waiting on that very long line in the brutal wind and frigid temperatures, we headed to Junior's diner one or two blocks closer to Times Square.  We had only a 10 minute wait there so we had breakfast there.  

Skating at Bryant Park was later than our skating reservation at Rockefeller Center so, by the time we left Bryant Park, we were well into the busy time for breakfast.  I was hoping we would still be early enough to avoid the big crowds but we were not!  Fortunately, I had a few restaurants in mind as backups to each of our meals just in case we encountered a problem like this one.

Since we were driving home the following day rather than taking Amtrak out of Penn Station, we actually had a little extra time to squeeze in an early breakfast that day too so we opted to head to this unique diner on our last morning in Manhattan.  This diner and Times Square were only a few blocks from our hotel.

The diner I'm referring to is on Broadway and named "Ellen's Stardust Diner".  This very popular 50's themed diner is owned by Ellen Hart who was Miss Subway in 1959.  The diner is larger than it appears on the outside.  There are two floors of seating with the upper floor overlooking all the action on the first floor below.  What is especially unique to this restaurant is that all the servers are trying to break into acting in musicals on Broadway so they are performing servers.  The servers took turns singing.  We heard some musical standards, a few Christmas songs (it was Christmas, after all), and some typical "New York City" songs that have become standards.  

This was yet another place where Sheila lamented and reminisced about her mom and how much her mom would have enjoyed herself if she were with us.  We had intended to spend some time in Manhattan and on Long Island with Sheila's parents but, unfortunately, the circle of life had other plans.  So, whenever we saw something Sue would have enjoyed during this trip, we shared stories with Lukey and Kenzie about their Nan.  This musical breakfast was definitely something Sue would have enjoyed.  Actually, I think we would have had difficulty getting her out of there once we had a table!

The food was okay...  typical middle-of-the-road diner breakfast...  nothing to complain about but nothing particularly special either.  What made this breakfast memorable in a very positive way was the entertainment and that is really why we visited this diner.

So, considering the atmosphere and entertainment in this 50's themed diner, we really enjoyed this breakfast and I'm sure we will all remember it fondly!

Just in case our memories do begin to fade a bit over time, I shot a few video clips of some of the performances during our breakfast.  Here is a short video of some of the entertainment...