Eatery spices up its looks by hauling in Boston diner car
Alison Dietz | The Chronicle-Telegram
GRAFTON — Instead of knocking down walls and hiring an architect to plan out an addition to Nancy’s Mainstreet Diner, the owners chose a different path.
And it’s a rather unique one.
They bought a diner that formerly called Boston home and are trucking it into Grafton from its current Cleveland location. The 60-year-old diner will be hauled today in by truck and placed in the foundation that already has been carved out for it right next to Nancy’s.
Over the next few weeks, the diner car will be made into the front entrance, with a doorway connecting it to the existing building.
Nancy’s owners, Rick and Denise Shutek, expect the new, larger restaurant to be finished by the end of the month and say it will liven up the diner’s current building, which is boxish and rather nondescript.
“I’ve always thought that if you were driving through town for the first time, you’d drive right by it,” Rick Shutek said.
Adding the diner car will make Nancy’s that much easier to spot, and the addition is also sparking a new look for the existing building.
That’s because the car is decked out in stainless steel and porcelain, and the Shuteks will be renovating the front of the existing building to match its colors and lines.
The interior of the restaurant will also be getting a makeover. The current color scheme is red, white and blue, but all of that will go away to make room for jazzier new black-and-teal tables, chairs and booths. The booths will have the name of the restaurant embroidered on the back cushions.
The restaurant was built in 1978 but was not Nancy’s Mainstreet Diner until Nancy and Bob McCarrick purchased it in 1984. The Shuteks have owned the diner for a year and a half, ever since they bought it from Denise Shutek’s parents.
In its 24 years, Nancy’s has developed a loyal customer base.
“I’d say 80 percent of our customers are repeat customers,” Denise Shutek said.
They have regulars who come in every day and even a couple of businessmen who come in every day for a week about every six months.
Shutek attributes the loyalty to the friendly waitresses and the restaurant’s homemade food. All of the meats are fresh, never frozen, and everything but the french fries is made right in the kitchen. Shutek will even cook meals that are not on the menu, provided she has the ingredients and the customer is willing to wait an extra few minutes.
Nancy’s currently seats 48 people and is usually standing-room-only on the weekends. Making it larger has been a topic of discussion for about three years.
A solution came when Denise Shutek’s father saw a special on the Food Network about Steve Harwin, a Cleveland-based diner restorer. Shutek called around and finally found Harwin, who had a few diners she and her husband could look at.
One of these was the Big Dig Diner, which served the workers on Boston’s Big Dig from 1995 to 2003. It was chosen by the Shuteks not for its history, but for its look and the 30 extra seats it would provide.
They didn’t even know the history until it was revealed to them by an e-mail from a diner aficionado who had heard that Nancy’s would be the famous diner’s new home.
And that good news traveled fast.
Since the announcement of Nancy’s as the new location for the Big Dig Diner, there have been calls to the restaurant from as far away as Youngstown and Michigan. Car clubs in cities across the state are looking forward to seeing the diner in operation again.
Already, car enthusiasts pack the diner on Monday nights. That’s a designated “cruise-in” night, when owners of classic cars fill the parking lot and the grass around it.
Diners are popular with the average American, as well.
“People will actually plan trips to go to mom and pop diners,” Rick Shutek said.
Contact Alison Dietz at 329-7128 or metro@chroniclet.com.
| |
|
Filed by Alison Dietz | The Chronicle-Telegram July 21st, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 14% |
 Email this story
 Print this story
Read comments and discuss this story
Report an innappropriate comment
|
In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement
and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here. If you are registered, click here to log in.
Comments
Comment from
DinerHistoryStaff
July 21, 2008, 3:30 pm
We have posted an entry in our blog about this last week.
http://dinerhistory.blogspot.com/2008/07/former-big-dig-diner.html
Comment from
jimbo
July 21, 2008, 11:23 pm
do yourselves a favor and stop in Nancy’s for a slice of their coconut cream pie or pork tenderloin sandwich.
There aren’t too many greasy spoon joints left, but Nancy’s is the real deal.
For those from lorain or elyria, it is the perfect place to eat at after visiting your loved ones in the prisons right around the corner.
Comment from
Mike44035
July 22, 2008, 6:32 pm
Jimbo, nice of you to think that everyone from Lorain and Elyria only come to Grafton because we have “loved ones” in the Grafton Prisons. If that is the mentality of the “80 percent of our customers are repeat customers” at Nancy’s, I don’t know if I care to ever step foot in there.
Grafton is a nice community and I dare to think that the Grafton Prisons are not the first thing to come to mind when thinking of Grafton.
Comment from
Dan S.
July 22, 2008, 7:30 pm
No offense, but when out of towners come to Grafton to visit, where do they go other than the prison to visit inmates?
When I think of Grafton, I’m thinking orange jump suits.
Write a Comment