Caldwell Diner Owners Consider Options After Fire

Whether it's for the daily soup specials, the ability to grab a reasonably priced meal any time of day or the famous pancakes—considered by many to be among the best in the state—there's no doubt area residents are missing the Caldwell Diner.

The longstanding Bloomfield Avenue restaurant has been boarded up since a fire tore through the structure during the early-morning hours Saturday, causing significant damage to the diner's ceiling and roof.

The smell of smoke still lingered on Monday and it remains uncertain when and if the diner will re-open without the building needing to be torn down.

"Today is like the first day. It's Monday," said Soto Apostolopoulos, standing outside the diner his parents, Gus and Penny, have owned since 1997.

Apostolopoulos said he is amazed at the outpouring of support his family has received over the last few days from the community.

According to Caldwell Fire Chief Tony Grenci, the fire remains under investigation, but is being treated as an accident. More details will be released once a full report has been completed, he said.

In the meantime, an orange sticker has been affixed to the boarded up windows that declares the structure as unsafe.

"This building is declared unsafe for human occupancy," the sign reads. "No individual is to occupy this building until the structure is rendered safe and secure."

As the Apostolopoulos family waits to hear the fate of the one-story building at 332 Bloomfield Ave., they are considering diverting their customers temporarily to their other Caldwell restaurant, Taximi, located just a few doors down at 348 Bloomfield Ave.

"We're considering opening up for breakfast and lunch [at Taximi]," Soto Apostolopoulos said. "We're definitely going to get Caldwell Diner back as soon as possible."

Perhaps no one in the area is more reminded of the loss than Frank Delli Santi. The front windows of his business, Caldwell Flowerland, almost perfectly frame the Caldwell Diner from across the street.

"It's going to be missed, hopefully they'll rebuild," said Delli Santi, who owns the building Flowerland is in as well as another commercial property down the street. "It just makes you so vulnerable … a fire can change everything."

Delli Santi found out about the fire when he came to open his business on Saturday morning, as did many of the surrounding merchants.

Andrea Astorga, who co-owns Fruit Basket King with her sister, said she learned about the fire on Saturday at around 8:30 a.m., when she arrived and the roads in the area were closed. While the fire broke out at about 3:20 a.m., the scene wasn't completely cleared until 10:30 a.m.

"We've been going to that diner as far back as we could remember," said Astorga, who grew up in West Caldwell and now lives in Belleville.

Astorga said she and her sister, Deana Sroka, would get lunch at the Caldwell Diner at least three times a week, usually opting for the daily soup specials.

"Me and my sister, we have a running joke," she said. "We have 'pea soup Thursdays.' That's our favorite."

The fire was contained to the one-story building, avoiding Anne Filkin Lamps & Shades, which is located only a few feet away to the east. The building to the west, which includes apartment units, is separated from the diner by a driveway and also avoided damage.

Dave Switalski, who lives above Flowerland and is an employee of nearby Paintland, said he was home during the fire and managed to sleep through the whole thing.

"I didn't realize it until the next day when I tried to open the store," he said, adding that he grabbed lunch at the diner at least once a week.

Another regular was Jerry Smith, co-owner of Roseland-based Dial Pest Control. Smith and members of his crew met at the diner at 7 a.m., every other week for three months in the spring before their season started. They planned to resume this schedule after the summer.

"It's definitely going to impact us if they don't open," Smith said, adding that the diner was a convenient location and offered enough space for him and his staff to hold their breakfast meetings.

"Now we have to figure out where we're going to go," he said.

Smith is also a commercial property owner in Caldwell and is president of Project Main Street, a non-profit group of volunteers who work to preserve downtown Caldwell's historic qualities.

"It's our hope that maybe we can influence in some indirect way that [the diner] be renovated and restored, rather than tearing it down," Smith said.

The landmark structure was built in 1949, and was previously home to the Colony Diner.

"Any change would probably alter the way the street looks," Smith said.