Wayne Hills Diner Survived The Pandemic: 'We're Doing Good'

WAYNE, NJ — No one needs to tell you this, because you’re from New Jersey, so you already know, but there’s something special about a Garden State diner.

Nick Tsambounieris has been a co-owner of Wayne Hills Diner since 1994, but has worked in them for decades.

Though diners didn’t technically start in New Jersey — that claim to fame goes to Providence, Rhode Island — Tsambounieris thinks “New Jersey is the place of the diner.” And his claim that diners were born in New Jersey isn’t wrong, necessarily.

According to the New Jersey State Library, New Jersey was the diner manufacturing capital, with the Jerry O’Mahony Diner Company alone producing 2,000 diners from 1917 to 1941. And the title of diner capital of the world? That does belong to the Garden State.

For Tsambounieris, what makes the diner special is simple: options.

“I think the diner is the best place to eat because they have everything at any time. You can eat steak at dinner time, or you can eat steak at breakfast.”

Aside from his own, Tsambounieris cites Tropicana Diner in Elizabeth as a shining star of the industry, and the place where his personal diner nostalgia lies.

“I used to work there a long time ago, and I think they have very excellent food and good service,” he said.

Though diners have a special place in the heart of New Jersey residents, it didn’t exclude them from hardship during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wayne Hills had to shift to an outdoor dining model, and relied on government aid to stay afloat until people were allowed back at the counter and in the booths.

“Now, since there are people coming back, they’re supporting us, they’re helping us and we’re doing good,” said Tsambounieris.

“We’re doing better. We survived.”

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