Whatever Happened to ... the Newark Diner?

The Newark Diner was a classic diner in Wayne County, an authentic Sterling Diner car of the sort that resemble train cars and evoke memories of yesteryear.

The place oozed nostalgia with stools lining the Formica counter, stainless steel behind the counter, a white tile floor and barrel-vaulted ceiling and, at one time, coin-operated wall-model jukeboxes beside the booths. Plenty of hash browns and hamburgers and hot coffee were served over the years.

Crews from the popular soap opera General Hospital once filmed scenes at the Newark Diner, gaining the place national attention. And unlike so many subjects of the Whatever Happened to…? column, this one still exists – albeit under a new name, in Buffalo.

Here's where it started

The diner debuted on Union Street (Route 31) in Newark in 1939 as Scofield’s Diner, originally owned by the Scofield family, who also had a Buick car dealership and a gas station. The diner car was built by the J.B. Judkins Company of Merrimac, Mass. and made in 4-foot sections that were bolted together on location.

Decades later, Mitch Broder visited and wrote a story for the Democrat and Chronicle.

“The Newark Diner beckons from the side of the road in light-yellow enamel and bright-red trim,” Broder wrote in the 1986 feature. “It looks like it is waiting for wheels and a track so it can chug downtown…It still has its original walls of yellow baked enamel, complete with maroon accents and mahogany trim.”

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A 1958 news story mentioned an overnight fire at “the large Scofield’s Diner on East Union Street,” with damage estimated to be in the thousands of dollars. The diner apparently rebounded quickly.

The Scofields sold the place in 1975 and new owner John Reynolds renamed it the Newark Family Diner. He had a sense of humor – or more precisely, a weather weariness – that was on display one winter.

Ok, it's cold weather

Reynolds put up a sign that read “It Sure Is” near the diner entrance. Jack Jones wrote a Democrat and Chronicle story in January 1985 explaining that the proclamation was in response to “predictable cold weather chit-chat.”

“When I came in here Sunday morning, everybody who walked in said, ‘Sure is cold out there.’ ‘This weather is freezing.’ ‘Sure is nasty weather we’ve got.’ And I finally decided I’d talked about it long enough,” Reynolds told Jones. Most customers understood what the sign meant – but, as Reynolds added, “Inevitably, some people don’t see it and say ‘Sure is some cold weather we’re having.’ I just point to the sign.”

Reynolds sold the diner that year to Jim and Betty McBride. He had worked for the Loblaws supermarket chain in Syracuse and had operated a Bells supermarket in Newark before that.

The place continued to be a popular spot for nearby regulars to kibitz and for those who traveled further to enjoy an authentic diner. Manager Dave George was described as “the kind of guy who greets even the patrons he doesn’t know; the kind of guy who, when appropriate, will read the paper out loud.” Another news account mentioned George talking about when actors Roy Rogers and Red Buttons ate at the diner in the 1940s.

Luke and Laura were here

And then, in the ‘90s, Hollywood came calling at the Newark Diner. The cast and crew of General Hospital descended on the Rochester area for filming. Scenes were shot at Brown’s Race and the Liberty Pole in Rochester, at Letchworth State Park, and at the Newark Diner.

The Newark scenes featured “a resurrection of historic significance” – the return of the celebrated couple Luke and Laura Spencer. Played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis, the couple “intertwined for years in a slightly twisted, high-adventure relationship that almost single-handedly made General Hospital the highest-rated daytime drama in television history,” as a Democrat and Chronicle story noted.

Crowds showed up to watch the action from outside the Newark Diner, which was renamed the Triple L Diner for the show. “All the people outside were shrieking ‘Luke! Luke! And every now and then, he would come out and wave,” one official said in a news story.

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Owners of the Newark Diner kept the faux “Triple L Diner” sign up outside for another year “so the tourists could find their way there.” Then it was back to “Newark Diner,” or “McBride’s Newark Diner.”

The McBrides sold the diner in 2013. The diner car was loaded onto a tractor-trailer and hauled to Ohio, where it was refurbished. When the work was done, it was taken to Buffalo, where it opened in 2017 as the Swan Street Diner. The new owners retained all the fixtures and all the memorabilia.

And so, for a change, you can still check out the subject of a Whatever Happened to…? feature, just in a new locale and with a different name.

Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.

About this feature

Whatever Happened to ...? is a weekly feature about Rochester's haunts of yesteryear and is based on our archives. Got an idea for a feature? Send it to cbenjami@gannett.com.