The Plaza Diner

The Plaza Diner

(pictures to come)

By: Bitsy Kuehn (Oneonta, NY)

If you haven't had the pleasure of sitting down for a meal at the Plaza Diner, you sure are missing out. Waitress Alexis Newman, originally of South Jersey and current student at Spa Tech. She moved up to Oneonta when she was 15, has been working for last six years, and she was ever so generous to take some time out of her shift to give me a little bit of a back story about the Plaza.

Owner Taki Karibinis of Athens, Greece opened the Plaza in May of 2015, after closing Corfu, located where Simply Thai currently stands. He opened Corfu after closing the Neptune Diner that the City of Oneonta had come to know and love. Mr. Karibinis gave little warning of the closing of the Neptune, and it was about two years after close that he decided to open up shop again. Much of the staff from the Neptune has followed Mr. Karibinus to work at the Plaza Diner as well. Following the crowd as well were the countless regulars of the Neptune, who have been going there for around 27 years. The Plaza itself has gained many new visitors as well, including a solid Sunday church crowd.

The menu of the Plaza Diner is Mediterranean-American with Greek derivatives. Alexis tells us that when the Neptune closed, there was nowhere you could get any good traditional Greek or Mediterranean food in town. “You just can’t get a good spinach pie anywhere. It’s not really something you can just whip up.” Other traditional dishes served at the Plaza include stuffed grape leaves, gyros, and chicken or pork souvlaki. And don’t worry, all your traditional American breakfast foods like omelets, pancakes, french toast, and eggs benedict are all sensational as well. A young boy named Danny, a next door neighbor says, “I love coming to get my grilled cheese.”

The Plaza is pretty small, but it still gets pretty hectic. “If you come back here any Saturday or Sunday you’ll see us trying to flip tables, get people in and out, and we’re bumping into each other at the same time,” Alexis mentioned. She also shared that they were lucky enough to have a recent expansion. The dining room has just gone from fifteen tables to about thirty, so there’s about double the space for you all to come down and try it out.

Being a waitress myself, I thought it would be fun to ask Alexis if she enjoyed serving college students most of the time. She kindly replied, “Every table is different. You go to one table with a certain personality, and the next with another one. Sure some kids are rude, but so are some of the older people. We know you’re busting your butts out there working and going to school as well, so we get it, and we understand.” Alexis is a much kinda soul than I am.

So the next time you’re walking down main street, stop in at the Plaza Diner. Whether it’s to satisfy your craving for a good gyro, or if you just need to nurse your hangover with some old fashioned breakfast food, the Plaza is a fantastic place to go.