Diners, to go

GETAWAYS • Upstate

Late last month, the iconic Elizaville Diner hit the real estate market for $1.2M, joining the Red Hook Diner ($1.1M) on the current Houlihan Lawrence roster. In recent years, the Elizaville Diner went from a Bard student haunt to a movie and TV set no longer serving food at all. Since moving to the region last year, I’ve stumbled upon a number of these phantom diners, shiny, vacant, and retro in more ways than one.

Just the other day, on the way to the Camptown Pool, I noticed for the first time a new, empty diner, brought in from elsewhere and planted on Leeds’ Main St. Excited by the prospect of the pancake-to-pool pipeline, I was disappointed when the bartender at nearby Hemlock informed me that it wouldn’t be a diner at all, but some kind of antiques and tchotchkes shop instead (we’ll update you when we know more).

I’m hoping these Hudson Valley slippery-red-leather-boothed icons find owners excited to put some grease back on the grill and avoid the temptation of Hollywood reinvention (or its juice bar appetites). If you’ve been thinking about opening a diner, consider yourself on the clock. –Sylvie Florman