But are American diners truly on their way out? I went to New Jersey’s busiest diner, and one of the state’s oldest, to find out.
New Jersey is the diner capital of America, boasting more than any other state. But even there, it’s estimated that 150 have closed in the last decade.
I visited Tops Diner in East Newark, New Jersey, on a Wednesday morning.
I visited Tops, the busiest diner in the state.
David Degner/Business Insider
Located just a 45-minute drive outside Manhattan, Tops is in a prime location to get traffic from New York City, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. It serves nearly 13,000 people a week.
Right off the bat, I was shocked by how huge it was.
The new interior has 15,900 square feet and soaring ceilings. But you still see homages to diners with booths, stools, and chrome.
David Degner/Business Insider
Tops is a far cry from the diners of my youth. Four hundred people can squeeze into these tan booths. Dozens of workers buzz around the floor. And music blasts overhead.
I was also surprised at how packed it was on a Wednesday morning.
Making Pasta in tops Diner Kitchen
Abby Narishkin
For the middle of the week, I thought it’d be quieter. Boy, was I wrong. Behind the scenes, the kitchen was firing food nonstop. Cooks go through 21,600 eggs a week. Stephen McCormick, the Executive Chef of Tops, told me people order pasta with Alfredo sauce at 8 in the morning, and stacks of pancakes late at night.
The menu is massive.
There are more than 325 items on the menu.
David Degner/Business Insider
Many of the plates pull inspiration from around the world: a Mexico City burger, Dominican Breakfast, beignets, Lomo Saltado, and Bang Bang Shrimp. The prices were steeper than I was expecting: $7 for a chai latte and $27 for eggplant Parmesan.
The Latin Steak and Eggs were delicious.
The Latin twist of the diner classic, steak and eggs, came complete with a tortilla, pico de gallo, and lots of avocado.
David Degner/Business Insider
I tried a lot of dishes. The big serving of fried chicken and waffles ($26) had a nice crisp to it. The waffles were big and fluffy.
I had never seen Philly cheesesteak egg rolls on a diner menu before.
David Degner/Business Insider
The egg rolls ($15) came with a sweet and spicy Thai chili and honey mustard sauce. I was impressed with how much Philly cheesesteak flavor they packed into a tiny bite. But these were so rich that I probably wouldn’t be able to eat a full order alone.
My favorite bite? The tower of Disco Fries.
David Degner/Business Insider
This is a New Jersey classic: a pile of fries smothered in gravy and topped with melty mozzarella. The gravy was rich, the cheese deliciously springy, and the fries somehow held their crunch. This is such an indulgent dish. I can see why Disco Fries are a favorite late-night eat in the state.
Despite its size, Tops makes a lot of food from scratch.
Chefs mix loads of coleslaw by hand.
Abby Narishkin
To make the gravy for the Disco Fries, the restaurant roasts vegetables and bones for 24 hours. Cooks hand roll those Philly Cheesesteak eggrolls. They smash avocados through a cooling rack for guacamole.
There’s even a butcher room.
A 16-oz New York Strip Steak is on the menu for $46.
David Degner/Business Insider
The restaurant serves meat from Pat LaFrieda, the same supplier of burgers to Shake Shack and prime cuts to Brooklyn’s oldest steakhouse, Peter Luger. In addition to Pat LaFrieda, Tops’ Executive Chef Stephen slices many of the cuts himself.
A full bake shop overlooks one side of the restaurant.
The cheesecake recipe comes from the storied Claremont Diner in New Jersey.
David Valerio/Business Insider
Here, a team of bakers pumps out pancake batter, expertly fills cheesecake molds, and swiftly decorates Tres Leches cakes. I was floored to learn they were even making their own syrup for pancakes.
Owner Jimmy Golemis says his diner is a unicorn.
Jimmy Golemis and his brothers run Tops Diner. While the diner first opened in 1942, the Golemis family bought it in 1972.
David Degner/Business Insider
Golemis says diners are becoming extinct because owners face long working hours. It’s a tough business to be in, and diner bosses burn out. He credits volume and constant innovation for Tops’ success. Recently, in 2020, Golemis and his brothers renovated the restaurant, adding more seats and parking, ultimately tripling the space.
For more on the rise and fall of American diners, check out the video below. Keep reading to learn about one of New Jersey’s oldest diners.
Tops stretched the definition of a diner.
Cooks mix chunks of meat before setting aside to marinate.
Abby Narishkin
After my meal at Tops, I left wondering if this place can still be considered a diner. It’s more expensive and expansive than any I’d ever seen. But that scale has allowed Golemis to experiment with new flavors and bring in a lot of hungry eaters. Is this the diner of the future?
I went to one of New Jersey’s oldest diners to see if there’s still a place for tradition.
NJ.com named Summit Diner the best in the state.
David Degner/Business Insider
I went on another Wednesday morning, and just like Tops, Summit Diner was buzzing. Located in Summit, New Jersey, the diner opened in 1928. It’s one of the oldest left in the state and one of the last remaining examples of a pre-fabricated diner manufactured by the Jerry O’Mahony Diner Company.
The Jerry O’Mahony Company was one of the biggest diner manufacturers in the US.
Jerry O’Mahony started his namesake company in New Jersey in 1917.
FPG/Getty Images
Diners can trace their roots back to Rhode Island in the 1870s. First, they were horse-drawn lunch wagons serving sandwiches to newspaper workers on the night shift.
But it was New Jersey’s factories that built most of the pre-fabricated diners shipped across the US in the 20th century.
It’s estimated that the Jerry O’Mahony Company built 2,000 diners by the time it shuttered in the 1950s.
The Summit Diner feels like a movie set.
There are just 40 seats inside.
David Degner/Business Insider
Owner Jimmy Greberis’ family bought Summit Diner in 1964 after immigrating from Greece. Greberis started working here when he was 19. Over the last 40 years, he’s seen the clientele shift from Wall Street bigwigs to everyday construction workers.
But much of the interior hasn’t changed since the 1930s.
The red, black, and white tiled floor is from 1939.
David Degner/Business Insider
The tiled floor, mahogany walls, neon red stools and booths, and tables are all from 1939. Greberis said these original touches are expensive to maintain and hard to replace because the company that built this diner went out of business in the 1950s.
I loved that it’s still cash only.
Jimmy estimates the register is over 75 years old.
David Degner/Business Insider
I spoke with Summit employee Maelin Mejis, who said that when she was first hired, the waitresses were practically singing. She’d memorize the orders and holler to the cooks: “Two eggs over easy. One corned beef hash!” Now, she dances around the restaurant, writing down orders with a pen and paper and figuring out tabs with a calculator. No credit cards are in sight.
The menu stretches across the top of the restaurant.
Jimmy does take out orders over the phone, as well as serving patrons in person. He’s gotten so busy, it might take 20 minutes for an order to be ready.
David Degner/Business Insider
There was no paper menu. You just look up and scan. I found that it allowed for a lot more conversation with the staff when I was looking up at a menu instead of looking down. And unlike Tops, Summit only had a few dozen options to choose from, so I didn’t find it overwhelming.
Summit’s specialty is another New Jersey classic: The Taylor Ham Egg and Cheese Roll.
In South Jersey, this is known simply as a Pork Roll ($9.25).
David Degner/Business Insider
This was the first time I’d ever tried a Taylor Ham roll. I was blown away. Somehow, the sandwich tasted nostalgic to me. Salty pork paired perfectly with melty American cheese and a Natale’s soft roll, baked up the road.
I loved that the menu stuck to the classics like pancakes, corned beef hash, and omelets.
These two large pancakes are $7.25.
David Degner/Business Insider
Dare I say the pancakes were better than Tops’? They’re fluffy, with a nice crust on the outside. Smothered in syrup, they feel like a warm hug.
Greberis says he’ll never put avocado on the menu. And I respect that.
The corned beef hash is made in-house. It’s spiced with oregano as a nod to Greberis’ Greek origins.
David Degner/Business Insider
He’s tried experimenting with fruit, but people don’t order it. And avocado? He said he won’t serve it because it goes bad quickly, and his team doesn’t know how to work with it. After 40 years in the business, Greberis says he knows what works best, and he sticks to the classics.
I don’t drink coffee normally, but there was something so cozy about the dark brew constantly flowing into big mugs.
The mugs are covered in ads from local businesses.
David Degner/Business Insider
It’s clear how much Summit means to the town, and how much Greberis has put back into the community. He gets bread from Natale’s, a local bakery. That giant log of Taylor Ham comes from an hour up the road.
I was sad when I heard Greberis say that Summit Diner might end with him.
Taylor Ham was under $3 a pound before the pandemic. Now, Greberis is paying $4.75.
David Degner/Business Insider
Labor’s gotten more expensive, and food costs have soared. Eggs surged from $1.20 a dozen before COVID to $8.60. They’ve since leveled out to $3.75. Small diners like this just don’t have the volume to be able to absorb those costs. Greberis had to raise his prices, but at $9.25 an omelet, nearly half the price of Tops’, his prices still seem more than fair.
Despite surviving all these challenges, a more humble threat might spell the end of Summit. Greberis’ kids don’t want to take over the family restaurant. He worries about selling the business to another family because he said the land is worth more than the business, and they might tear it down. I wondered, could it even be Summit Diner without Jimmy?
I think nostalgia, Greberis, and his staff have kept this place going.
Waitress Maelin Mejis grabs an order as Jimmy rushes off to take the next one.
David Degner/Business Insider
The pancakes and Taylor Ham were amazing. But more than the food, this place is a vibe. It’s comforting. You feel like you’ve known the staff for years, even if you just walked through the doors. It’s as if the whole town squeezes into just a few booths. The mayor just happened to be eating lunch the day we visited!
I left Tops and Summit with a lot more optimism than I thought I would. I don’t think diners are going anywhere.
Summit Diner is full of life.
David Degner/Business Insider
While Summit and Tops have taken two very different approaches to an American diner, I think they represent a path forward for the waning category.
Tops has innovated, firing up bold flavors and slinging out liquor, much to its customers’ delight. Whereas Summit stuck with tradition, and that’s worked because the town revels in its history.
If there’s going to be a future for diners, there has to be room for both kinds. But the real reason I think diners are forever isn’t the food; it’s the people—the owners, cooks, and waitresses who keep the energy humming and the hungry diners who keep coming back for more.
After Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fees move, companies such as Amazon and Microsoft have asked workers to return and remain in the US for the foreseeable future.
Vice President JD Vance on Monday urged Americans to report people who praise the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to their employers.
“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out,” Vance said. “And hell, call their employer.”
If the phone rings, it’s often HR that’s expected to pick up.
Several companies have fired or disciplined workers for comments they made about Kirk on social media, including Microsoft, Delta Air Lines, and Nasdaq. The fallout has also ensnared media personalities Jimmy Kimmel and Matthew Dowd.
Vance’s remarks and similar calls for action have added yet another task to the list for HR teams already dealing with recurring layoffs, return-to-office mandates, the rise of AI, and immigration raids at workplaces.
The fresh injection of political tensions into break rooms and cubicle clusters means many HR leaders are under greater pressure to keep the peace, Jim Link, head of HR for the Society for Human Resource Management, told Business Insider.
“We find ourselves right now in very trying times because of what’s happening in the world around us,” he said. HR is often deemed to be the “keeper of the culture,” Link said, and that has taken on extra weight in recent days.
Social media can make the job harder
One of the biggest challenges for HR is keeping tabs on what employees say on social media and internal message boards like Slack, especially during times of national political unrest. Unlike the proverbial water cooler banter of the analog era, when an off-color remark might not go beyond a couple of coworkers, an employee’s online rhetoric can reach a massive audience, Melissa Swift, the founder and CEO of HR consultancy Anthrome Insight, told Business Insider.
“You get on social media and 2 million people hear you,” she said. Those posts, then, can be read as a reflection of an organization itself, not just the individual. That’s a change from years ago, Swift said.
“Companies’ views are perceived to be the sum of their employees’ views,” she said.
Link said the Society for Human Resource Management is fielding more inquiries about corporate social media policies. For many employers, he said, attempting to ban political discussions in the workplace is “probably nonsensical, because it’s going to happen.”
Even so, C-suite leaders might prefer that political chatter not make it past the lobby. Some corporate chiefs have grown weary of employee activism, including protests involving thorny geopolitical issues. Big-name CEOs, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have said they want a more meat-and-potatoes approach of just focusing on the work.
That can leave HR teams playing whac-a-mole with employees who express themselves on the job anyway.
In the wake of the Kirk shooting, companies are likely tightening their policies around hiring and employee behavior because the risk of political backlash is too great, said Bryan Creely, who worked in HR for two decades and now runs a career-coaching business called A Life After Layoff.
“Cancel culture, or whatever you want to call it, is impacting the bottom lines of businesses,” he told Business Insider. “Employers just do not want to be associated with this stuff.”
This is putting HR professionals in a difficult position. “There is more pressure on the HR person to determine what is acceptable versus what isn’t,” said Creely, referring to employee behavior.
“The political discourse is really changing. One day something is fine, the next day it’s not,” he said.
Lauren Winans, CEO of the HR consulting firm Next Level Benefits, told Business Insider that some HR leaders are having to reexamine workplace rules around politics and social media and how far to go with enforcement.
“Even the most seasoned professionals are definitely feeling overwhelmed and definitely needing to revisit a lot of the policies,” she said.
‘The pendulum has swung a bit’
Tim Toterhi, fractional CHRO at Plotline Leadership, told Business Insider that an added challenge for some HR workers can be setting aside their own beliefs. After all, human-resources workers are human.
He said that a broad corporate retreat on issues like diversity, equity, and inclusion might rankle HR staffers who believe that they have been doing noble work to promote fairness, Toterhi said.
“The pendulum has swung a bit, and it’s made it more uncomfortable for some HR folks,” he said.
Everything everywhere all at once
Ryan Starks, head of growth at Rising Team, a team-performance platform, told Business Insider in an email that HR workers “can’t be in every discussion to guide or mediate because there simply isn’t enough time and the pace of work is too fast.”
He said that most HR leaders would say they’re being asked to do more with less.
“They’re not just human resource leaders anymore—they’re also being called on as AI leaders, with pressure from boards and the C-suite to navigate new technology and expectations in an already highly politicized environment,” Starks said.
Beyond that, he said, there’s often a push to show a return on investment for “everything they do.”
That pressure comes as there’s been a blurring of lines between what’s personal and what’s professional, in part because workers can express themselves using social media, said Swift, from Anthrome Insight. Because some workers aren’t as attuned to what’s OK to share at work and what’s not, it “just makes things super messy,” she said. When it comes to politics, the line isn’t always clear.
Brussels – A significant cyberattack targeting a service provider for check-in and boarding systems has caused flight delays and cancellations at major airports across Europe, including London Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin, reports 24brussels.
This disruption stems from a technical failure at Collins Aerospace, a third-party system affecting multiple airlines globally. Affected airports reported serious operational impacts, with Brussels Airport confirming that the automated systems have failed, necessitating manual check-in and boarding procedures.
Heathrow Airport warned passengers of delays while Berlin Airport noted the longer waiting times, recommending that travelers check with their airlines before heading to the airport on Saturday. Collins Aerospace is actively working to resolve the technical issues.
“This has a large impact on the flight schedule and will, unfortunately, cause delays and cancellations of flights…The service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible,”
London Heathrow and Berlin airports have confirmed ongoing disruptions. The cyberattack highlights vulnerabilities within the aviation sector, raising questions about the security of critical aviation infrastructure.
Collins Aerospace, headquartered in the United States, is a subsidiary of RTX, which also owns Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon. The firm is responsible for providing advanced check-in and boarding systems to numerous airlines worldwide, including those currently facing disruptions.
How does this incident compare to the 2024 outage?
This incident mirrors the events of July 2024, when a software failure linked to CrowdStrike led to a global IT crisis, resulting in over 1,000 flight cancellations and substantial operational challenges across multiple sectors, including aviation and banking.
The 2024 outage led to widespread systemic failures at major airports, including Heathrow, Luton, and Amsterdam Schiphol, showcasing how interdependent the aviation infrastructure is on third-party software providers.
