Taking a walk back in time

Working at the Lawrence Diner is like hanging out in her living room with friends, said owner Sandy Kontaratos, as many of the patrons have flocked there for more than 50 years.

For lifelong Inwood resident Harold Capone, 63, the Lawrence Diner was his first stop when he returned home from the Vietnam War. “I used to go there in high school and on Friday and Saturday nights it would be the last stop before my friends and I head home for the night,” he said. “I still go there a couple times a week with my neighbor.”

According to Kontaratos, the diner used to be located across the street on the corner of Burnside Avenue and Rockaway Turnpike, where Circle A Convenience Store is currently. “The then-owner moved the diner to where it is now more than 60 years ago,” she said. “We also used to be open 24-hours and then were open until 10 p.m. but as of three years ago we now close at 6 p.m.”

Tony Jannetto, a Cedarhurst resident, and Inwood native Joe Santillo, both Lawrence High School graduates and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1582 in Inwood, meet for breakfast with their friends almost everyday at the diner. Santillo, a retired Nassau County police officer, recalls coming in at midnight while on duty for some coffee. “It’s like family here; everybody says hello when we come in,” he said. “It’s a great place to meet friends.”

Jannetto, a 44-year employee of Independent Coach, has been frequenting the diner for 40 years and enjoys the atmosphere the most. “It’s a nice place to socialize,” he said. “I’ll be coming here until I pass away.”

Inwood-based architect and Atlantic Beach resident John Capobianco loves the diner’s eggs and pancakes. “It’s also one of the only places you can get grits,” he said. “They make a great breakfast.”

Capobianco visits the Lawrence Diner almost daily and often meets friends and family there. “It’s never changed,” he said. “The people and the look are the same.”

Kontaratos began working at the diner full time to help her mother, Valerie, run the diner after her father, Petros, died four years ago. The family purchased the diner in 1986 and not much has changed since. “If I change one thing about the food, I have to toss it or feed it to my dog; no one will eat it,” she said. “My mother tried to make our hamburgers bigger and there was an upheaval, everyone wanted the four ounce burgers they were used to.”

The diner’s patrons keep Kontaratos going. “They make it interesting and I always know what they’re going to eat,” she said. “Nothing’s changed and that’s the beauty of it; it’s like walking back in time.”