Nostalgic railroad car diner Biscuits & Barbeque to close in Mineola
Biscuits & Barbeque in Mineola, August 3, 2016. Credit: Bruce Gilbert
The news is bad whether you’re a barbecue buff, a Cajun connoisseur, a vintage-diner devotee or the kind of gastronaut who gravitates toward out-of-the-way eateries: On June 29, Biscuits & Barbeque in Mineola is closing.
Owner Joan Gallo, who rented the premises, said the building has been sold.
She attributed much of the restaurant’s success to chef Ignacio Castillo, who has run the kitchen since it opened in 2012. “Ignacio, me and a lot of the other staff have been together for 25 years,” she said, dating back to their time at the now-shuttered Delta Grill in Manhattan. “We’re all like family, and when you are working for your family, you work hard.”
To call Biscuits & Barbeque distinctive is to vastly undersell its appeal. Only a few blocks from both of Mineola’s main drags (Mineola Boulevard and Old Country Road), for 12 years it has been Long Island’s quintessential “hidden gem.” Situated by the LIRR tracks and surrounded by warehouses and factories, the 1947 Silk City-built railroad car-style diner seemed like the last place you’d find soulful Louisiana-style cooking along with slow-smoked meats. Beloved dishes included the flaky hot biscuit with andouille sausage gravy, blackened fish, shrimp and grits, mac-and-cheese and homey desserts like peach cobbler, pecan and Key lime pies.
Barbecued ribs at Biscuits & Barbeque in Mineola. Credit: Bruce Gilbert
Gallo said that her predecessor at the location was Kiss the Chef and, before that, it had been the Hudson Diner (named for its location at the corner of East Second and block-long Hudson streets) and Matt’s Diner. “What I know is that, before World War II, it was mostly farmland around here. They built factories to manufacture airplane parts and, in 1947 the diner opened to feed the workers.”
Biscuits & Barbeque has also had a national following, figuring regularly in books and on websites that chronicle the history of American diners. It appeared, in all its retro glory, in season 2 of Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Martin Scorsese filmed there for his 2019 film, “The Irishman,” though the footage was not used. In 2010, when it was Kiss the Chef, it appeared in “Morning Glory” with Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton
Biscuits & Barbecue, 106 E. 2nd St., Mineola, 516-493-9797. Open Tuesday to 4 to 8 p.m., Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday noon to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 8:30 p.m., Closed Monday.