Franklin Square Diner abruptly closes with no warning to loyal patrons

Gerry and Gloria Faber pulled into the Franklin Square Diner parking lot at 4:30 p.m. on Friday ready to meet their daughter for a weekly dinner date. But both front doors were locked and no one seemed to be inside. The phone had been taken off the hook. The diner was no longer in business.

“We heard a rumor [Thursday] night that the diner was closed,” Gerry said, “but we drove by last night after dinner and saw there were people eating there so we figured everything was OK.”

The Fabers of Franklin Square have been regular customers at the diner for more than 50 years, and they’ve seen it through a number of name changes — Fiorett’s when they first started going, through the Silver Star, which closed in 2015 and was the immediate predecessor of the Franklin Square Diner at 813 Hempstead Tpke.

According to the New York State liquor license, the owners of the diner are Moundros and Kafetzis Panayiotis. They could not be reached for comment.

But as the Fabers lamented the closing of their favorite diner, they saw the manager, Charlie Georgiou, exiting the back door and getting into his car.

“The bosses decided [Thursday] to close [Friday],” Georgiou told Newsday. 

Long Island diners have been dropping like flies lately. Just last week we reported on the closing of Diner Luxe in Bethpage. Read more about the decline of diners here.