Enduring Diners: Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic

While many mom and pop restaurants shuttered during the past 2 years, some stuck it out—with the help of the fiercely loyal communities they've been part of for generations

(Courtesy of Al's Breakfast, Littleton Diner, Arnold’s Country Kitchen)

Mom and pop restaurants were once ubiquitous in the United States. Whether you lived in a large city such as Minneapolis, a medium-sized city such as Nashville, or a New Hampshire village, there was a little restaurant where you could get homestyle cooking at an affordable price—all while connecting with the community.

When a beloved community restaurant closes, something important is lost. These are the places where Americans make memories, livelihoods, and lifelong friendships. The meals themselves often reflect regional culinary traditions. And their owners are living their respective versions of the American dream.

But the past two years have been hard for independent restaurants. A perfect storm of economic forces—rising costs, supply chain challenges, and labor shortages, to name a few—culminated in more than 90,000 restaurants closing for good nationwide.

But many have survived. Now, they’re thriving again.

Al’s Breakfast

Alison Kirwin owns and runs Al’s Breakfast, situated in the Dinkytown neighborhood in southeast Minneapolis. Although Al’s could conceivably be short for Alison, the diner is named after Al Bergstrom, who bought it from a man named Bill in 1950. Bill’s Diner was then renamed Al’s Breakfast.

Al’s Breakfast owner Alison Kirwin pours coffee for a customer. (Courtesy of Al's Breakfast)

“When I was young, my uncles used to call me Big Al,” Kirwin said. “They were joking, of course. I was the shortest of all my cousins.”

A dancer who earned a degree from the University of Minnesota, Kirwin began working at Al’s as a server in 1996. Then, in 2006, she bought a half-share in the restaurant. In 2020, she bought the other half-share, making her full owner.

“When I started working there as a server in the ‘90s, it fit with my schedule as a dancer who traveled a lot,” she said. “Then, I began thinking that I’d like to buy the restaurant.”

Kirwin bought Al’s because it was a special institution in Minneapolis. It’s been continuously in business since Bergstrom bought it in 1950. Like many mom and pop restaurants in the United States, the past two years were hard for Kirwin and company. They were closed for 16 months, which brought them perilously close to closing.

“But the community stepped up,” Kirwin said. “Regulars bought take-out from us, they donated money. We wouldn’t be here if not for this amazing community.”

As with many diners, Al’s serves a multicultural, multigenerational clientele. Young couples bring their children. Then, as the years pass, their children bring their children, and the cycle continues.

The facade of Al’s Breakfast, which is said to be the narrowest restaurant in Minneapolis, Minn. (Courtesy of Al's Breakfast)

“It’s a tradition that gets passed down,” Kirwin said.

In her restaurant, people who move in radically different worlds sit shoulder-to-shoulder and talk about everything in the world over a cup—or a pot—of coffee.

“We only have counter seating,” she said. “If you want to be left alone, you’ve got it. But most people come to connect with their neighbors.”

A plate of Al’s famous Wally Blues, buttermilk pancakes with walnuts and blueberries. (Courtesy of Al's Breakfast)

Al’s won a James Beard Foundation Award for the “America’s Classics Restaurants” category in 2004.

“What sets us apart is that our food is homemade,“ Kirwin said. ”Our blueberry walnut pancakes are famous. And our bestseller, The José, comes with hand-grated hash browns, homemade salsa, poached eggs, and cheddar cheese.”

Kirwin said that many diners are quietly disappearing, “which is sad.”

“Diners do a really good job at keeping regional culinary traditions alive. When you look at fast-food or chain restaurants, you can get the same things no matter where you are in the country,” she said.

The 14-seat counter, with Will Harris cooking at the grill in the background, at Al’s Breakfast. (Courtesy of Al's Breakfast)

When asked if she had any new ideas to bring in more money, Kirwin said that, in fact, she was hoping to keep things the same.

“We’ve got a successful formula,” she said. “We want to keep it that way.”

The Littleton Diner

The Willifords—Patti and Chris—are co-owners of the Littleton Diner, in Littleton, New Hampshire. Chris Williford managed the joint for five years before he and Patti bought it 20 years ago. The Willifords had both worked in restaurants for much of their adult lives.

“The first five, 10 years were tough,” Patti Williford said. “But we survived the 2008 recession. We thought we were doing pretty good. Then, the pandemic came along.”

The state closed restaurants for three months. Then, when the Willifords reopened their doors in November 2020, business was too slow to stay open.

“We were running at a loss,” Patti Williford said.

Historical images of Littleton Diner, which first opened in 1930. (Courtesy of Littleton Diner)

So, they closed their doors until March 2021. While some restaurants closed for good, the Willifords and their staff would run into people at the grocery store, or while walking down Main Street, and they'd ask when the diner would be open again.

“They really missed it,” Patti Williford said. “This isn’t a fast-food chain. Our customers are like family. They have their favorite servers. Most of us are on a first-name basis. If you’re elderly, and we haven’t seen you for a while, we will call you to see what’s up.”

When they finally reopened on March 15, 2021, they were bowled over by the response: The restaurant was packed.

“All of our employees came back to work with us,” Patti Williford said. “It felt like everyone had come home. We were hoping for a miracle, but we didn’t expect that. It was unbelievable.”

Not bad for a little diner in a New England village that straddles the border between Vermont and New Hampshire.

Traditional New England staples are alive and well at the Littleton Diner. The Yankee comes with two eggs, baked beans, potatoes, and toast. But, the menu adds, you can add a slice of apple pie topped with melted cheddar cheese. It‘ll set you back $8.99. The Top o’ the Mornin' features the Willifords’ homemade corned-beef hash—which takes two days to make—with two eggs and toast. The damage? $9.99. And, as with most places in the Vermont-New Hampshire area, maple syrup comes with breakfast at no extra charge. Once you’ve had that, that corn syrup-based stuff won’t do.

Unlike Al’s Breakfast, the Littleton Diner is open for dinner. You can get a roast turkey dinner or beans and franks with brown bread on the side.

It didn’t stop there. The busy season tends to run from June until after peak foliage season, sometime in October. But Patti Williford said that they’ve been busy nonstop ever since.

“We’ve just had our most successful year,” she said. “We’re blessed to have such loyal, dependable staff. A few of them have been with the diner for longer than we have.”

Arnold’s Country Kitchen

Another James Beard award winner, Arnold’s Country Kitchen, located in Nashville, is owned and run by the Arnold family. Kahlil Arnold, who works alongside his mom, Rose, works seven days a week to bring Nashvillians the best “meat and three” in the South.

“That’s a meat and three sides,” Kahlil Arnold said. “It’s a Southern tradition.”

The line outside Arnold’s Country Kitchen. (Courtesy of Arnold’s Country Kitchen)

Jack Arnold, his dad and original owner of the restaurant, was raised in Asheville, North Carolina, where he learned to cook at an early age. Born in 1937, his childhood years were shaped by the Great Depression, followed by the wartime boom. He started working when he was 11 years old, and never stopped.

“He taught us that everything has a use,” Kahlil Arnold said.

To wit: The bacon grease left from other dishes is used to make their famous fried chicken, as well as their turnip greens.

“Everything we make is great,” Arnold said, “but our fried chicken is something else.”

A meat and three—a Southern tradition—at Arnold's. (Courtesy of Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp)

While country music stars Dolly Parton and Dierks Bentley have been known to frequent Arnold’s Country Kitchen—and the Arnolds are proud of that—Arnold said that it wouldn’t be there without Nashvillians.

“We love our community,” he said. “Everybody’s good to everybody. Everybody helps each other out.”

That’s how they survived the pandemic.

“That brought us to our knees,” Arnold said. “We were closed for a while, then we were only open for takeout. But we pulled through.”

A selection of pies at Arnold's Country Kitchen. (Courtesy of Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp)

To do so, Arnold and company got creative. They extended their hours, and have since been open for dinner. They decided to open on Sundays. And they’ve added a bar to bring in more revenue.

“When times get hard,” Arnold said, “you’ve got to get creative. And you’ve got to have a community to support your efforts.”

It’s hard work, running a family restaurant. Arnold said that the new changes felt like he was opening five restaurants at once—but the joys outweighed the challenges, so it was worth it.

“A lot of our customers watched me grow from a kid to an adult,” Arnold said. “And I’ve watched their kids grow up, too.”