Longtime Charlotte restaurant The Diamond is changing hands, with some fanfare, Friday. Owner Jerry Pistiolis, who has had the place for the past couple of decades (it opened in 1945, to give some context) has sold to Andy Kastanas (of the neighboring Soul Gastrolounge), and Brian Rowe and Jimmy King of the Penguin, says a spokesman. Their plan is to "maintain The Diamond's concept, integrity and history while upgrading the facility and extending the hours ... Andy, Brian and Jimmy respect the culinary contributions that the James family (original owners), as well as Jerry, have provided." The place, at 1901 Commonwealth Ave. in Plaza-Midwood, will be closed briefly for remodeling, if all goes according to plan, with a target reopening of early summer.
Photo from the Charlotte Eats blog, which has lots of older pictures as well.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Long live the Diamond
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8 comments:
love the Diamond. went there a few weeks back after a long time.fried chicken is still really, really good (take that coop!) and the cornbread is the bomb! place needs some re-modeling like the bathrooms and kitchen. I would leave the puke green paint though
OMG...the diamond was a huge part of my life when i worked in the area back in the early 90's.We would order vegetables in the bowls instead of on a plate so we could stack the bowls up and see who had the most lol.Sometimes the stack would be so high(about 10 bowls),it would almost hide our face.I then started to bring my son's in there when they were 7 and 5,and they still remember "the bowls." Those cornbread muffins and the sweet tea were the best around!!! I remember when billie was a waitress and her daughter pam was there too.Anyone go back that far?
Weird how my first post didn't show.Oh well....it's too long to repeat.
That's too bad - a great neighborhood diner with great home cooked southern food. I will miss the Diamond and all the staff.
sounds like the food cosmos in colliding in a perfect storm of saving history (for once), combining great foodies and owners, and shining up a jewel in Plaza Midwood. Cudos Andy, Jimmy and Brian
I love the Diamond and I love the neighborhood; I think the Diamond is in good hands to carry on the neighborhood tradition! The guys at the Penguin have been such an asset and are so supportive of other neighborhood businesses - I'm excited for the future of the Diamond!
God, those chicken livers!
I like going to the Diamond and my mother really loves that place. I was concerned about their health scores being very low. The Bathrooms really needed some major league TLC along with the kitchen. Hopefully they will leave the dining room the same.
Good luck to the new owners!
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