A new Midtown diner is planning to make the post-theater meal part of the performance, with singing servers, a second-floor stage and classic comfort food under Broadway-style lighting. Diner 24 is headed for the Theater District this fall, where its owners are betting burgers and breakfast can compete with the marquee attractions nearby.
The New York Post reports that Diner 24 will open at 1674 Broadway with 235 seats, 16 outdoor seats and a shake bar. The two-story restaurant is expected to employ about 16 singing waiters, including five performers with Broadway or Off-Broadway experience, and will feature a 20-foot runway dividing the upstairs booths.
The building is part of the pitch. In a release via PR Newswire, the EMMES Group described 1674 Broadway as a restored 1921 property with a long entertainment history, including a former Birdland space and a current clubhouse for The Lambs, the professional theatrical club founded in 1874.
Show Tunes Between The Booths
The opening calendar is still in rehearsal. The latest report from The New York Post puts the debut in late September, while an earlier interview with What Now New York described an early-October soft opening. That plan called for the first floor to open for roughly 12 hours a day before the restaurant gradually expands toward round-the-clock service.
The theatrical setup is designed to run continuously rather than wait for a traditional dinner show. Servers are expected to perform show tunes at regular intervals, with stage lighting and an upstairs performance area turning the diner into something closer to an off-Broadway play with fries.
The menu will be based on Diner 24’s successful Gramercy operation, with all-day breakfast, fresh produce, oversized burgers, extravagant shakes and other diner staples. According to The New York Post, the Theater District location will charge $12 for burgers and $23 for double-decker smash burgers, slightly above the Gramercy prices.
A Diner Built For The City That Never Sleeps
Diner 24’s own website describes the concept as an updated take on New York’s 24-hour diner culture, created by restaurateurs Stratis Morfogen and Philippe Olivier Bondon. The Gramercy location is positioned as a late-night destination for comfort food, all-day breakfast and meals at nearly any hour.
Singing waiters are not entirely new to Broadway, of course. Ellen’s Stardust Diner has long promoted its singing waitstaff at 1650 Broadway, while Hoodline previously highlighted another musical diner concept in the Theater District. Diner 24’s twist is to combine that familiar Broadway gimmick with a larger, modernized diner model and a built-in live-performance schedule.
