Zoto's Diner served its final meals Sunday, closing permanently at 1100 Bethlehem Pike in Line Lexington after nearly 53 years as a family-run fixture along Route 309. Owners Steve Zoto, 79, and his wife JoAnne, 78, are retiring, bringing an end to a run that began when Steve and his brother Nick first opened the diner's doors in 1973.
The closure ends a run that began when Steve and Nick opened Zoto's in 1973, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The diner grew alongside its customer base. It initially sat about 150 guests before an expansion in the late 1980s pushed capacity to roughly 250 seats, according to WFMZ. In 2002, Nick retired from the business, and Steve's wife JoAnne stepped in as his new partner, a role she held for the next two decades, the station reports.
A Menu Built on Decades of Regulars
Longtime chef John “Yanni” Karistinos joined the kitchen in 1983 and has led it ever since, according to PhillyVoice. Under his watch, the diner became known for comfort-food staples including chicken croquettes, roasted turkey, Monte Cristo sandwiches and a creamy wedding soup, per the Inquirer. Staff who worked there for decades knew customers by name, part of what made the closing feel personal to so many regulars.
Steve Zoto has described his own evolving relationship with the business over the years. “There was a time that I let the restaurant work me. But then I learned. Now I run the restaurant, and I make it work for us, as best we can,” he said. As word of the closing spread, customers left cards, gifts and goodbyes for the Zotos. “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this outpouring of love from all these people,” Steve said. Steve and JoAnne now plan to spend more time with family, travel and enjoy life beyond the restaurant.
What's Planned for the Site
The four-acre property is proposed for redevelopment as a Sheetz convenience store, restaurant, drive-through and fuel center, pending final approvals, according to the Inquirer's reporting, which was authored by Michael Klein. The plan calls for a 6,139-square-foot store with fuel pumps and a drive-through, the paper reports. Sheetz would require demolition of the existing diner building to move forward, according to PhillyVoice.
Before any construction begins, Sheetz still needs sign-off from Hatfield Township, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and PennDOT, PhillyVoice notes. Central Bucks News reports that the proposal envisions a convenience store, restaurant, drive-thru and fuel center at the site.
A Family Business Comes to a Close
Zoto's closing marks the end of a family-run restaurant after more than five decades.
For now, Zoto's booths and counters stand empty along a stretch of Bethlehem Pike where regulars once dropped in for roasted turkey and familiar faces. What comes next for the four-acre property rests with township and state regulators still weighing the Sheetz proposal.
