Route 73 Diner hours
Tuesday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 7a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
TRENTON — The Route 73 Diner is serving up hot, home cooked meals and the nostalgia of the 1950s, and 60s.
The diner, owned by Diane Schnake, 40, of Trenton, recently opened across the street from Party Mart, 516 E. State Street.
The family-run business features 1950s and 60s diner food and its interior is decorated to depict the era with such memorabilia as old car signs, a gas pump, as well as car and old diner pictures.
Bob Schnake, 57, the cook and Diane’s husband, said his family decided to open an eatery at the former site of the State Street Diner because it was an opportunity they could not pass up.
“It’s been something that my wife and I have been wanting to do for a long time. The opportunity came open and the spot was open, and we took it,” he said.
One of the main reasons people should give the diner a try is the food, he said.
“It’s all home cooking and it’s back to the old times, you might want to say, like the 50s and 60s diners-type foods. I like that period and I liked the food back then. I’m not into this fast food stuff, the way they’ve got it now. I just like the way the old diners did it,” Schnake said.
The diner, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, features such food as ultimate burger’s, one-third black Angus chuck with one side item for $5.99, Deli sandwiches (ham, roast beef or turkey) with one side item for $6.50, and a hot open face sandwich plate of roast beef or turkey, mash potatoes and gravy, and a side item for $6.99.
Other items include chicken sandwiches and tenders, chicken and dumplings and pulled pork sandwiches.
The diner runs daily specials and is the only eatery in town that can sell Nathan’s Hot Dogs from New York, he said.
Customers are hearing about the diner through word-of-mouth and are making restaurant’s burgers and hot roast beef sandwiches the most popular items on the menu right now, Schnake said.
“We do them and we do them right. We roast the roast beef and we slice it, and then we set it up into the hot roast beef sandwiches. It’s a big hit around here. There’s a lot of people that order it,” he said.
Desserts also include a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Ganache, and cherry and apple pies. Pie flavors will change with the season, he said.
“(Business) seems to be growing on a daily basis a little bit here and there as people get to know us. We’re hoping it continues to grow because we hope to be here for a long time,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.
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