Wayne’s Classic Diner, Reborn in Buffalo

By Gregory Prichard, Radnor Historical Society

In many ways, 1950s Wayne was the quintessential small American town. If you were to travel back to Lancaster Avenue in those days, you would see patrons coming and going from the old farmer’s market or Acme store, students (both junior and senior high) going to the Sun Ray drugstore or the Woolworth’s lunch counter, and police officers helping pedestrians cross the Avenue. What you wouldn’t see is throngs of people waiting in line for restaurant tables on North Wayne Avenue. 

These eateries are now what drive our local economy, and have earned North Wayne Avenue the moniker of “restaurant row.” Without a Xilantro or Teresa’s, where would you have gone to eat as a hungry Wayne pedestrian in 1955?

There were, of course, the lunch counters, and perhaps a fancy restaurant or two. And then there was the Wayne Diner, right in the middle of Lancaster Pike across from Louella Avenue. The diner was originally the Main Line Grille, an early trolley car-inspired building that resembled the Frazer Diner further west on Rt. 30. It was attached on its east side to the brick Neighborhood League building.

See photos and a television program from the diner.

In 1952, it was upgraded significantly to a prefabricated Mountain View Diner (model #446, to be exact), made of gleaming stainless steel. Mountain View was a small company that built durable structures, many of which still serve customers. Another example can be found in Newtown Square, currently used as Hill’s Seafood.

Elsie D’Ignazio began working in the Main Line Grille when she was 20, and later purchased the business with her husband Alnardo. Elsie continued as owner until her death in 1963, according to a newsletter produced by the American Diner Museum. It operated under the D’Ignazio family’s ownership until about 1975, when it was sold and converted into a Chinese restaurant called Orient House.

It is best remembered today by its later name, China Buddha, more notable for its huge sign on Lancaster Avenue rather than the old diner, its stainless steel walls by this time painted completely white. The China Buddha’s time in Wayne ended around the era of the downtown’s big restaurant boom. The land on which it sat became more valuable than the old diner, and it was chosen as the site of a new restaurant by local restauranteur Margaret Kuo.

She and her husband Warren were not unaware of the old diner’s value and importance, however. With the help of the American Diner Museum in Providence, RI, they sold the building so that it could be moved and re-assembled elsewhere to be appreciated. The diner’s relocation hit a snag. The events of September 11, 2001 limited the transportation of oversized loads on the diner’s route north, and the building certainly qualified as an oversized load. Fortunately, the delay was not a long one, and the building was on its way in October.  

Fast forward more than a decade

The Wayne Diner has been reborn gloriously almost 400 miles away from its home of a half century. Tucker Curtin and his wife, Erin, have been operating the edifice as the Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo, New York, since 2002. There it stands, on Main Street in University Heights at the east end of the city, its stainless steel gleaming. 

Curtin has acknowledged the diner’s Main Line roots in various ways that would make a visitor from our area feel at home. Take, for example, the framed copy of a “Suburban” newspaper article about the diner’s rebirth in the back room. Or the classic photos of the Wayne Diner that grace the pages of the Lake Effect’s menu. Curtin even planned to call the diner “Margie’s Main Line Diner” before settling on the “Lake Effect” name. Certain elements of the classic diner were restored to resurrect its original atmosphere. The colorful, glittering ceiling material is one example of an authentic 1950s feature, as is the pink and blue tile floor. A photograph of Elsie D’Ignazio at the candy counter by the door in the Wayne Diner inspired a re-creation for the cashier in the Lake Effect.

Modern necessities, such as a greatly expanded kitchen that is not part of the original building, have ensured that the Lake Effect Diner can serve diner fare that is above average in quality, but with a classic ambiance. According to Tucker Curtin, the Lake Effect Diner sometimes has guests who recall eating at the Wayne Diner or its successors. Just a few months ago, he says, relatives of the D’Ignazios visited and gave him a pristine copy of the Wayne Diner’s 1960s-era menu, which offered a ham and cheese sandwich for 50 cents and a grilled choice t-bone steak (the most expensive item on the menu) for $3.45.  

The Lake Effect Diner is very successful today, offering both typical diner fare (with high quality ingredients) and specialty items. It maintains its classic American diner appearance and feel with 24/7 service that is popular with its college-age clientele – the University at Buffalo is a short distance away. Its unique menu even earned it a visit from Guy Fieri on the Food Network program “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”. Fieri spray-painted his mark on a section of the diner’s stainless steel interior. It is perhaps a shame that Buffalo’s gain means a loss for Wayne. It may have been difficult to see potential in the worn out Chinese restaurant on East Lancaster Avenue, especially with the painted facade that masked its true identity.

Wayne certainly does not lack restaurants these days, and even has the long-running Minella’s Diner to fill the need for typical diner fare. And yet where it once had two classic diner structures (the old original Minella’s was replaced in 2003), today there are none. While Wayne may have missed out on having its own restored, authentic American diner a decade ago, Buffalo’s Tucker and Erin Curtin deserve credit for seeing potential in the old building and creating something new and exciting from a relic of Wayne’s past.  

The Lake Effect Diner is located at 3165 Main Street, Buffalo, New York. It is open 7 days a week, 7am to 10pm. More information: http://www.curtinrestaurants.com/lake-effect-diner.html