Phil Rosenthal, the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and host of “Somebody Feed Phil,” sees the loss of classic American diners as a bigger problem than just losing a favorite local restaurant.
“I feel like diners are disappearing from America. Why? Because it’s hard to maintain any restaurant. And because it has a low price point, it’s hard to maintain for regular people owning a diner,” he said on an episode of his PBS show.
The loss, he noted, cuts deeper than it might seem.
“But with that loss of that center of the community where people rich and poor can come and sit and you can talk to your neighbors over a cup of coffee or plate of eggs, or a sandwich or burger. Maybe we lose the community. And maybe with that, we lose the country,” he said.
It’s a slow process, and now another local legend, Zoto’s Diner, will permanently close on Oct. 25 after 53 years in business.
Zoto’s Diner closing soon
Like many of the diners that have closed over the past few years, Zoto’s did not share a reason for shutting down.
“We hope all of our loyal customers will come in to see us as much as possible over these next couple of weeks. It is a very emotional time for us all and we will truly miss spending breakfast, lunch, and dinner with so many of you who feel more like family than customers,” the company posted in a Facebook message, which shared the Oct. 25 closing date.
Zoto’s has been family-owned and operated since 1973. The current owners, Steve Zoto and his wife Joanne, have not shared a reason as to why the restaurant is closing.
“In recent years, their daughter, Nikki, has served as the diner’s general manager,” according to WFMZ, a local news station.
Local and chain diners are closing
“Diners are disappearing across America. From the 1950s to the 2000s, the number in the U.S. dropped from roughly 6,000 to 2,500,” according to a 2025 Business Insider report that was referring to independent diners.
Many diners used to be 24/7, and that type of restaurant has been struggling as well.
The traditional 24/7 restaurants, many of which are diners, are experiencing upheaval nationwide. The number of restaurants offering 24-hour service in the U.S. fell 11% between January 2020 and January 2025, according to Yelp data released in 2025.
Diners, at least in the northeast, play an important role in the communities they serve.
My wife and I had coffee and tea at a now-closed Long Island diner, and the area’s many diners offered affordable meals and no judgment when a group of college kids shared waters and an order of fries.
That tradition, however, has been slowly disappearing. Here are a number of local diners which have closed over the past year.
- Heart’s Coffee Shop closed after 47 years in California. The family-owned Lake Balboa diner served its final meals on Aug. 9, 2026. The owners had resisted raising menu prices for 13 years, and their daughter said rising costs forced the family to draw on savings, according to the Los Angeles Times.
- Tasty Home Cookin’ closed after 36 years in Sarasota, Florida. The family-owned diner shut down in July 2026 after its owners struggled with rising operating costs and inflation, according to WWSB ABC7.
- Dershey’s Cafe closed after nearly 30 years in Michigan. The St. Johns breakfast-and-lunch restaurant served its final customers in August 2026. Roger and Mary Dershem founded it in 1997, and their daughter continued running it after her father’s death in 2022, reported News 10 WILX.
- Leni’s Cafe closed after nearly 50 years in New Orleans. The downtown breakfast-and-lunch institution closed May 29, 2026, as owners Pete and Deb Patselikos retired, according to New Orleans CityBusiness.
- Kap’s Coffee Shop & Diner closed after nearly 60 years in Albuquerque. The Route 66 restaurant served its last customers on Oct. 11, 2026. The owners cited challenges along Central Avenue, reported the Albuquerque Journal.
- Knapp’s Restaurant closed after serving Tacoma since 1938. The Proctor District diner closed in June 2026, just nine months after a new owner took over, according to The News Tribune.
New York has been hit hard by diner closures. And anyone who has seen “Seinfeld” has an idea of the place of the New York diner in the city as late as the late-1990s. How Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer used to meet (Monk’s Cafe on the show, Tom’s Diner in real life) was very similar to how my friends met in diners in New York in the 90s.
“The classic diner is under siege. Rents are rising, costs are ballooning, neighborhoods are gentrifying — and aging owners are ready to call it quits,” the New York Post reported.
More Restaurants:
- Hooters closing more restaurants in bankruptcy comeback
- These are the True Food Kitchen locations closing in Chapter 11
- Oprah-backed chain closes 12 restaurants for good after filing Chapter 11
Nearly 200 have closed in the last decade, according to the New York tabloid.
“The few that remain are being forced to reinvent themselves — revamping their menus, acquiring pricey liquor licenses and bringing in posh kitchen crews for a city that’s getting ever more expensive — and ever more bougie,” added the Post.
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Major diner chains are closing, too
Former Denny’s CEO Kelli A. Valade explained why the chain was struggling and closing restaurants in the diner brand’s first-quarter 2025 earnings call.
“Consumer sentiment remains negative as fear around tariffs and higher price of goods, combined with concerns about the job market resulted in consumers pulling back on spending. We are now operating in one of the most aggressive value-driven environments we’ve seen in years,” she explained.
Pricing is being held down, she noted, by the state of the economy.
“Guests are stretched, inflation pressures remain and every brand is fighting for share by pushing harder on price and promotion while trying to win with the guest experience,” she added.
Denny’s is one of a number of national diner chains to shrink.
- Denny’s closed 150 restaurants in 2025. The chain continued closing underperforming locations in 2026, including restaurants operated by franchisee M15 Inc. in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The franchisee cited financial difficulties and said it could no longer meet payroll or buy supplies, according to TheStreet.
- Huddle House has lost 64 locations since 2021. The Southern diner chain declined from 313 restaurants at the start of fiscal 2021 to 249 in May 2026, TheStreet reported.
- Village Inn has shrunk from more than 220 restaurants to around 111. The breakfast-and-diner chain has lost locations over several years, including two Colorado restaurants that closed in January 2026, according to TheStreet.
Rosenthal restated the importance of diners on “Somebody Feed Phil.”
“So, I’m going to solve everything by having a diner. And if you become a regular, now you start seeing the same folks. And before you know it, you’re talking. And before you know it, maybe you can solve some of the problems of the town because you’re all like-minded. We’re way more like-minded than the news would have us think,” he said.
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