Seville Diner. Rt. 18 south, East Brunswick . Paul Goldfinger photo 4/17/23

Cover of the American Graffiti album.

Below is a clip from Barry Levinson’s movie Diner, set in 1959 Baltimore

By Paul Goldfinger,  Editor Blogfinger.net.   Ocean Grove, NJ.   4/18/23

New Jersey diners are famous, and they have been emulated all over the country. Barry Levinson made a movie called Diner,  and there are a number of gangster films with scenes in diners such as Goodfellas.  Diners  are often located  in blue collar towns and usually on highways.   We have a very good one near here which is the “Blue Swan” in  Ocean Twp on Rt. 35 south-side.

My parents lived in East Brunswick where there are two diners on Rt. 18 that are well known:  The Colonial (still in business) and the Seville (photo above) which has stood empty since it filed for bankruptcy in 2021.  I used to meet an old friend R. there for breakfast,. A good diner is always in demand but not all of them are high quality.

When we  went to the Seville we always asked for a certain waitress. –Rhonda was her name, so we would sing her a few bars of a favorite song from our era “Help Me Rhonda*” by the Beach Boys.

Today, as I headed north on 18 to meet R. my friend from 4th grade, I passed the Seville, still standing empty but regal and beautiful in a classic diner way with  chrome and bright colors,  as if it were waiting to be taken to a diner prom.  I thought, “Wouldn’t it wonderful if this diner could be opened again.”    And I decided to photograph it on the return trip.

When I got to the Colonial R. presented me with a news clipping from the April 10 Star Ledger.  It was a piece called, “Coming right up, a new chapter for a diner that was a crime scene”  by Camille Furst.   The article said that “The Seville Diner is home to a 16-year-old unsolved murder. A part time owner of the diner, Frank Lagano, was found shot in the head in the building’s parking lot the afternoon of April 13, 2007.”

“The case remains open according to the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office.  Lagano was an alleged member of the Lucchese crime family.”

The current owner, Baha Elansary,  has decided to renovate the interior  and reopen by the end of the year, with the exterior left intact.

I stopped on the way home.  The parking lot was empty and as I decided where to park I couldn’t help but think of the supposed mob hit which occurred here 16 years ago.  I thought, ” What if someone is watching me?”     I took a few frames with my iPhone and got right back onto 18 south.

I am especially eager for the Seville to reopen, because our experience at the Colonial went like this:

The Colonial had few customers this morning . We ordered  “the usual”   R. got a waffle and I got 2 slices of French toast.  I also ordered 2 of their fat and juicy sausages and gave him one.  These were always great as they snapped when you bit in with juice coming out.   But this sausage was all dried up.

I called over the waiter and told him to bring me another, but it was also all dried up.  He said that they can’t get good sausage any more because the expensive restaurants were getting them. Raised eyebrows all around.

So we paid, but we will be looking forward to the Seville’s return.

THE BEACH BOYS:    “Help Me Rhonda.”*