Seville Diner. Rt. 18 south, East Brunswick . Paul Goldfinger photo 4/17/23. Click once to enlarge.
Album cover from American Graffiti.
Blueberry buttermilk pancakes: diner food.
Below is a clip from Barry Levinson’s movie Diner, set in 1959 Baltimore. Click on “Watch video on You Tube”. or click on trailer video.
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. We also like the “Americana “in Shrewsbury on Rt. 35, south side.
My parents lived in East Brunswick where there were two diners on Rt. 18 that were 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.
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, 4/18/23, as I headed north on 18 to meet R. my friend since 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 be 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, 2023 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 to obtain a photo portrait of the Seville. (above).
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 looked around at the desolate scene and 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 at the Seville where 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.
May 27, 2025 update: We were driving on Rt 18 north when we noticed that the diner, formerly know as the “Seville,” now had a new name: “High Point.“ But no one was parked there today, however we have high hopes for the new High Point Diner.
THE BEACH BOYS: “Help Me Rhonda.”*
The diner which I loved the most was the Traveler’s Diner in Dover, NJ. It was open 24 hours per day. It was right near Dover General. When I would have to go to the hospital late at night, I would be starving after solving problems in the ER. So sometimes, usually middle of the night, I would go there and order something forbidden like corned beef hash covered with two eggs over easy and with hash browns.
One night while I was indulging , one our pulmonary doctors strolled in, coming from the hospital. He looked at my plate and rolled his eyes. He swore never to divulge what he saw.
And the coffee—hot and wonderful, and it never caused me to lose sleep when I got home.
FYI : there was a diner called “the Neptune Diner” right outside of OG at intersection of Routes 33 & 35 . Don’t know which corner. Saw only in postcards . Period looked 1950 >1960’s. Maybe some of your readers know.