Red Line Diner

Inside an Upstate Diner Humming With Regulars | Eater NY

"Just off Interstate 84 in Fishkill, NY, a neon sign glows and chrome glimmers at the Red Line Diner, named for redlining a car engine at top speed; it's a 250-seater where the best time to be there is now. On a recent Thursday night, music from Boz Scaggs, Mark Ronson, Rihanna, and the Isley Brothers gave rhythm to a packed waiting area and a lively mix of regulars and passersby: truck drivers, bikers eating pancakes, ball players, an ex-champion bull rider, recent divorcees, and parents stealing kisses over mezcal margaritas. Behind the counter co-owner Nick Vanikiotis banters with longtime customers—one man’s blue-cheese-topped wedge is even nicknamed the “Ken salad”—while his uncles Dino and Teddy help run the place; their grandfather, an immigrant from the Peloponnese, bought his first diner in 1981. The kitchen is overseen by Dino and chef Ricardo Villa Campos (Dino graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1988), and ingredients are largely sourced from regional purveyors. The comically large menu delivers: juicy burgers, pastas served al dente, steaks that come out pink when ordered medium-rare, crispy fried mac-and-cheese balls on vodka sauce, an extensive dessert case, fountain, cocktail and espresso bars, and moist, chewy Italian cookies. Behind the bar nine of twelve taps pour local beer, the shelf holds wine and local spirits (and even a bottle of Martell for the occasional customer), and Vanikiotis keeps a bottle of Tsipouro under the counter. Low staff turnover—four managers across twenty years and many long-serving servers like Micci DeBonis—helps keep the place running with traditions, holiday rituals, and a sense of community that draws celebrities and politicians (Mariano Rivera and Bernie Sanders have stopped by) and everyday people who come for decent coffee, comfort food, late-night buzz, and warm conversation." - Mike Diago