From Home Free to Hollywood

The beloved Weiss Diner in Williamsburg is set to be sold and relocated to Steiner Studios, where it will continue to have a role in films and movies.

For quite some time, diners along the trendy Weiss Avenue have served as backdrops in films like “The Good Shepherd” and “Men in Black 3,” as reported in local news.

Doug Steiner, who chairs Steiner Studios, noted his personal connection to the diner, expressing a desire to preserve its history instead of constructing a new diner set from scratch. He recalled, “That diner was one of the few places I went to for lunch in the early days, before massive gentrification.”

Originally opened in 1968 and operating under that name until the late ’80s, Weiss Diner was purchased by Sandy Stillman’s Blue Sky Diner Inc. in 1997 and reopened as Relish until 2010. The diner later became a Mexican co-cafe, de la esquina, which was the last full-service iteration before its closure in 2018.

Since then, the 2,800-square-foot space has hosted a brief coffee shop and various pop-up events, including a Chanel fragrance launch during Fall 2023 Fashion Week. However, many of the spots have remained vacant.

In the coming weeks, the classic 50s-style diner will slowly transition to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a site that has housed shows like “The Amazing Mrs. Maisel,” “Inventing Anna,” and “Only Murders in the Building.”

Steiner purchased the diner property for $12.5 million from Stillman, who declared the endeavor to save the diner “beyond spiritual beauty.”

Unfortunately, Weiss Diner isn’t the only nostalgic spot to close in recent years. Hector’s Cafe, known for its appearance in “Taxi Driver,” shut its doors last month after serving the Meatpacking District for 76 years. Also, Astoria bid farewell to Neptune Diner, a staple for 40 years, just a year ago. Yet, there’s some hope, as the iconic Kellogg diner has found new life, brought back by buyers who turned the once-bankrupt establishment around.