Alan Saunders (L) and Joey Eckenfel celebrate the reopening of their College Park Diner in Orlando Jan. 10 after closing for a few weeks due to a Christmas Eve kitchen fire. (Photo by Fabiana Ungaro)
ORLANDO | Vibrant ’50s music played throughout the speakers and the door chime sang while customers came in and out of College Park Diner — formerly College Park Cafe — Jan. 10. Approximately $20,000 and 16 days later, College Park Diner reopened its doors after closing due to a kitchen grease fire on Christmas Eve.
“Christmas Eve morning, we were all just kind of flabbergasted, to be honest, that it even happened,” Joey Eckenfel co-owner of College Park Diner says.
According to the owners, the kitchen fire was caused by a grease tray that tipped over onto the stove. Eckenfel says after the fire, they were unsure whether they would be able to reopen due to the cost.
“Back-of-house equipment for a commercial kitchen is not cheap, and being a small mom-and-pop there’s not piles of cash lying around,” he says.
Eckenfel co-owns the restaurant with his ex-husband and best friend, Alan Saunders. Eckenfel says the two of them originally sought to open a queer space when College Park Diner went on the market.
“This popped up on the market, and some of our first dates were classic American diners. That’s what we would do, go to a diner every Saturday or Sunday, every road trip we would hit different ones, and we knew this place had formally operated as such,” Eckenfel says.
Eckenfel and Saunders purchased the diner in October 2021.
While they were nervous to own the restaurant at first, Eckenfel says the College Park community has been very welcoming. Eckenfel and Saunders decided to uphold the diner’s retro roots while making their restaurant welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.
“We decorate the place for Pride, like extensively, more than we do for Christmas, we have Pride T-shirts, we’ve sponsored the OUT Sports League, we do a lot of outreach. Alan actually works part-time with Zebra [Youth] handling their finances. So we have a connection to the community for sure,” Eckenfel says.
One of the first things Eckenfel did when he opened was put out a rainbow pride “Human” sticker to communicate that their restaurant was a safe space.
“We’re designated by the Police Department as a safe space, and those little signs mean a lot to people because they can come in, be themselves and not to isolate, but we have a large trans following which makes me feel really special because that community is experiencing even more right now, so for them to come in here, feel safe around our guests, eat and just be, we’ve created something special here.”
College Park Diner has also accumulated loyal regulars over its past decades in business.
“We have a family that comes every Sunday after church. It’s a grandma and grandpa. They eat here every day and her brother has his own booth in the back, says Mel’s corner, because he eats with us every single day,” Eckenfel says.
Attendees at the grand opening expressed their appreciation for the diner.
“It’s the best one in College Park,” customer Carson Harmon says.
Eckenfel says part of the reason the diner has continued to be such a staple in the community, is due to its team members.
“They show up for us endlessly, without question, but we do our best to take care of them outside of work too. They come to us like we’re their dads,” he says, adding their team feels like family.
On the menu, College Park Diner proclaims they have the best pancakes, made out of sweet cream instead of buttermilk, and “Orlando’s Best Cuban Sandwich” along with other traditional diner items.
Eckenfel says they plan on releasing an extended menu in February and including plant-based versions and vegetarian options of their most popular traditional menu items. He adds that goals for the new year include community involvement.
“We’re going to start a scholarship fund, not for students that want to attend college, but for individuals that want to start their own business, and hopefully get some of those ideas off the ground,” Eckenfel says.
To reopen, Eckenfel says their team installed new equipment, gas lines, laid a new floor, put up some walls and gave everything a fresh coat of paint.
“There is still work to be done, but we had the areas that were the most important ready to go so that we could open today,” Eckenfel says.
College Park Diner is open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.






You must be logged in to post a comment.