A diner that serves all-day breakfast has made its way from the Big Apple to Vienna, giving the town a potential successor to the night-owl-friendly Amphora Restaurant.
Carnegie Diner & Cafe will celebrate its grand opening at 501 Maple Avenue West this Wednesday (June 5) — less than a month after buying the property from the Pagonis family, who had opened Yellow Diner there in early April.
The restaurant had an initial soft opening just before Memorial Day weekend, Northern Virginia Magazine reported.
The D.C. area was Carnegie’s first choice once it started looking to expand beyond its current New York City and New Jersey base. While visiting D.C., the team was invited to check out Yellow Diner, and “the rest is history,” owner and executive chef Stathis Antonakopoulos says.
“As we were looking for locations in D.C., we found Yellow and we fall in love at first [sight],” he told FFXnow by email. “We loved the location and we loved [that] Vienna, Va, had the perfect mixture of people we were looking for. So everything was easy after that.”
Not to be mistaken for the famed but now-closed Carnegie Deli, Carnegie Diner & Cafe first opened near its namesake, Carnegie Hall, in Midtown Manhattan in 2019, later adding locations in Secaucus, New Jersey, and New York City’s Theater District.
A native of Greece, Antonakopoulos began his career working at his grandfather’s hotel and restaurant when he was 18. With Carnegie Diner, he sought to fill “a gap in modern upscale diners” in the U.S. by blending nostalgic comforts with a more 21st-century emphasis on healthy, organic food.
Like the earlier locations, Carnegie’s Vienna restaurant serves the same menu from when it opens its doors at 7 a.m. to its closing time of 10 p.m., seven days a week. That means patrons could chow down on pancakes for dinner or the signature, 24-layer chocolate cake at noon.
“Yes, you can have breakfast for dinner,” Antonakopoulos said. “We serve organic eggs and organic burgers, amazing sandwiches.”
The all-day breakfast menu features a dozen types of pancakes, waffles, French toast, avocado toast, and a variety of egg dishes, from omelets to a Classic Benedict with the option to add lobster. In addition to burgers and sandwiches, lunch and dinner entrees include pastas, steak, fish, a lobster roll and salads.
Carnegie also has a plant-based menu that includes a souvlaki platter and Impossible vegan burger, among other dishes, and a “theater” menu, which offers an appetizer and an entree from a select list for a fixed price.
For dessert, diners can choose cakes, pies, cupcakes and milkshakes. Drinks include beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails, teas, hot chocolate, espresso, cappucino and bottomless coffee, which will be made from specialty beans provided by Vienna’s Caffe Amouri.
With a 92-seat capacity, the 3,200-square-foot restaurant resembles a traditional diner in design with booth seating and photos along the walls, including one of Carnegie Hall and portraits of musicians who’ve performed at the New York City venue, according to a press release. Patio seating is also available.
Antonakopoulos says he’s eager to get to know Vienna residents and “show them our food and our passion for hospitality.”
“[We plan to] create a local family restaurant to serve the community and be part of everyone’s way of life,” he said. “We support all local activities and we want to be part of their celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries and any kind of memory life event.”
