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At 9:30 a.m., construction officials will close the southbound lanes of
Georgia Avenue, and then transport the dining car on a giant flatbed
trailer. The lanes will be closed for about two hours, officials said.
The diner must be closed and relocated, since it currently sits on the
site of Discovery Communications' future headquarters.
"Yes, I'll miss it," said Martha McCall, waitress, "because it feels like
home." McCall, 70, has worked at the diner for more than 31 years.
Waitress Emilie Webb, 21, said she is sad the old location is closing, but
added that most of the employees and patrons are excited about the new
location.
"It'll be different," said Webb, who has worked at the diner for two
years. "It'll draw a much different crowd. I guess we'll see when it
opens."
Tim Hutcheson, 47, who has been coming to the Tastee every other day for
the past two years, said he will continue to dine at the new restaurant,
mainly for his favorite special: chicken and dumplings.
"It's sad," he said. "I always thought that this was an ideal situation.
... But once a customer, always a customer, I guess."
The future restaurant -- at the intersection of Cameron Street and Ramsey
Avenue -- will feature a new kitchen, a large patio with tables, a
revamped dinner menu and a beer and wine list, said Manager John C.
Littleton. It also will house more than three times the seating capacity
of the current diner.
The new location is scheduled to open July 10.
For years, county officials and developers have proposed relocating or
demolishing the diner because of its prime downtown spot. The current
restaurant sits on the corner of Georgia and Wayne avenues.
In the late 1980s, however, local activists fought hard to preserve the
establishment, even printing "Save the Diner" T-shirts. Eventually, they
were successful in getting the diner's silver front cab designated as a
historical landmark.
At the new site, the classic cab will be fused together with the new
restaurant on Cameron Street, which is nearly finished.
The cab, to retain its tile floor and cream-colored counter, will serve
primarily as a waiting area, Littleton said.
Meanwhile, Johnson, still sitting at a table in the old Tastee just a few
days before it closes, points outside the window at the encroaching
downtown skyscrapers.
"Everything changes," Johnson said. "You just can't stop progress."
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