(June 5, 2015) After spending 24 years on 61st Street and taking an almost five-year hiatus, Coach’s Corner Diner is back to serve breakfast and lunch daily out of the Beachmark Motel on 74th Street.
Omelets, breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, cheesesteaks, salads, cold sandwiches and desserts are a few of the homemade choices prepared fresh in owner Marty Furst’s kitchen since opening on Mother’s Day weekend. Enjoy endless coffee for $2.25 and fresh squeezed orange juice.
The restaurant will have a daily lunch special and from 6-7 a.m. there will be happy hour discounts and specials.
Originally, someone else was supposed to take over the space and Furst planned on helping out in the kitchen. When that person reconsidered, it left the landlords without a tenant and Furst decided to reach out to Hugh and Toni Wilde, owners of the Beachmark Motel.
“It was a matter of circumstance to have the opportunity. [General’s Kitchen original owner] Gus [Bollas] would come and eat at Coach’s Corner when [General’s Kitchen] closed for the winter and it’s awesome we ended up with this location,” Furst said. “We share the same passion for it.”
Furst and his wife, Jennifer, tried to resurrect their previous diner as best they could in the new location and have the same color scheme of red, white and silver.
They worked with the intimate space to add a hand sink at the server station and stainless steel with tiles were put in for easier cleaning. The restaurant seats 66 people with new tables and chairs. All new carpeting was added and many appliances and the ceiling in the kitchen were replaced, Furst said.
“It’s nice to be around again and see old customers who watched our kids grow up,” Jennifer Furst said. “We didn’t come home, we went to the diner and to be able to connect with them again is neat.”
The Furst children, James, Sonny, Barbara and Martin, can most likely be spotted seating, serving or running food to patrons this summer. Their nephew, Anthony Shaver, helps out in the kitchen.
“We are a nice family place and encourage kids,” Furst said. “Being family-owned and operated separates us. A lot of this has to do with my mom and dad, they started the restaurant.”
Mel Kurtz, cook and kitchen manager, worked for the Fursts for 11 years in their first location.
The diner has decades of family tradition tied to it and the Fursts are thankful for many of their old customers who have stopped by since opening.
“We are looking forward to serving the locals and visitors,” Furst said. “We have made a bunch of new friends in the short amount of time we have been open.”
Coach’s Corner Diner plans to be open year-around, seven days a week from 6 a.m. until 1:55 p.m. Lunch starts at 11:30 a.m. and breakfast is served all day.
