With its sleek stainless-steel exterior and well-appointed interior filled with the warm smells of cooking and brewed coffee, the Capitol Diner sits atop Eisenhower Boulevard, shining like one of its pre-fabricated brothers in New Jersey or New York.
That’s what Dimitrious “Jimmy” Hronis, who owns the diner with his brother, Gus, intended when they bought the old 70s restaurant with its faux stone exterior a decade ago and began to transform it into a stylish, 24-hour restaurant with a counter.
“This is very typical for New Jersey,” Hronis said, relaxing one morning in a booth near the long granite counter. “It’s the old way diners used to be, but modernized.”
The Swatara Township diner, which the brothers bought 10 years ago, was recently approved for a liquor license and should soon offer beer and wine with meals – very New Jersey/New York like, but Hronis doesn’t anticipate ever having a bar as many diners do in those states.
To Hronis, who has an information technology degree from George Washington University, appearance is everything in running a restaurant. He and his brother grew up working in their father’s Northampton diner, where they learned the business – from cooking to waiting tables.
Hronis found his niche in managing the front of the house while Gus took the kitchen, which is how they operate their 180-seat diner with a trained staff that numbers as many as 10 workers on a shift, depending upon the time of day.
Since those first years cleaning, remodeling and refurbishing the interior and re-fabricating the exterior, Capitol Diner has become a popular spot, attracting even governors and U.S. Senators as well as celebrities performing in Harrisburg.
One of the biggest to dine there was Hilary Clinton, when she was a candidate for president in 2008. Her staff chose the diner for a campaign event that drew crowds of voters as well as media.
“We had reporters coming in from all over the world here,” Hronis recalled, noting television trucks were parked everywhere. “It was a very busy day.”
The keys to running a successful diner, said Hronis, are “Good food, good service and clean atmosphere,” something his Greek-immigrant father always stressed during the 33 years he ran his diner. “Those were the words from Pop.”
“We strive here on being clean, very clean,” Hronis said. A short while later, He pointed at a busboy who worked nearby with a broom, “He’s doing sweeping, see?”
Hronis believes success requires a willingness to make changes. That, he said, is why he rebuilt the diner – it was closed for four months after he bought it in 2002 – and why he continues to add to the menu.
“People want a change,” he said. “They don’t want the same thing all the time.”
Hronis, who makes a point to know his customers, said that’s just as important as a clean restaurant, and food that not only tastes good, but looks good.
“People believe with their eyes,” he said. “The eyes are the key to people’s stomachs.”
Capitol Diner, 800 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, 717-939-2279 or fax 717-939-4119.
