Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop, a traditional Greek diner located at 2953 Webster Avenue and Bedford Park Boulevard, has been serving the local Norwood and Bedford Park communities for over 30 years. Founded by Greek immigrants, it was purchased last year by Carlos Jiminez, a native of Mexico.

 

Greek diners have been a staple of the hospitality industry in the New York City Metro area for over 75 years, but Jiminez said numbers have dwindled in the last decade. He said when the beloved “Neptune” Diner in Astoria, Queens, considered to be “ground zero” for the City’s Greek community, closed, it made major news, as reported by the NY Post.

 

Jiminez said if the most popular Greek diner in Astoria can close, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the New York City Metro area diners. But all is not lost. “Some Greek-style diners have stayed open because the owners have sold them to Mexicans who have worked for them for many years and know how to keep the tradition of the Greek diner alive,” he said.

 

He said Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop is one such diner, and according to Jiminez, is perfectly located to continue what he calls the immigrant rite of passage through the restaurant industry. He said 10458 is one of the most ethnically diverse zip code in the U.S. when it comes to the immigrant groups represented and the languages spoken.

 

Jiminez said that with immigration making it to the top of the news cycle, often in heartbreaking stories involving separation and trauma, Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop also shows the positive side of immigration, and how it benefits the country and the immigrant community as a whole.

 

Jiminez hails from the state of Puebla in Mexico, as do the plurality of Mexicans in The Bronx, he said. Prior to purchasing Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop in early 2024, the new boss said he has worked in every position in the hospitality industry. Arriving in the U.S. 18 years ago, he said he worked his way up from dishwasher to cook, to waiter, to maître d’.

 

He said he also knows the business of Greek diners inside and out and vows to preserve the tradition. Costa Manousos, a Greek American who has been a customer of Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop for nearly 20 years, has witnessed the changing of the guards. “Carlos has done a great job of keeping things status quo here,” he said, adding, “He knows how to cater to the clientele and keep them happy.”

 

Manousos added, “His buying of this diner represents the whole immigration tradition in the U.S. First, the Greeks started these diners. Then, in some cases they moved on and now, Mexicans are doing a great job of running them and maintaining the Greek diner model. I’ve seen it in Westchester too. I am glad that Mexicans are keeping these diners open and running.”

 

Certainly, for the physical and mental health of the local aging population, preserving local diners like Nick’s Garden Coffee Shop, where residents can go to eat, interact with neighbors, and most importantly, sit down, is important since they’re becoming few and far between.

 

Jiminez said the Mexican workers at Nick’s represent the changing face of immigration in The Bronx that was once Irish, Italian and Albanian. “The Bronx is like no other place in the U.S. in that we get customers who hail from so many different countries from all over Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. It is the true example of the melting pot. We are here to serve everyone and are proud to have this opportunity to serve traditional Greek-style dining.”