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Old S&S Diner in South Miami Says Goodbye

diner
Caitie Switalski
/
WLRN
S&S Diner will close its kitchen on July 24. The owners are looking for places to relocate.

 

A small piece of Miami history, the diner inside Allen’s Drug Store, announced it’s closing its doors this summer after more than 60 years in business.

At breakfast time at the corner of Bird and Red roads in South Miami, people are ordering eggs, grits and pancakes while they still can.

 

The owners of Allen’s Drug Store and the S & S Diner say that they don’t want to close , but they couldn’t come to an agreement with their landlord about some of the details of their lease, so they have to leave the current location. The owner of the building could not be reached for comments.

 

Nancy Cajaraville and her husband, Carlos, bought the diner seven years ago.

 

“The memories, the history! I mean, this place has watched everything else around it, transition,” Cajaraville said.  

 

Cajaraville said the diner managed to stay practically the same. And because it's so close to the University of Miami, students come here to relax after a tough day.

 

"They think of me as their mom. Carlos is their dad," she said. "Questions, suggestions, ideas, advice - sometimes it’s like a bar.”

 

Peter Chapman started eating at S&S Diner after he sold his Harley Davidson to Cajaraville. He is there pretty much every other day, and he wishes he could save this place.

 

“Short of winning the lottery and buying it myself - you know, it’s a beautiful part of life and the thing I’ll always look back on with the greatest of memories and hope that in the future everybody here just stays connected and you know, stays in contact,” Chapman said.

 

S&S Diner is looking for places to relocate, but for now, the kitchen closes on July 24.

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