Enduring Eats: 5 Brooklyn Restaurants That Have Stood the Test of Time
70 YEARS
Tom’s Restaurant
Located smack on the border of Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, the venerable Tom’s Restaurant is uniquely positioned to have witnessed over 70 years of evolution, revolution and creeping gentrification in Brooklyn. In fact, third generation owner Jimmy Kokotas is fond of sharing his uncle’s anecdote from the 1960s about when patrons lined up in front of their beloved diner during the race riots to make sure it wasn’t looted.
“It goes to show you that my uncle and his dad were a little bit ahead of the times in the customer service area,” Kokotas says. “It’s about treating everybody well, no matter if they’re black or white, tall or short, red or blue.
“People have always expected that of us and respected that about us,” he adds. “So even now, despite the changing neighborhood, a good 50 percent of our customers are old friends from back in the day, who’ve been with us through the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
They continue to queue in front of Tom’s each weekend (for the excellent all-day breakfasts, that is; not to provide muscle), along with a growing contingent of local young families, nostalgic Manhattanites, and visitors from all over the world who’ve heard tell of Tom’s awesome egg creams, cherry lime rickeys, recession-era prices, and unmatched warmth and generosity. In fact, a large part of the diner’s enduring appeal is being greeted by the scrappy old-timers and young kids from the neighborhood whom Kokotas pays to work the line and hand out coffee in the winter and cold water in the summer, along with orange slices, pancakes, cookies and sausage.
“My accountant looks at our food costs and says we’re a little out of whack. I say we’re a lot out of whack, not because of what we charge and sell but because of what we give away,” Kokotas says.
“Nowadays, more people are looking at this just as a food business, losing sight of the fact that it’s also a hospitality business,” he adds. “Some places you go to eat, you get your order dropped off in front of you, and that’s about it. No one passes by to see if you’re ok; the people at the register are happy to take your money and say goodbye.
“What we do is a commitment financially, but it’s our way of showing we appreciate the neighborhood. My uncles started that tradition, and I was more than happy to continue it.”
782 Washington Avenue, Prospect Heights
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