BY TAMMY McKILLIP
Correspondent
TAMMY MCKILLIP With its down-home atmosphere, The Seaport Diner has attracted a devoted base of regular customers. KEYPORT – Betty Laspis doesn’t know for sure exactly how many years her little trolley diner has been open, but she’s pretty sure it was operating in one form or another for at least 50 years before she and her husband, Frank, bought and renamed the place The Seaport Diner in 1985.
“It had been a diner before but just a wooden one, with sliding doors and sawdust on the floors,” she said. “Then they brought in the trolley car. First, it was called The Ideal Palace, and then it was called Stanley’s Diner.”
Laspis said her husband had always dreamed of owning a small business, and when he saw the railroad-style diner, he knew it was his destiny.
“He fell in love with it, and that was it,” she said. “He came in. He saw it. He loved it, and he said, ‘This is what I want.’”
Since that time, the couple has nurtured a dedicated clientele by remaining open seven days a week.
“Everybody comes in to see us,” she said. “I have regulars – people that come here from Old Bridge, South Amboy, Cliffwood Beach, Keyport, Union Beach. I have a gentleman called Nick who comes in here almost every day, and he has his Italian omelette or his Mediterranean omelette. Then I have another gentleman named Bob. He comes in morning and night – first for coffee and breakfast and then again for his hot open turkey or his chicken Murphy, whatever is on the menu that night.”
Laspis said she thinks it’s the family atmosphere that brings customers back time and again.
“We make them feel at home,” she said. “We know what people like, and even if we don’t know you, we try to make you feel at home and make you come back.”
She said another draw is the diner’s eclectic menu, which boasts everything from traditional breakfast fare to wraps, salads, burgers, fries and hearty comfort foods and desserts.
“We have a lot of good seafood here,” she said. “It’s fresh, and it’s very good. We have a good reputation for that.”
Although the establishment does not have a liquor license, Laspis said diners are welcome to bring their own bottle.
She said she likes to play ’50s music for the “old-timers,” who appreciate the ambience and may even remember the place in one of its former incarnations.
“We also have mini-meals,” she said. “They’re smaller, reasonably priced portions for seniors.”
The Seaport Diner is located at 83 Broad St., Keyport. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays until 1 p.m.