The Jimmy’s Diner staff present their local business history at MMSCL.
Jimmy Manzella built a tiny empire of loyal followers at his eponymous Jimmy’s Diner in Mastic. In 2002 Linda Norell, who waitressed there, bought the business and solidified the way-thumbs-up reputation of this notable area eating establishment that has been around for more than 50 years.
On September 25th customers crowded into the Moriches branch to hear stories from Linda, waitress Donna O’Neill, and the surprise guest, Jimmy’s daughter Loretta, who had waitressed at the diner as a teenager. The walls rebounded with laughter as Loretta reminisced about her loving but overprotective father (throughout her employment, the hem of her waitressing uniform remained strictly below the knee at schoolmarm length). On their first date, Loretta’s husband Lee Sinnickson was met by a gun when he arrived at the family home.
A retired NYC policeman, Jimmy never quite retired his gun. In fact, Jimmy kept a gun in the diner’s oven, forgetting one morning to remove it before cooking. Shortly afterward, a huge explosion echoed up and down Montauk Highway.
When Linda took over 22 years ago, the Health Department mandated upgrades to the building. (This was no surprise, since Jimmy had recently locked the health inspector in the basement!) To Linda’s credit, she made the changes and retained the character of the business, guiding Jimmy’s into the 21st century with a confident hand. Meeting COVID restrictions head on, she installed the picnic tables outside that became a permanent innovation. And at this woman-owned company,
single women are warmly encouraged to sit and enjoy. In fact, one audience participant explained that her decision to move to Mastic was based on the warm welcome she’d received after arriving at the diner alone.
All in all, the evening was a lovefest, of sorts. Linda, Donna, and fellow employee Rose Marchioli, who was also in attendance, have developed tremendous, long-standing relationships with their customers. In a business field crowded with other options for hungry restaurant-goers, the success of Jimmy’s Diner stands out, easily understood through the devotion of staff and patrons to one another.