Lindy's Diner owners holding off plans to sell

Lindy’s Diner has been whipping up everything from chicken fried steak to huevos rancheros for more than 50 years from an iconic building in Downtown Albuquerque on Route 66.

And despite prior announcements and efforts to sell, the diner’s owners now say they will keep the restaurant open for the foreseeable future.

Co-owners, and husband and wife, Steve Vatoseow, 67, and Dawn Vatoseow, 60, attempted to sell their property on the southwest corner of 5th Street and Central Avenue in 2022 for $1.3 million, but the couple didn’t get any offers, Steve Vatoseow said. The couple again announced in late 2023 they planned to sell the restaurant sometime in 2024. However, they never put the property on the market — “just waiting for the right time,” Steve Vatoseow said.

News of the couple’s attempt to sell the property hasn’t helped draw in customers, Dawn Vastoseow said.

“We still get people coming in here saying, ‘You’re open; I thought you closed,’” she said.

A reason for the lack of interested buyers, Steve Vatosweow said, is that the couple owns the entire Bliss Building. The property includes Lindy’s Diner on the first floor and an upper level with 22 rooms that once operated as the Elgin Hotel. He said the upper parts of the building are not up to code and would need a considerable investment to convert the space into an enterprise.

“You could easily spend a million,” Steve Vatoseow said.

The roof needs work and so do the water and electric systems. The hotel shut down decades ago , and Dawn Vasteow said they haven’t touched the upstairs since.

Steve Vatoseow said the space could be turned into apartments, but he doesn’t intend to contribute to that effort.

“At this point in my life, I really don’t want to go into mega debt,” he said.

The corner restaurant has been operating since 1929. Narke Vatoseow, Steve Vatoseow’s father, became a partner in 1964 and it was rebranded Lindy’s Coffee Shop in 1970, and later Lindy’s Diner .

Steve Vatoseow took over the restaurant when his father died in 1994. He said his children have no interest in carrying on the family business.

“My kids are a little bit smarter. They don’t want anything to do with here,” he joked.

He has worked at the restaurant for almost 40 years and met his wife while he was a cook 35 years ago.

She was working a day job as a credit and collections manager but would help out occasionally at the restaurant until then-owner Narke Vatoseow was diagnosed with cancer.

“Steve was down here by himself, so I never went back to work after my short-term disability was up,” said Dawn Vatoseow, who was on short-term disability after just giving birth to her first daughter.

The Vatoseows worked in the kitchen and their daughters helped out.

“My kids kind of grew up here,” said Dawn Vatoseow.

These days, Dawn Vatoseow makes all the desserts in the morning and works out front while Steve Vatoseow cooks in the back. Most days, Lindy’s only has three employees, including the Vatoseows.

The small staff means shortened hours. Lindy’s is now open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It used to stay open until 3 a.m. and would serve the late-night bar crowd.

The business never fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dawn Vatoseow said the restaurant’s bread and butter was serving lunch to people who worked Downtown.

“Now everybody wants to work from home,” she said.

Allison Carpenter covers retail for the Albuquerque Journal. She can be reached at acarpenter@abqjournal.com.