DK Diner remains a mainstay while evolving
More than 40 years after it opened, DK Diner has changed names and expanded its offerings, but it remains a Grandview Heights institution.
Anthony Teny was 11 years old in 1991 when his father, Stacey Miller, bought the Donut Kitchen at 1715 W. 3rd Ave. from Fred Weir.
By that time, Teny recognized it as a special place with loyal customers who were on a first-name basis with the staff.
Coffee and homemade donuts were what Donut Kitchen was known for when it opened in 1978, because that was the entire menu.
Four years after buying the business, Miller added lunch and changed the name to DK Diner to reflect the change.
About 2001, DK Diner again expanded the menu to include breakfast offerings such as omelets, French toast and biscuits and gravy. Dinner and alcohol were added in 2013.
But through the changes, Teny, DK Diner's general manager, said his family has maintained the quality food, friendly service and neighborhood atmosphere that appealed to him when he was a boy.
"I think we've always been a staple in the community," Teny said. "When we bought it, I was 11 and we'd come two days a week.
"You still see that kind of thing today and you become friends with these people you see two to three times a week."
Leah Reynolds, who's lived in Grandview for 40 years, said she's been a customer since the Donut Kitchen days and she hired Miller to cater her wedding after he took over the business.
"I've been coming here 20-30 years. I think, more than anything, it's the sense of community and having someone that's one of your own having a diner here."
The interior of DK Diner also has evolved, being renovated to allow more seating.
Miller and Teny also have made use of awnings and tents to allow tables to be set up just outside the diner, something that Teny said has helped his business survive through the pandemic.
While there still are many loyal customers like Reynolds, Teny said patrons nowadays are trending younger, and many more Ohio State University students have made the diner a destination.
"As all that's changed and adapted, we've adapted what we do as a business," Teny said. nellis@thisweeknews.com @Thisweeknate