Longtime Customers Flocking Back To Beloved Wilkinsburg Diner

WILKINSBURG (KDKA) -- It's a busy lunch hour at Nancy's East End Diner in Wilkinsburg.

Late owner Nancy Bielicki and her family served generations of customers. When she became ill and later passed away, the building sat empty, till co-owners Markie Maraugha and Greg Stocke re-opened the diner of their childhoods.

"It doesn't get any better than this," Markie says. "This is old school. It's charming. So we really decided to not really touch anything. What she was doing works. And we knew that if we came in here and had good food and good service, we couldn't lose."

Longtime customers like Tracey Evans are delighted with the restaurant's revival.

"I brought my family here, my kids," she recalls. "Nancy would make them chocolate chip pancakes. So we always had a soft spot for her in our hearts."

The original owner moved her restaurant to South Avenue in 1980. That followed a six-year run on Penn Avenue. The new owner has kept the decor and the menu pretty much the same.

David Love and his family made their first visit since the ownership change.

"Good feeling that you know you can still go somewhere, and still get a home-cooked meal," he says.

Server Jaymee Lutes never stops moving, as customers keep arriving.

"I love working here," she says. "It's fast paced. You've got real people in here. Very kind. Very patient. They see that we're running our butt off, and they're very patient with us. And at the end of the day, everybody's happy."

Co-owner Markie Maraugha admits that some newcomers ask if her name's Nancy.

"She had such a warmth about her, that when people mix up the name it's a big compliment," she says.

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