Friday’s lunch crowd at the Double T Diner in Bel Air was a mix of couples, grandparents with their grandchildren, and young families. Manager Connie Leiben hurriedly answered the phone in between ringing customers up at the register.
Christmas decorations adorned the diner and in the entry, posters announced a visit from Santa on Saturday for the children.
But the bustling restaurant is in its final days after more than 20 years. Employees were notified last week that the diner will close at the end of the year, Leiben said.
“We don’t know much more about what’s happening, other than we heard the county is going to build a courthouse here,” she said, as customers paid their tabs. She said Dec. 31 would be the last day the diner will be open, and referred further questions to “Mr. Nick,” otherwise known as Nick Moriatis, the owner, whom she said was unavailable at the time.
However, this is not the first time that there was a possibility of the diner being sold. In October 2019, an evaluation of the property was mistakenly published as a real estate listing, said Moriatis, who owns several Double T Diners in the region.
“This place is not for sale,” Moriatis said at the time. “Double T is going to be here.”
Yet, this time seems real. The state Board of Public Works approved the purchase of 543 Marketplace Drive at its Oct. 25 meeting specifically for the construction of a new District Court. In the meeting agenda, the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement recommended that the sale include relocation costs for Moriatis’ company, ELOS LLC.
The purchase price was stated in the agenda as $4.9 million, which included an appraised value of $2.7 million and relocation costs of $2.185 million. It was approved by the Board without discussion.
While word spread over social media in the past week about the diner’s closure, some restaurant patrons like Jackie and John Schnell of Fallston said they did not find out about the restaurant closing until earlier in the day.
“Our daughter told us this morning,” Jackie Schnell said. “I think it’s a shame.”
The Schnells said they frequently eat at the restaurant and hate to see it go. “I was hoping they would move it to another location in the area,” John Schnell said.
Both were disappointed that the site is going to be torn down for a new courthouse. “I guess it’s progress,” John Schnell said.
His wife would prefer a market. “I’d rather have a Trader Joe’s,” Jackie Schnell said.
This story will be updated.