Wilson's Diner To Change Hands After More Than 30 Years

WALTHAM, MA— In 1987 Arthur Karrs bought the old-fashioned diner car that sits at the corner of Main and Lyman Street. Since then, the cook has welcomed hundreds of customers into the space to serve them a cup of coffee and a hot meal. After flipping eggs nearly every day since then, he's handing over the spatula to someone else.

"He's very excited to retire, and I'm very excited to come on," Maria Kitidis Mackay, the new owner of the classic diner, told the licensing commission just before Christmas.

Karrs told the commission he'd worked at the spot for 33 years and some change.

Mackay, of Woburn, told the commission that everything would stay much the same.

Wilson's Diner, was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and given a small red placard stamped with the number 819 over the entrance. It's been on the very spot where it sits since it the diner car company delivered it in March 1949.

It stands as an example of the company's post-World War II diner car craftsmanship, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The diner, ten "bays" wide and three deep, and sits on a brick foundation. A kitchen wing, built of concrete blocks, connects the diner to the house just behind it at 507 Main St.

Once you walk into the dinner through the original stainless steel doors, complete with the original sunburst motifs you're met by the owner directing you to a booth or stool at the marble counter. The diner seats 47.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).