Area Luncheonette Vanishes (Almost) Overnight

Tucked into a corner of a busy shopping plaza, odds are many area residents have passed Little Neck Luncheonette dozens of times on their way to other, higher-volume businesses like , or without taking much notice.

So it may come as no surprise that the failure of to open Monday made barely a ripple — even among regular Little Neck Plaza customers.

"I didn't even know it was open," said Thomas Regetti of Auburndale, grabbing his morning coffee that perhaps only a few short months ago might have been poured at a counter at the , or more recently, at this now-vanished luncheonette only a few doors down from the latest in a string of recently opened .

Outside the business located at 254-57 Horace Harding Expy., there were few clues left to point the way to the why and how of Little Neck Luncheonette's demise.

On the glass front door hung a sign reading, "Closed," as if the owners had merely stepped out momentarily, with an unspoken promise to return.

The sign below it only deepened the mystery, informing customers that the bus tickets to popular gambling destinations like Foxwoods and Atlantic City once sold at the diner could now be purchased at  only a few steps away.

Peering through the window, one could see that the luncheonette's cash register, boxes of pain reliever and familiar stacks of daily newspapers were gone.

"She said she was done. That's it," said a man who gave his name as Simon, selling printed white bus tickets from his new perch at the hair salon, speaking of the diner's owner, who he declined to identify.

As for the future of the space, a call to Little Neck Plaza's leasing agent, KimCo Realty, was not returned.

Meanwhile, back at the salon, Simon seemed taken aback by all the questions about the luncheonette, which only last week was serving eggs scrambled or over-easy, pouring soft drinks into the familiar frosted plastic 'glasses' favored by diners all over Queens.

"Call back later... when it's less busy," he said.