FEBRUARY 2022 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 63
GOLDEN REEF DINER
TASTE OF RVC BY ALAN KRAWITZ
“Diners are places where you can have anything
you want, made to order. Everything
is fresh, never frozen, no matter what you
order,” says Jimmy Trahanas, the owner
of Golden Reef Diner in Rockville Centre.
“Even the baked goods are all homemade.
Everything is made on premises,
including the bread.”
While this may not be the case at all diners
on Long Island, it›s a longtime point of
pride for Trahanas, who has run the historic
Golden Reef for nearly 40 years. The
restaurant has operated as a diner at the
same location, but under various names
and owners, since roughly 1922.
A Greek immigrant, Trahanas came to the
U.S. in 1971 at age 16.
“I started as a busboy and I didn›t speak
any English,” he says, recalling that he
worked at “every position in the diner.”
He explains, “You need to know the kitchen,
the back-end areas, everything. In any
business, you need to have knowledge of
every area, to be able to take care of problems
when they come up.”
Those positions included everything
from cook and waiter to manager at various
diners throughout Queens, including
the North Shore Diner in Flushing and
the now-defunct Blue Dolphin Diner in
Bayside.
He recalls taking over the Golden Reef in
1983, renovating it, and working alongside
family members including his brother
in-law Jimmy, who has been running
the kitchen and overseeing as many as 12
diff erent cooks, for decades.
Trahanas says some of his loyal staff has
been with him for nearly 30 years.
“All my staff , from the cooks and waiters to
the bussers, they›re all nice people and it
wouldn›t be nice if I didn›t mention them
all because they help to keep the place
running.”
He also credits his wife Georgia, who has
helped him run things for more than 25
years. Trahanas says that now, at nearly
age 70, he longer does any cooking, but
that homemade foods are made “seven
days per week...from scratch. We make
anything you can think of.”
Commenting on signature dishes, he
says diners “don›t have signature dishes
because you can have so many diff erent
things, from eggs to burgers.”
“This is the American kitchen,” he says.
“You can get anything you want. I have
people here twice per day...everything we
sell is homemade and good.”
Some of those homemade
foods include Golden Reef
specials such as half-pound
made-to-order burgers, specialty
omelets, salads, fresh
fi sh, steaks, and a dizzying array
of breakfast items including
pancakes, waffl es, French toast
and bagels. In addition to numerous
fresh bakery items there is a
homemade gelato bar.
Among the diner’s numerous local
fans is chef/actor Joseph Gannascoli, best
known for his role as Vito Spatafore in the
HBO drama series, The Sopranos. Trahanas
says Joseph Gannascoli lives nearby
and is a frequent visitor.
“It’s my favorite place for breakfast or
lunch,” says Gannascoli. “The pancakes
are huge and fl uff y and light, omelets are
generous, and because it›s clean and busy,
everything is always fresh. They also have
the best bran muffi ns.”
Discussing the impact of the ongoing pandemic,
Trahanas says it has taken its toll
on business.
“It was a rough ride and it›s still rough,”
he says, noting that while the diner was
forced to close for two months in the early
part of the pandemic, “Like everything
else, somehow, we›re going to be able to
pull through.”
He says that “everyone is afraid now...
we›re in unstable times,” explaining that
things were getting better but now with
the coronavirus variant Omicron,
things have backslid quite a bit,
and business has dropped off
with the recent surge.
“The whole world has changed
in these past two years.” He
adds that it›s “not easy to keep up,
but somehow he believes they›ll
survive.”
Trahanas says that
he was told by an
old customer
years ago, that
ironically, the
diner before the
Golden Reef
never closed
down — even
du r i ng
the Great Depression of
the 1930s.
“Back then, he said, “They
sold rice and beans...but
we had to close during the
pandemic.”
He says that right now, there is
“extreme infl ation,” with prices
rising on everything from carryout
containers to especially meat.
But he remains optimistic that things will
soon get better.
Until then, he says, “somehow, we›ll deal
with it.”
Golden Reef Diner is located at 329 Sunrise
Hwy. in Rockville Centre. It can be
reached at 516-764-9273 or goldenreefdiner.
com
MAIN DISH
Jimmy Trahanas at Golden
Reef Diner in Rockville Centre.
(Photo by Jennifer Uihlein)
“This is the American
kitchen,” says
Jimmy Trahanas.
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