The Country Diner in San Miguel is closing its doors
Last day of business was May 30
One-year shy of the 30-year mark, the small business owned and operated by Linda Mora has lost its lease.
–After 29-years, The Country Diner in San Miguel is closing its doors. One-year shy of the 30-year mark, the small business owned and operated by Linda Mora has lost its lease, according to the business owners.
Despite multiple attempts to re-negotiate the lease with the building owner, The Country Diner is being forced to re-locate. The proprietor says she has already begun looking for alternative spaces in the San Miguel business district to re-establish this restaurant that has become a small town institution in the region.
When asked to reflect on the almost three decades conducting business from her little window on the world, Mora said that she never aspired to bigger and better things. She could have moved to a bigger location in a bigger town, but she much preferred to serve quality food at affordable prices and create the kind of atmosphere where the locals could meet.
In pursuit of that mission, The Country Diner features a “U-shaped” counter that seats up to 15 customers so they can see each other and engage in conversation inside this cozy, comfortable space. On any given day of the week, you can join local farmers and townspeople engaged in conversation with travelers from around the world talking about the weather, the state of the union, world politics, and the best items on the menu.
Over the years, Mora has made several changes to appeal to diners in this community by adding items to the menu, expanding the hours, and offering special brunch options on the weekends.
Nestled along California Highway 101, San Miguel sees many people who are just passing through on their way from North to South, or vice versa, but manage to find The Country Diner on their drive.
Mora says she has met people from all corners of the world from England, France, Germany and Poland as well as Ukraine, Slovakia, and Russia, and others from Australia, South Africa, Venezuela and the Caribbean. She has been known to start conversations by saying, “You’ll never guess who stopped into the Diner the other day.”
Mora says she is thankful for the customers that have made her business a success throughout this time. A single-mother of five, she started this business to support her family and make a living, which meant that all of her children worked in the diner over the years. They learned important customer service skills as well as conversational abilities from interacting with customers, keeping the conversation going when there were fewer numbers of clients. Those children have moved on and made their own way in the world one serving a career in the military, another earning a PhD and becoming a college professor, the third works as a chiropractor’s assistant in Atascadero, the fourth an entrepreneur with a mobile DJ service out of Hanford, and the fifth who makes a living as a working actor in Hollywood. All attribute their outgoing personalities, people skills and communication abilities to those years working behind the counter pouring coffee, hearing about the lives and experiences of the customers who came through the bright red door to sit on red leather padded chairs at the cerulean blue counter and read the white menu board on the wall.
From small entrepreneurial beginnings, this business grew, moderately, to support a family and provide a livelihood for the owner for close to 30-years.
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