One of Charlotte’s oldest restaurants remains staple in Plaza Midwood, even after 79 years
The ability to time travel is something from a fictional, mystical world. But if there was a chance to be transported to another time, would you take it? Charlotte’s Diamond Restaurant is that chance.
With its 1945 roots, this neighborhood joint proves that a time machine is in the realm of our reach — and the doorway to entry is at 1901 Commonwealth Ave. in the Commonwealth neighborhood beside Plaza Midwood.
[CRAVING RETRO? 20 Classic Eats to put on your list.]
Diamond’s long-standing tenure — a staggering 79 years — reveals that a little sentimentality, some rough-around-the-edges grit and a bit of saturated fat is what diners want here when they sit down for lunch.
The current menu gives guests just that with its share of gloriously fried bites: fried flounder, gravy fries, onion rings, hush puppies, fried okra. The dishes here come happily unadorned and arrive in red baskets lined with paper. A Coke, a Jack and Coke or a sweet tea to pair.
The Diamond of the past
The place consists of blue booths, a Miller High Life sign and an unfussy bar that longtime server Tammy Hamilton says is “nothing fancy … We don’t do froo-froo drinks. It’s mostly just shots of Fireball and PBRs.”
The walls proudly showcase vintage newspaper articles from decades ago, where visitors can get a sense of what a weekday lunch would look, feel and taste like.
In the decades-old article “Diamond is Real Jewel” in “Eating Out in the Piedmont,” Jerry Simpson writes: “The Diamond is particularly popular at lunch. It’s packed, with people waiting in line for booths … the interior is both cheerful and restful … and exudes a feeling of warmth and friendliness.”
He also writes that the honest, simple food “made the Diamond ... one of the most successful, and certainly one of the best” restaurants in town.
The guests ranged in socioeconomic class, from “Svelte young women straight out of Vogue” to “elderly pensioners and manual laborers.”
In an article titled “It’s Not So Fancy but Food’s Good,” Cathy Steele Roche writes: “Families, young and old, dressed in everyday clothes, poured in for the evening meal … a filling, well-balanced tasty meal with two vegetables, tea or coffee and homemade corn muffins for under $2.50.”
Imagine that.
The menu changed often back in the day, with daily specials and rotating vegetables. Wednesdays were known for the house chicken and dumplings and Thursdays for the meatloaf, according to Lew Powell’s article in The Charlotte Observer, “If It’s Wednesday, it’s Chicken n Dumplings.”
Roche found that “The Diamond’s claim to fame … is its egg custard pie (80 cents).”
The once-famed egg custard isn’t on the menu anymore, leaving diners in 2024 left to wonder what that oft-mentioned pie was like.
Today, the homemade banana pudding, creamy and indulgently sweet, will suffice. The off-menu milkshakes might do the trick, too.
The Diamond of today
So what is The Diamond like in 2024?
Well, it’s something similar to what Simpson wrote decades ago: “Forthright American cooking … and prices anyone can afford.”
While The Diamond’s menu has more mainstays than rotating items and no longer offers a whole meal for $2.50, current owner John Fuller said that when he took over the joint, he “tried to keep it as close to the original as possible … We kept the original booth, the heart of this place.”
The muted green color, all-encompassing on the walls 70 years ago, is still found at the base of the walls. Rotating vegetables will soon return to the menu, and the music playing quietly in The Diamond might be unrecognizable for anyone born in the 2000s.
Fuller bought The Diamond in 2010 with three friends who previously owned The Penguin, another Charlotte classic. Before that, it was owned and operated by Jerry Pistolis, who toward the end of his ownership kept The Diamond open just for lunch, Fuller said. Pistolis acquired The Diamond from original owners and twin brothers Ralph and Robert James, who inherited it from their parents — a bonafide family-run restaurant.
Today, Fuller and his wife are the last owners standing, and they set out to return The Diamond to its historic roots.
Modest renovations accomplished that goal — the space pulses with history and nostalgia as old photos hint at how, decades ago, neighbors ate and drank shoulder to shoulder here.
The consequences of a changing city
Today, however, there’s a much slower pace, and there’s often space between diners at the bar — a reflection of how Charlotte’s food and beverage boom has impacted hyper-local institutions like this one.
But Fuller isn’t particularly threatened by the hoard of restaurant newcomers. “I just try to look at the bright side,” he said. “That’s just more hungry people, and hopefully, they want burgers!”
Burgers, along with the Dixie Chicken sandwich, are The Diamond’s best sellers, between $9 and $15. The burger can come two ways. The “All the Way” includes lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mayo and pickles. The “Southern Style” means plenty of chili, mustard, onions and slaw.
While Fuller has a bit more optimism about Charlotte’s changes, it’s a tender topic for Hamilton, who has served The Diamond’s guests for 30 years.
Hamilton said, “It’s just special … I don’t want to see anything happen to it.” With tears welling in her eyes, Hamilton talked about how the neighborhood has changed with the influx of people, saying, “I like it the way it was ... I know things change, and you have to roll with it … we’re trying.”
When she says “the way it was,” Hamilton’s referring to the regulars she came to know intimately and that, importantly, came to know each other.
“You know their families, their kids, when they graduated, what college they got accepted to,” she said. “When I first started here … it was nothing to see the mayor at the bar sitting beside the garbage guy. They were carrying on a conversation, you know before cell phones … I think people would go back to talking to each other and seeing we have more in common than we don’t,” she said.
Generations of regulars sustain The Diamond
While servers like Hamilton long for what they perceived as a more connected community, they’ve found solace in the long-established family feel here, from the staff to the generations that have cycled through The Diamond doors.
“It’s kids that I gave them their first banana pudding and now they bring their kids for their first banana pudding” Hamilton said. “I still see the same older people that I waited on 25 years ago … but they’re getting older and now when I don’t see them for a while … I just don’t read the obituaries.” Unfortunately, that’s the reality of a place that is fueled by older, longtime regulars.
One regular is “Miss Carol,” who sits near the jukebox in the corner like clockwork and brings her grandkids.
“She’s such a regular that when we give employee bonuses, we actually give Miss Carol a gift card,” Fuller said.
Another is “Mr. Roy,” who usually sips Scotch and milk at the bar — a somewhat uncommon combination.
“We always keep the creamer around for him,” said The Diamond’s bartender, Nick Ives. That’s the type of hospitality The Diamond offers — refreshingly casual, deeply personal.
[WAIT, WE KNOW HIM: Check out another local place where Mr. Roy spends his time.]
Fuller trusts that this type of service, paired with trusty, affordable food, will keep The Diamond alive, despite flashier business flooding the neighborhood.
Ironically, back in 1976, this was the same worry on owners’ minds.
In Powell’s “Chicken n Dumplings” article, original co-owner Ralph James is quoted saying, “Restaurants like the Diamond are diminishing because of competition from the chains.”
Almost 50 years later, the sentiment is familiar.
It’s hard to not read James’ quote and wonder what the original brothers would think today.
But there is something else that remains — a local business bettered and sustained by the loyalty of staff and regulars.
“You want people to leave knowing they got a good meal and someone made them laugh because I feel like that’s my job,” Hamilton said. “If I can make you laugh before you leave, then I’ve done what I’m supposed to do.”
Diamond Restaurant
Location: 1901 Commonwealth Ave Charlotte, NC 28205
Cuisine: American, Southern
Instagram: @diamondclt
