- September 16, 2024
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New York diners have always held a special place in Javier and Jeannie Alvarez' hearts.
So when the opportunity arose to open a restaurant — the couple's first — that's what came to their minds: A diner, and one named after their 10-year-old daughter, Angelina.
"I just felt that it stands out," Javier said. "Angelina's Diner — it really stands out. It's a nice name and customers love it."
His wife Jeannie wasn't 100% on board with the name at the beginning, but then she started seeing signs. While watching TV, she'd see a cafe named Angelina. She visited New York and saw other businesses with the same name.
"Maybe, it's meant to be for it to be Angelina's Diner," Jeannie said. "So I was like, 'OK, let's go with it.'"
Angelina's Diner opened on Aug. 30, at the former IHOP location at 190 S. Atlantic Ave. in Ormond Beach. The Alvarez family redesigned the interior of the building to have the upscale modern feel they were striving to achieve for their diner, complete with the blues and neutral colors of St. Brendan Catholic School, where their children attend.
They wanted the diner to feel bright and beachy to pay tribute to their location. Opening Angelina's took about a year and a half.
"So far the experience has been amazing," Javier said. "The feedback, the guests, they're returning back. They like what they see. They like what they eat."
Angelina's offers breakfast all day, including omelets, hot cakes, french toast and waffles, as well lunch and dinner offerings such as burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and meatloaf dinners. All of their food is made in-house, said Chef Tyler Dees.
"A lot of people around here, they don't have anybody to cook for them," Dees said. "They like to have a diner they can go to — maybe if it's not every day, five days a week — where they feel at home and they know the food's good, the food's fresh," Dees said.
Javier Alvarez, originally from Long Island, New York, has been in the restaurant industry for 33 years. He grew up working at his uncle's restaurant from when he was his daughter Angelina's age, refilling the sugar caddies on the tables and being paid $2 per milkshake by the servers who didn't want to make them.
"I hear it all the time when I go to New York," Jeannie said. [They're] like, 'I can't believe you (Javier) own restaurants and you used to do the sugar caddies for me.'"
The couple, who live in Daytona Beach, have been together for 26 years, and when they lived in New York, they had diners they used to frequent often. In a recent trip, they returned to those diners to try and gain inspiration for Angelina's.
And they found that they did want to bring a New York diner to Ormond Beach, but, the kind that they grew up going to in the '90s.
"The food was different," Javier said. "Diners used to make their own stuff. Now they don't. ... It's a different feeling if you go to a diner now than when you went 20 years ago, and I guess in my mind, that's what I'm trying to replicate. That same feeling."
Angelina's menu is not set in stone. If there's anything the community would like to see on it, Javier said, he'd like to hear what it is. Jeannie agreed.
"Basically, we want to cater to our customers," she said. "What they want is what we want to bring to the table."
The Alvarez family hopes to host a grand opening event in December, once they finish adding a patio to the building for more seating.
Angelina's Diner is open Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
