A-Town Diner — a North County institution — is closing permanently after 20 years
For nearly 20 years, A-Town Diner has served home-cooked meals with hometown pride in Atascadero, but on Sunday at 2 p.m. the family-owned restaurant will close its doors for good.
A-Town Diner owner Jeanie Dagnall said the combination of rising food costs and fewer customers made it impossible to keep the restaurant going.
“I can’t stay ahead of it,” Dagnall said.
Dagnall said she was reluctant to raise her prices when so many seniors and families with young children — people on fixed incomes — are among her regulars.
“To raise my menu to the point that it would equal out to my food cost wouldn’t have been fair,” she said.
In January, Dagnall, who is a devout Christian, said she started praying for God to make a way for her to start the next chapter of her life.
“I really prayed that God would either bring someone to buy it or make a way out so I can start a different life,” she said. “I love it, I love it, but because I don’t have help. It’s really hard (to run the restaurant) by myself.”
Managing A-Town Diner is a no-days-off kind of a job, she said.
Before the interview with The Tribune, Dagnall was zipping around the diner, busing tables, counting bread and wrapping up her final vendor orders.
“I think I would have stuck with it,” Dagnall said, but the busy season, which usually starts in March, just wasn’t busy enough to keep them afloat.
“We make all of our money in the summertime. We’re super busy,” she said. “And this year it didn’t happen.”
A-Town Diner is not the only longstanding San Luis Obispo County restaurant to close its doors this year.
Just last weekend, Jack Ranch Cafe in Cholame ended 70 years of service to Highway 46 travelers. And the A&W restaurant in Atascadero closed in February. Even the Denny’s in Atascadero closed earlier this year.
A-Town Diner has deep roots in Atascadero
Dagnall took over daily operations for the diner in March 2014 after the death of her husband, Steve Dagnall, who first got the family into the restaurant business.
A-Town Diner started as A-Town Deli in a different location about 20 years ago, she said.
Three to four years into running A-Town Deli, Steve Dagnall purchased Virgil’s Burgers, which opened in Atascadero in the 1950s, according to the A-Town Diner website.
After purchasing Virgil’s Burgers and bringing some of the sandwiches from A-Town Deli to that menu, Steve thought the business should pivot into a diner that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, Dagnall said.
Dagnall laughed, remembering as the pair drove all over Central and Southern California, visiting diners in Fresno, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to develop the menu for A-Town Diner.
“We went everywhere to try different foods to find out what we liked and to make it our own, and so that’s how we ended up with our menu here,” Dagnall said.
She told the Tribune how a regular customer helped her come up with the sassy slogan for the diner: “Serving breakfast all day long, whether you want it or not.”
Dagnall said her customers and restaurant staff are like family to her.
Before her husband’s death, Dagnall worked with children and never supervised daily operations at the restaurants, but it was his wish that she keep the family business alive, Dagnall said in her farewell Facebook post.
The transition was tough.
“In everything that we did, we trusted that God was going to work everything out,” Dagnall said.
Dagnall said she drew strength from her faith and the support of the 28-person team as she grieved and learned the in’s and out’s of life as the owner of a busy restaurant.
“They’ve been with me through all of the hard times of losing my husband and when COVID hit,” Dagnall said. “My crew is like family to me.”
Owner felt she couldn’t compete in a changing Atascadero
About 10 years ago, A-Town Diner moved to its current location at 7305 El Camino Real.
Although it is situated on the biggest street in town, the diner is about a 10-minute walk or two-minute drive from the Sunken Gardens in the opposite direction of some of the newer stores and restaurants opening in Atascadero’s changing downtown.
Dagnall said the location is just one factor that made it challenging to keep up with the changing city.
“I’m an old-fashioned diner with good, old-fashioned food,” Dagnall said. “I can’t compete with the new places opening.”
As the city pours resources into revitalizing the downtown corridor of Atascadero, for many residents, A-Town Diner was the family-friendly heart of the community.
The diner served as a gathering place for teenagers after high school sports games and even the San Luis Roadsters, a car club that sat in their corner booth, next to the wall of framed photos of their classic cars.
“I wish that the customers that didn’t come in would give us a chance,” Dagnall said between tears. “If people knew me and knew how much I cared about this restaurant. ...”
Customers can bid a final farewell to A-Town Diner at 7305 El Camino Real, which closes permanently Sunday afternoon.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 6:56 PM.
