Diner Rebuild

To our friends and neighbors in Penn Yan,

It has been a difficult few years since the fire, and we owe this community an honest update on where things stand with the rebuild of the Penn Yan Diner. Before we share that update, please allow us to say what is most important: thank you. The outpouring of love, prayers, kind words, and tangible support from this village has meant more than we know how to put into words. The diner has always belonged to Penn Yan as much as it has belonged to us, and the way you have shown up for us has reaffirmed that every single day.

We want to be transparent with you about the current state of the project. After working with contractors and engineers, the estimated cost to rebuild the diner exceeds one million dollars. Today's inflation, the rising cost of materials and skilled labor, and the very real expense of bringing a historic building up to current building codes, accessibility standards, and modern restaurant operating requirements have pushed the figure far beyond what our insurance settlement covers. The gap between what we received and what the rebuild will cost is substantial.

Many of you have asked, kindly and rightly, where the GoFundMe money went. The answer is simple: every penny went to our staff — the people who showed up for early breakfast shifts, who knew your pancake order by heart, who suddenly lost their workplace the night of the fire. We used those funds to keep a small core staff on payroll while we worked to figure out what a rebuild might look like and to provide severance to the team so they could land on their feet. Caring for our people was the first and most important thing we could do with the community's gift, and we are deeply grateful you made it possible.

We also want to address our attempt to use the Pancake Truck as an ongoing fundraiser for the rebuild. That was our plan, and we genuinely believed it could carry us a meaningful distance toward the goal. Unfortunately, the Village would not permit the truck to be parked long term in town, and without a consistent presence in the heart of Penn Yan, the fundraiser was not able to generate the kind of support we had hoped for. We share this not in bitterness, but because you deserve to know that we tried, and because so many of you asked where the truck had gone.

There is one more matter we feel we must speak honestly about. Several recent decisions by the Town of Milo have raised serious concerns for us, and for many other small business owners, about how welcoming our local environment truly is for the kinds of independent, community-rooted businesses that give Penn Yan its character. Before we commit to investing a very significant amount of money toward rebuilding, we need to feel confident that the policy climate will support small business, not work against it. Without affordable housing options for employees and a growing community of local patrons that keep businesses running year round, we cannot be sure that a large business investment is a sound idea. We are watching closely, hoping for change, and waiting to see how these issues are resolved.

We know this is not the news anyone wanted to read, and it is not the news we wanted to write. We have not given up. We are continuing to look at every option, every creative path, and every partnership that might make a rebuild possible. For the record, we’ve had purchase offers from nearby businesses who wanted to tear down or permanently close the diner, and we’ve rejected those in favor of continuing to find a way to ensure the diner has a future in Penn Yan. If anyone has questions or ideas you can reach us by email at pennyandiner@gmail.com.

While we figure this out, we thank you for your patience. And we thank you for loving the diner as much as we do. (May 10, 2026)