Kellogg’s Diner Is So Very Back

At the vestibule of Kellogg’s, the longtime Williamsburg diner open since 1928, its many lives are archived on the wall, in photos of the old exterior and former customers, as well as proof that it was originally called just Kellogg. Over the years, the Greeks, Italians, and others who ran the kitchen shaped its design and inhabited its booths. After months of temporary closure, on September 20, it is Texas native Jackie Carnesi’s turn as caretaker, where she gets to bring in some Tex-Mex influence, mixed in with years of working in New York restaurants.

In 2023, Eater reported that the metal-front diner, a last-of-its-kind standalone building for the area, was up for sale following bankruptcy. Louis Skibar was uniquely positioned to buy the storefront at 518 Metropolitan Avenue, at the corner of Union Avenue, having refurbished Old John’s Luncheonette on the Upper West Side, among other diner projects. He was a forerunner in a moment of new owners saving old-school diners — as the S&P team has done with the former Eisenberg’s, and Variety Coffee’s owner did with Three Decker Diner.

Carnesi got involved with the Kellogg’s project through the recommendation of her then-boss at Nura, where she worked as an executive chef. Nico Arze designed the interiors of Nura and Kellogg’s; it was a full circle moment for him and Skibar, who met a decade ago trying to outbid each other on an upstate diner. (It didn’t end up panning out for either of them but they stayed friends and now are Kellogg’s partners.) Carnesi calls the newly designed Kellogg’s by Arze and collaborator Matthew Maddy — once blue — now her “pink palace.”

It’s an ambitious, multi-level undertaking that eventually will stay open 24 hours and add a takeout window. In addition to the 75-seat dining room, a main-level private events space, plus a backyard are currently under construction. Up a flight of stairs, Arze and his team are currently building out a massive rooftop deck attached to a bar, which when it opens a few months from now, will have mirrored ceilings, a DJ booth, and a separate name and menu.

Carnesi’s growing up in the Texas border town of Brownsville is displayed on the menu: memories of after-church meals with family, or late-night Tex-Mex diners later in college in Austin. There’s guajillo-braised short rib hash with chipotle sauce and poblano meatloaf, in addition to diner staples like burgers. Of course, house queso will be a go-to. On the breakfast side, find items like Texas French toast crusted with cornflakes (Kellogg’s brand, of course). And she’s making their flour tortillas in-house. In fact, under Carnesi’s direction, everything is made from scratch, and nothing will be frozen “unless absolutely necessary.”

The menu is more varied than just Tex-Mex. “There are so many different flavors of American diners, and we wanted to broaden the scope,” says Carnesi. “With this hard left turn,” she says, referring to a career that includes Roberta’s, cooking under Alex Stupak at Empellón Cocina, and more. “It is not about reinventing any wheels: I just want to remind people of home and keeping it simple, just done really well.” Many earlier Kellogg’s team members, including Felipe Mosso, aid Carnesi in the kitchen.

Arze built pastry chef Amanda Perdomo (Wildair, Roman’s), a dessert case where she can display mid-century delights: A Hummingbird cake with pineapple jam and “enrobed in candied pecans cooked in the style of Nuts 4 Nuts carts,” strawberry pretzel salad (made with Jell-O), and espresso “red eye” cake with chicory.

She said her flan and coconut cream pie recipes were ones she found herself tinkering with until the wire. “I spent a long time working in fancy restaurants; it’s freeing to not have to worry about seasonality or perfection in the same way,” she says. Kellogg’s will sling sundaes with homemade ice cream (“using the Cadillac of ice cream machines”) in classic flavors, like vanilla or chocolate, but also a mint-chocolate play on the Grasshopper drink with from-scratch Magic Shell. “Every day my only goal is to just make people happy,” she says.

Nura’s Chris Amirault designed the bar menu, with drinks like a lychee martini, wine, and beer. There’s also a frozen margarita machine.

Of course, there will always be grumbles about change in a space that so many generations of New Yorkers have attachments to.

“There’s so many loyal regulars to older iterations of Kellogg’s, so first and foremost, I wanted to make sure there was something for them,” says Carnesi. “Louis really emphasizes keeping the menu affordable and with portions that I feel like are really fair — we’re proud of that.”

Amanda Perdomo and her pastry case.

Chef Jackie in her “pink palace.”