Whether you are a tourist or a native New Yorker, you are bound to have fun at the famous Ellen’s Stardust Diner. The 1950’s themed diner features a singing wait staff and is filled with nostalgic memorabilia including a drive-in movie theater screen and an indoor train. This restaurant is two blocks away from Times Square, and it will surprise you because you will be part of a real show done by the waiters: between two dishes, they will sing the most popular songs from musicals like (Mamma Mia, West Side Story, Mary Poppins…) and great American rock and Motown hits.
The decor is 100% “USA” from the 50’s and 60’s with leather seats, pictures on the walls with photos of celebrities of that time (John Travolta…), and many decorative details on the tables with the shakers, ketchup bottles …
Ellen’s Stardust Diner was opened in 1987 after Ellen’s Cafe was closed down. It was the first 1950s theme restaurant in New York City and had waitresses in poodle skirts. In the late 1990s, a sister restaurant operated near Times Square under the name Stardust Dine-O-Mat.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner in popular culture
Ellen’s Stardust Diner was the site in the movie New Year’s Eve where Sarah Jessica Parker’s character and her 15-year-old daughter’s friends stopped for a bite after the ball dropped. It was also featured in American Idol when a former employee, Devyn Rush, became a contestant on the show. Reports subsequently followed regarding Devyn’s employment status at Ellen’s Stardust Diner. Ellen’s Diner was also featured on a Today Show episode.
Several alums of Ellen’s Stardust Diner singing waitstaff have gone on to have successful careers on Broadway theatre and American Idol. Many current staffers have received critical acclaim with original musicals at NY Musical Theater Festival. Brandon Ellis, Eric Michael Krop, Stephen Tyler Davis, and Alysha Umphress (Shirley) are some of the successful singers who had started their careers as singing wait-staffers at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner is considered a breeding ground for singers. Former Ellen’s staff members have been known to star in almost every Broadway and major off-Broadway musical such as Avenue Q, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, South Pacific, In The Heights, On The Town, Wicked, and Godspell.
Becoming a singing server
To audition for the role of server prospects stand in front of the dining room and sing for an audience of diners. Auditionees prepare songs of their choosing (and songs off a list selected by the management) and then perform a song selected off that long list. If it feels like a fit, potential servers will move on to a more traditional service job interview and then progress to training. Because Ellen’s servers are already professional (or nearly professional) performers, they prepare songs on their own time. By Day 3 of the five-day training and shadowing week, new servers are expected to perform. The final day of training leaves a new server in charge of his or her own section.
Who is Ellen?
It’s hard to imagine a life more quintessentially New York than Ellen Hart-Sturm’s. While still a student at Jamaica High School in Queens, she was selected to be Miss Subway in the spring of 1959. The promotion, which served as the inspiration for Miss Turnstile in the classic NYC musical On the Town, placed her picture on subway trains around the city and opened the doors for a singing, acting, and modeling career.
Ellen married entrepreneur Irving Sturm, and together they opened Ellen’s Café across from City Hall which was open for 32 years. It became the gathering place for civil servants and politicians alike, including Mayors Lindsay, Beame, Koch, Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani. A tradition developed at the Café, where the Mayors would come in on their birthdays and would donate as many pies as their age to charity. Ellen was the first to champion smoking & non-smoking sections in her restaurant in 1979 (the first in NYC, and possibly the country). Ellen’s Café also became known for the “instant marriage receptions” it provided for newlyweds who had just taken vows at City Hall. Their success led them to open Ellen’s Stardust Diner.
