Sparky's Diner: Garnerville's Movie-Set Diner That Feeds a Whole Town

## A diner that is a second home

Ask around Garnerville about Sparky's Diner and you will hear the same phrase in different words: it is a second home. The Village of West Haverstraw's own community page puts it exactly that way, describing a place "offering great food at affordable prices, prioritizing bringing the community closer, and being a business that does anything to help its customers."

Sparky's sits on Route 129 in Garnerville, a modest cottage-like building with a brown and cream facade and an American flag out front. Inside, the walls are covered in framed photographs, artwork, and memorabilia accumulated over the decades, with burgundy booths along the walls, a counter with classic diner stools, and fresh baked goods waiting near the front. It looks like a place that has simply been itself for a very long time — because it has.

## A bet everything move in 1978

Sparky's was opened in 1978 by Mr. Nicolakis and his wife Eugenia Nicolakis. The couple were not from Rockland County; they ran a business in Yonkers at the time. When they opened Sparky's, the village recounts, they put everything they had on the line by moving to the area and hoping their new venture would not fail.

At first, it was not popular. West Haverstraw was not yet well developed, the village says — mostly trees and a small population. But as the surrounding towns grew, so did the little diner, which has since extended its building to make room for more people.

## The giving is the business model

What made Sparky's a local institution is not just the food, though the food has its own fans — the village page says the diner is famously known for its spinach pot pie. It is the giving. Sparky's sponsors a baseball little league team, feeds police, firefighters, local schools, and the Mariam Shrine, donates to local churches, and, in the village's words, never says no to any donations.

Owner Jeanie Nicolakis has said her prices have not risen even when that leaves little room for profit. She serves hundreds of customers, the village says, always offering discounts and picking up tabs for those in need.

That record earned her the State Senate's Empire Award, its highest honor for small businesses, presented by Senator James Skoufis. The village's account of the award notes that Jeanie has owned Sparky's for over 40 years, that North Rockland sports teams come in on weekends for a set price of $4 no matter how much they eat, and that she donates food to families when someone passes away. West Haverstraw Mayor Robert D'Amelio presented her with a village award at the same time.

## A diner Hollywood keeps finding

Then there is the other life Sparky's leads. The old-fashioned diner, with its brown stools, red checkered curtains, and sunny windowed booths, has been featured in 14 productions, according to lohud. The list includes "Ben is Back" with Julia Roberts, "True Story" with Jonah Hill, "Billions," "The Half of It," and "Rise."

"True Story," shot at the diner in 2013, is where it started: owner Jeannie Nicolakis says Brad Pitt, who she said "started it all" by finding her first, led the way. In March 2021, Denzel Washington's "Journal for Jordan" filmed at Sparky's, closing the diner to the public during filming. Washington had visited earlier that year, met the staff, and surveyed the premises — and Nicolakis's verdict on him was simple: "super nice and super sweet."

## What to order

Breakfast is the main event. The menu is built around the classics: eggs any style served with homefries and toast, and a lineup of omelettes that runs from plain and egg-and-cheese to a Greek omelette made with spinach and feta, plus western, vegetable, and Spanish versions. The specials are worth attention: Number One pairs two eggs any style with two pancakes, homefries, toast, and coffee or tea.

If you go, go hungry and go early in spirit: this is a breakfast-and-lunch kind of place, a room full of regulars who bring their friends, who bring their families. For a county full of restaurants chasing the new thing, Sparky's is the opposite argument — that showing up, feeding people, and giving back for nearly five decades is itself the attraction. To reach the diner, call (845) 429-8880.