Naughter's Diner | Photo by Troy Record
The first thing you notice once you get past the robin’s-egg-blue exterior and step into the diner is the smell: frying eggs, three-dollar coffee, and a corned-beef hash that would bring your grandfather to his knees.
There’s not much to complain about when you visit Troy, NY. It’s a small town with a big heart, business owners who know you by name, familiar faces lining the streets, but the star of the show has to be, in this traveler’s opinion, Naughter’s Diner.
Founded by John Naughter just a few years ago, this hometown retro diner has already embedded itself into the history of Troy. It offers old-timers and college students alike the chance to get an honest breakfast (almost any time of day).
I visited on a Sunday morning and was lucky enough to stumble in right as a young man (clearly still feeling his Saturday night) got up. “That’s all you,” Emily shouts to me over her shoulder as she passes with a coffee pot in one hand and a tray piled with a table’s breakfast in the other. She’s one of three waitresses flying around the room. She’s been here since the beginning, watching the building’s patrons ebb and flow, learning their orders before their names. I snag the barstool and across the counter, the open griddle in front of me.
Ryan, or as he likes to be called, “chief grease slinger,” mans the iron. Eggs, hash, nothing is a match for his skill. Another Naughter’s OG and staple in the community, he slides me a taste of the new soup with a smile disguised as a smirk. Emily appears with my coffee, hot and black. She doesn’t have to ask, but she does: “Veggie hash with sourdough and a hash brown on the side?” I don’t protest.
If it’s even possible, the room itself is just as impressive as the staff. The walls are somewhere between lime and spring green, with pink accent walls and warm wood. Floor to ceiling are relics of the past: old menus listing coffee for 3¢, postings against gambling, and photographs of old local restaurants. A large chalkboard lists today’s specials, bringing us back into our current day. It hangs above the tapedeck, the only source of music in the restaurant. Pick the seat next to it, and you might be the one picking the tunes and flipping the tapes if Ryan is in the weeds.
Just this year, Naughter’s expanded, adding a whole new dining area. This room features a large, old, and impressive dark-wood bar. Regulars can only hope this bar is an omen of the mimosas and marys to come.