Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Sunday, Mitchell’s Diner, a fixture in Oceanside, will close. Co-owner Sheryl Morson said the building had been purchased by Crown Acquisitions and will be rented to a bank, possibly Bank of America.
Mitchell’s, at 2756 Long Beach Road, opened in 2004 at the site of the East Bay Diner, which had relocated to Seaford. It was patterned after Mitchell’s of Valley Stream, which opened in 1938. Morson and her husband, John Drakopoulos, bought the Valley Stream location in 1995, and sold it in 2006 to the Dimitrios family.
“We didn’t want to sell Mitchell’s,” Morson said. “It wasn’t in the plans, but the developer came back three times, and the last time the offer was too good to refuse. We wanted him to buy the Pantry Diner,” but, she added, “The Pantry’s owner isn’t even answering phone calls.”
Morson said that she and her husband want to open another, larger diner, and are looking for a property. “In Oceanside, Rockville Centre or Baldwin and beyond. Island Park is too far down,” she said, explaining that a diner needs to be in a densely populated area.
Mitchell’s became a favorite of seniors and families because it served large portions and featured homemade ice cream and desserts.
Morson said that she and her husband might open a smaller location in the area. “That idea came when we looked for another big property,” she added, “but didn’t find one.”
