Crosstown Diner Celebrates 30 Years of Service to the Borough

One of the most popular eateries in the Bronx has reached a wonderful milestone.

Family owned since 1981, the beloved Crosstown Diner at 2880 Bruckner Boulevard has been a borough-wide favorite spot to dine and on Friday, May 13, owner Peter Tsibidis and his son Bill were recognized as the diner celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Peter Tsibidis, who immigrated to New York from Velies, Greece in 1968, worked his way up in the restaurant and diner business until he ultimately purchased the Crosstown Diner with two close friends in 1981.

Councilman Jimmy Vacca visited the diner to give Tsibidis and his son a NYC proclamation that honored the eatery for its wonderful service to the Bronx.

“It’s a good thing that I go to the gym during the week because I always find myself eating all the wonderful food here,” Vacca said. “This diner has been an amazing piece of the Throggs Neck community for three decades, serving the people in and around our borough.”

Tsibidis, remembd that his first job in tthis country was at a diner as a dishwasher. He later worked as a busboy at another diner four years later, and eventually learned to become a short-order cook.

Tsibidis later saved enough money to buy into a pizzeria in Manhattan with his father-in-law, butsoon sought a new opportunity.

After a few more ventures, Tsibidis finally settled into the Crosstown Diner and after three decades, he and his son Bill proudly run one of the borough’s best known diners.

“I still marvel today at what my father and I have been able to accomplish,” Bill Tsibidis said. “If my father never got on that cruise ship to travel the world, none of this would have ever been possible.”

Upon graduating Hofstra University, he knew it was time to join the family business. However, his father believed in an ‘old-fashioned’ way and Bill bought into the restaurant.

With a mind full of new business ideas, Bill began implementing new idea that ultimately proved to be successful.

In an era where technology is evolving quickly, the Crosstown Diner implemented a computer system that tracks all orders and deliveries.

Today, they have a website at www.crosstowndiner.com, that accepts online ordering that coincides with a curbside pick-up and a seven-day-a-week delivery.

“The simple formula we have always followed is constant, never-ending improvement,” Bill said. “There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t implement an improvement that benefits our beloved customers.”

According to Bill, an outdoor sidewalk cafe is currently in the works for the diner.