On Main Street in Champaign sits Merry Ann’s Diner, decorated in green with floor-to-ceiling windows. This design has a retro feel, as if it were the diner from the famous Edward Hopper painting “Nighthawks,” a replica of which hangs on one of Merry Ann’s walls.
“We wanted to have that ’40s feel like it was a World War II-era kind of vintage diner,” said Tony Pomonis, owner of Merry Ann’s.
Pomonis’ father, Anastase Pomonis, who died in July, opened the original Illini-themed diner, named after his then wife, on Neil Street in 1983. Tony Pomonis and his friend Juan Campos teamed up to build the second location on Main Street. Pomonis opened a third diner on Gregory Street in 2010, followed by a location on the Illinois State University campus the following year.
Breakfast is served 24/7, but lunch and dinner food is also on the menu. Pomonis described many of the diner’s items as “a mountain of food.” One of Merry Ann’s popular dishes is the horseshoe sandwich.
This dish originated in Springfield and is an open-faced sandwich that consists of one-third of a pound of burger meat topped with french fries and cheese sauce.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“It’s just got a lot of flavor to it. … It’s like lunch food or dinner food, but it’s all mashed together so it’s like the quintessential comfort food item,” Pomonis said.
While searching for ways to appeal to younger customers and the late-night crowd, the staff decided to add the horseshoe to the menu in 2003. Ryan Kutil, general manager of the Neil Street location, often notices customers’ reactions to the dish.
“I’ve heard a couple of people a little surprised by it because they read the description and then it comes out and there’s a mass of food on the plate,” he said. “It definitely takes a hungry customer to eat it all.”
On top of providing satisfying food, Pomonis said the staff tries to create a fast, friendly and efficient atmosphere.
Aleli Alcaide, sophomore in LAS, usually eats at Merry Ann’s every two weeks and enjoys the diner’s larger portions and inexpensive prices.
Customer service such as this is the key to the diner’s success.
“I think that the reason we’re so popular is because we’re open 24/7 and we’re consistent,” Pomonis said. “So people come in and they trust that they’ll get the same quality dishes all the time, whether they’re drunk or sober, so I think that’s the secret to our success.”
Karyna can be reached at [email protected].
