Walking through the door of an Uptown local favorite, the sound of sizzling bacon and eggs can be heard on top of the mouth-watering aroma of a home-cooked meal. Surrounded by laughter and a certain communal warmth that can’t be replicated anywhere else, Union Street Diner, or USD, is not only the perfect cure for a hangover but the perfect place to enjoy a delicious meal that can only be found in Athens.
Walking in the swinging glass and metal door at 70 W. Union St., patrons will be greeted by a dedicated wait staff. Dorothy Roemer, a current waitress and known by townies as "Dot," has been at USD for 26 years. She knows the diner like the back of her hand and has a special place in her heart for it.
Union Street Diner is a restaurant located at 70 W Union St in Athens, Ohio.
“I love it here,” said Roemer. “I meet so many different people every year.”
Roemer went about her shift, enthusiastically greeting guests and serving up meals with a side of a smile. Her love for the diner is clear throughout her entire shift, on slow and crazy days.
“It’s great food, great atmosphere, friendly and welcoming,” said Roemer.
At USD, there is an incredible feeling as soon as one walks through the door. The staff at USD is like a family themselves, working like a well-oiled machine to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner to hungry guests. Some breakfast favorites, including banana-stuffed french toast and biscuits and gravy, are sure to have any student or townie coming back every weekend.
“The garbage omelet and the country breakfast, we sell a lot of those,” Roemer said.
People have long since raved about USD. In a 2011 copy of The Post, Joe Fox hailed the diner as the best food in Athens.
“It’s the real deal: the kind of place a film noir detective would contemplate his notes over hash browns and coffee,” Fox said in The Post.
Greg Matkowski, a current manager, has worked at the diner since 2017. Matkowski works six days a week at the diner and said it is nearly family-owned, as many of the employees all come from the same family.
He reiterated the idea of family around the diner, with USD being family-owned, that the employees there are unlike most and how no one can find this kind of feeling anywhere else.
“We all try to do our best to welcome new people,” Roemer said.
In addition to the staff, the guests rave about USD just as much, making it clear that USD is a must-go.
“It’s like a hometown place, it’s a local place in Athens,” Jordyn Koerper, a USD patron, said. “If you haven’t gone, you have to go.”
Learn more about USD in the video below.
