For months, local residents and visitors have driven by the former Cherry’s Sunset Diner in Kresgeville and watched as new owners and contractors painted the exterior, paved the parking lot and hung new signs proclaiming it the Kresgeville Eatery & Bar.

“The wait is almost over. We’re hoping to open in early July,” Ashley Finnigan, general manager of Kresgeville Eatery & Bar and its sister restaurant, Coplay Eatery, said Wednesday morning.

Finnigan has been in the restaurant business for 26 years and has known and worked with the restaurants’ owners for about 20 years.

Edith Garcia and her husband, Patrick Sibri, purchased the diner last fall with the intent to open by January.

It’s been one issue after another these past few months. The opening was delayed to March, then June and now it’s just about ready for a July opening.

“We had an issue with the transfer of the well’s title, had to get additional permits, and there were issues pertaining to codes during the last inspection,” Finnigan said.

They have upgraded the kitchen, purchased new appliances and cooking equipment, upholstered booths, replaced the table tops, and the banquet room is getting a whole new look.

“This place is going to be great. I’m excited to be on this journey with them,” said Finnigan.

They are still hiring staff, and are looking for additional cooks, Finnigan said.

She said a lot of their Coplay clientele are eager to make the drive up here to check out the new establishment.

Similarly, there are many locals — who have been regulars at this diner through the various changes in ownership since the late 1950s — eagerly waiting to take a seat and order from the menu.

A dining car named Sunset Diner

“I’d like to go there and be their first customer,” said Eddie Arnold, a Polk Township resident quite familiar with this diner.

He and his late wife, Elsie, were the third couple to own it. They called it “Arnold’s Sunset Diner.”

The Sunset Diner was a manufactured dining car that came from Hazelton. Jack and Ellen Smith were the first owners, and they had it for three years.

They sold it to Chester Cook, who planned to have his wife and daughter run the diner. That lasted a couple months — until the daughter went away and the mother couldn’t handle the business on her own, Arnold said.

“They asked Elsie and I to help find a buyer for the diner,” he said. “Elsie didn’t like the price at first.”

Some time went by, and Cook asked the Arnolds again if they were interested in buying the diner. They gave a lower price this time.

“Elsie liked this new figure, but I had to promise we’d add a dining room,” Arnold said.

The dining car only had 16 stools and four booths.

“We could only seat 32 people at a time,” he said.

They added on the dining room, which is currently the banquet room, and could now seat up to 110 patrons.

“Elsie was a good cook. We had a great business. The dining room was filled every weekend,” he said.

They owned the diner from 1963 to 1971. His wife had become allergic to the meats and potatoes. She had blisters on the palms of her hands.

“After owning it eight years, we sold it to a man named Vincent Romano. He had it four years,” said Arnold. “He then sold it to my brother, Donald Arnold and his wife, Blanche.”

They had it for eight years before moving to Florida and selling it to Bob Cherry.

The Cherry family name has become an indelible part of the diner’s history. For many years, its regulars have referred to it simply as Cherry’s — whether it was a book club meeting to discuss their book over lunch, a father and daughter out for Friday night dinner, or the crowd gathered at the edge of the parking lot for the annual Groundhog Day ceremony and breakfast inside later.

Bob Cherry ran the diner for years, and handed it down to his son, Rich Cherry, who had it for several years until he died of cancer.

His daughter oversaw the diner’s operation for a little while, and then sold it to the most recent owners. They had it a few years, before selling it last summer.

New owners, new name

And now, Garcia and Sibri are part of the diner’s history and will offer an extensive five-page menu, a kids’ menu, and eventually a seniors’ menu at the Kresgeville Eatery & Bar.

The menu will include chicken parmigiana, seafood, salads, burgers, sandwiches and an array of healthy options. There will also be a breakfast menu, including benedicts and fresh fruit.

“After a month or so, we will offer our sauté menu, which includes piccatas, Alfredo dishes and an array of other dishes,” said Finnigan. “We have a separate sauté chef.”

They will also sell cocktails, beer, wine, ice cream and homemade rice pudding. Other desserts include fresh cakes, pies and muffins made by the baker who supplies the Coplay Eatery with “really good stuff,” said Finnigan.

The diner will be open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

“I’m anxious to see what the new owners have done with the place and to eat my first bite there,” Arnold said.

The diner address is 593 Interchange Road, Kresgeville. More information about its pending opening and menu can be found on the Kresgeville Eatery & Bar Facebook page.