MUSKEGON, Mich. — A historic west Michigan eatery is celebrating its third grand opening.
Pal’s Diner kicked off the holiday weekend Thursday night 50’s style with a retro bike night in Muskegon.
Visitors got their first look at the fully restored 1950s diner, took part in a contest for best 50’s or 60’s attire and enjoyed some live oldies music.
Originally, Pal’s opened in New Jersey back in 1954 before moving to Grand Rapids in the 1990’s.
It closed its doors in 2020, but one of the owners of Hot Rod Harley-Davidson in Muskegon bought it in 2021 and moved it to the lakeshore.
The 67-year-old diner’s restoration includes 1950’s signage, neon lights and inside décor.
When it comes to the food and the atmosphere, the owners hope to add some events into the mix.
“We’ve had two funerals and one wedding here. We want to have events and parties and outside parties and we hope to do that more in the summer obviously than the winter,” Mark Campbell, co-owner of Hot Rod, told FOX 17 Thursday. “We haven’t fully decided whether we’d be open, some evenings. It’s not going to be your basic restaurant where we have a staff and a kitchen. We want to have it more buffet style where you can kind of help yourself to it, move down the line. And it will be a lot quicker and we won’t really be a restaurant, but a destination site where you can ride for a little bit, have fun, come in and rest a little bit, then maybe ride a little bit more.”
Hot Rod says they hope to help highlight what makes the Muskegon community so special, including the beaches.
