Ellen’s Stardust Diner has been around since 1987. It’s the place to be no matter if you’re a tourist, local, or even a celebrity. This small diner next to Times Square and Broadway has been praised by all of them. With lines that go all the way down the block, you might be wondering, why is it so special?

Stardust Diner is home to a performing staff. Each staff member is pursuing the dream of acting on Broadway. Some of the money that the diner receives goes towards the staffs dance and/or singing lessons. They just recently had to let go of twenty members, but all for a good reason. Each of them had been cast across the street in a Broadway show!

As diners enjoy classic diner-dishes, they are taken to a whole new world. All the waitresses and waiters perform solo and group numbers. Whether that be a song from the Billboard Charts or a song from a Broadway show. To get into character even more, there are props and costumes. Right in the center of the diner between the booths there is a long runway where they walk down so it’s easier to perform to both the first and second floor. There’s even confetti at the end of the group numbers that fills the diner.

It’s like being in the heart of a Broadway show.

Some of the dishes have been named after celebrities. Just recently, Jimmy Fallon got the honor of having his name put on the menu. Jimmy posted on Instagram, in April that “In 1998 hours before I auditioned for  Saturday Night Live – I got a cheeseburger and a banana health shake (ice cream, banana and wheat germ – really healthy) from Ellen’s Stardust to go. I have it once a year for good luck. They now have my name on the menu.”

The food served is classic diner foods and shakes.It may be a little bit more expensive than other places to eat, but the entertainment visitors get makes the price well worth it.

There is one drawback: the line. Depending on the day and time there could be no line or a line that’s as long as a block. The wait usually isn’t long though. Maybe half an hour at the most. But that’s because they clear out big sections in the diner, so everyone can come in from outside at once.

Many get distracted by the surrounding lights of Broadway and Times Square, so many don’t even know the diner is there. But for the ones who do, they know that it’s an iconic part of New York City and always will be.