Shawmut Diner: The New Bedford iconic restaurant's history and how it gained a new life

Once the go-to stop for coffee, breakfast and gossip, Shawmut Diner was a landmark eatery in the Whaling City.

A staple in New Bedford at the corner of Shawmut Avenue near Route 140 since 1954, the diner was even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now this iconic stainless steel building sits in the former Atlantic Packaging factory in Greeneville, Conn. — just waiting for its next chapter.

But how did it end up 77 miles away?

This historic diner has been on quite a journey in the last decade. Here’s how it landed so far from home.

What was Shawmut Diner?

Started by the Mello family in the early 1950s, Shawmut Diner was a classic American restaurant that was a fan favorite in New Bedford.

When the owner retired in the 1970s, it was rented out for a few years and fell into despair.

In 1981, local radio host Phil Paleologos and his wife, Celeste, bought the diner and returned it to its former glory as a place for good conversation and mouthwatering bites.

Shawmit Diner: A taste of Americana

What was Shawmut Diner’s claim to fame?

Between 1993 and 2003, Paleologos broadcast his nationally syndicated radio talk show "American Breakfast" from the Shawmut Diner.

"In 2000, 'Good Morning America' was here twice," Paleologos said in a previous Standard-Times article. "And in the '80s, the Rolling Stones used a picture of the diner in the background of a poster promoting their tour."

The iconic railcar-style diner was also featured in a striking nighttime shot in the 2002 movie "Passionada," which was filmed on the SouthCoast.

Wasn’t the diner donated to the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office?

When retirement came up for the couple in 2013 after 32 years of business, they put the restaurant and its 1.23-acre plot up for sale for $1.5M.

In 2014, Paleologos announced that the diner would be relocated to the Bristol County House of Correction on Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth and used to train inmates in the restaurant business.

"We've decided that rather than go the conventional route and sell the diner to an entrepreneur to take it over and give it a second life, we thought it would be more appropriate to give individuals a new beginning," said Paleologos in a previous Standard-Times article.

The land where the diner sat at the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Hathaway Road is now a Cumberland Farms convenience store.

Due to several circumstances, that usage never came to fruition, and it remained on the property unused.

It was put up for auction in 2023, where it was sold to New Yorker Evan Blum for $20,200.

A few tears, lots of hugs: Shawmut Diner closes its doors

What’s next for the diner?

This past week the little diner from New Bedford settled in Connecticut where Blum said his plans with Shawmut Diner are part of a bigger vision "to revive" the town of Norwich, Connecticut, which he says has few dining options.

He said in a recent Norwich Bulletin article that he plans on developing the former Atlantic Packaging factory, and the goal for the diner is to provide a source of quality food in a food desert, while bringing attention to what he is doing on the rest of his property.

Blum’s vision for his Greeneville site would include the diner, a marketplace that features unique and talented craftspeople and vendors, a black box theater, a wine tasting room, and a paid membership restaurant built in an immobilized steamboat on the Shetucket River.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Historic Shawmut Diner took trip from New Bedford to Norwich, Conn.