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Jan 21, 2024 By Mark Hofmann 5 min read

For more than 100 years, Fiddles Diner in Brownsville has been a hot spot for locals, and a draw for Hollywood.

Now, the newest owners of the Water Street eatery are looking to Fiddles’ past as they make plans for its future.

April and Robert Sphar came to own the iconic diner, featured in movies and television shows, after seeing a Facebook post from the former owner last year. The Seattle couple who owned it, Larry and Camilla Brocker, hoped to sell it to someone who would carry on Fiddles’ long history.

The Sphars jumped at the chance.

“This has been here since 1910,” said April Sphar. “How could you not want to keep something like this going on in Brownsville?”

The couple owns a business in West Virginia, and ran a bar in Republic for two years before a fire caused it to close, so they were familiar with the ins and outs of what they’d need to do for their new venture.

April, who raised her children in the Brownsville area, was already familiar with Fiddles, and was excited to take the reins.

“It’s a wonderful spot to be in, and I’m just glad it’s us who keep it going,” she said.

Before the Sphars reopened the restaurant, it had been closed for four months. They spent two months cleaning the building and preparing the menu, and officially opened the doors the day after Thanksgiving.

They wanted the menu to be just right, so they took inspiration from the past, and sought input from future customers.

“We went back and looked at the old menus from the 1990s and early 2000s,” April said, adding they posted to Facebook asking community members to suggest their favorite Fiddles dishes.

“We tried to find the hotdogs that (were cooked) from the 60s to the 80s. They were so hard to find, but we’re cooking them low and slow on the flattop all day, and we’re trying to keep the chili basic for the hotdogs,” she said.

They’re also keeping mainstays like Fiddles’ western omelet and the patty melt, while introducing their signature burgers and other menu items.

“We’re trying to keep the same menu with new traditions,” April said.

Those sitting down to have a meal will also recognize the same benches that have been there since the 1920s, complete with the names that have been carved into them over the past century. Some of the old tables – which also have names carved into them – will also stay.

“My name’s probably carved in one of these tables,” said Marvin Settles of Allison.

He’s been a regular at Fiddles since his father took him there as a child.

“The hamburgers and the French fries were my favorite. They’re still my favorite,” he said.

The diner has gone through a number of ownership changes since it was originally opened in 1910 by George Ellien under the name Empire Confectionary. Eight years later, he sold it to his nephew, Fadell Hallal, who renamed it Fiddles Confectionery.

Hallal and his business partner John Mitchell ran Fiddles together, and after Hallal’s death in 1979, Mitchell continued to run the business until 1990 when it was sold to Michael Novotney, who renamed it Fiddles Diner.

He ran it for 30 years before selling the property to the Brockers.

Settles remembers watching the hotdogs being sold when Mitchell owned the diner.

“They must have sold a couple hundred hotdogs a day,” Settles said. “Everybody came here to get the hotdogs.”

During the months the diner was closed as ownership transferred to the Sphars, Settles worried about Fiddles’ fate. To close the landmark would’ve been like erasing a bit of Brownsville’s history, he said.

“I couldn’t wait for them to open back up. The food is still as good as it was,” he said.

Over the years, Fiddles has appeared in several television shows and movies, including the 2019 Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This,” where it was prominently featured during many scenes.

Other movies filmed there include “Maria’s Lovers” (1984), “Abduction” (2011), “Riddle” (2013) and “How To Tie A Tie” (2021).

“Hopefully, we’ll keep that tradition alive, too,” April said.

The Sphars will celebrate the diner’s opening with a ribbon cutting on Feb. 2.

Fiddles Diner is currently open for breakfast and lunch, and once more staff has joined them, April said they’re looking to extend their hours.

The couple is also working on a delivery option to serve the community that seems to have welcomed them with open arms.

“I think people are being very positive about it,” April said. “I think we’re at a place where there will be more and more growth. We’re seeing new people coming in and spreading the word.”

Fiddles Diner is located at 101 Water Street, Brownsville. Their phone number is 724-785-2020.