Broadway star orders pancakes at a Queens diner at 2 a.m.
Short stack, extra butter, a side of bacon and a table by the window. The waitress did not recognise her. The man in the next booth did, and so did everybody he texted.
The star of the biggest musical on Broadway, who does eight shows a week and has been on the cover of three magazines this month, walked into the Starlite Diner on Queens Boulevard at 1:55 a.m. on Sunday, sat in the booth by the window and ordered a short stack with extra butter, a side of bacon and a black coffee.
The waitress, who has worked the overnight shift at the Starlite for 22 years, did not recognise her. The man in the next booth did. By 2:10 a.m. there were nine people outside the window, and by 2:20 the star had signed four napkins and a cast on somebody's arm.
The order
"She was very nice," said the waitress, Dolores, who asked that her last name not be used because "I don't want people coming in asking for her booth." "She said the pancakes were the best she'd had in New York. I said that's because we make them with the good butter. She asked what the good butter was. I didn't tell her."
“She asked what the good butter was. I didn't tell her.”
Dolores, waitress, Starlite Diner
The star ate everything, left a tip the Bugle has confirmed as "very large" and walked out at 2:35 a.m. to a waiting car. She waved. The nine people waved back. A man across the street who had not been paying attention asked what was going on and was told "pancakes."
The other diner
The Bugle has learned that at around the same time, a figure in red and blue was seen on the roof of the laundromat across the boulevard, apparently sitting down. Whether he was watching the diner, resting, or waiting for the pancakes is not known. Dolores said she did not see him and that if he came in, "he gets the same pancakes as everybody else."
The Starlite
The Starlite has been open 24 hours since 1961 and has never, Dolores said, had a line outside the window at 2 a.m. "Inside, sure. Outside, no. It was weird. Nice, but weird."
The star's publicist did not respond to a request for comment. The diner has not changed its menu, and does not plan to, though Dolores said the owner was "thinking about calling the short stack something."