When Gil Short found himself to be ill-suited for retirement, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps by re-creating and relocating his father’s old diner from Ohio to Williamsburg.
Shorty’s Diner, a ’50s-themed diner with checkerboard floors and chrome-colored accents on the tables and chairs, opened in its Merrimac Trail location in 2011. It is now expanding its menu with the upcoming opening of Short’s Sweet Side, a walkup window where patrons can buy desserts.
Before his attempted retirement, Short planned, designed and constructed racetracks. He came to the area from Florida for a project to design and build Colonial Downs in New Kent. After that, he went to Indiana to build Indiana Downs. He retired to Williamsburg after that venture but found retirement wasn’t right for him.
“I spent 10 years in Williamsburg and never found a diner, only found pancake houses,” Short said.
In 1948, Short’s father owned Shorty’s Triple Six Diner in Ohio. With that restaurant experience from his childhood, Short felt confident in starting a new career in the restaurant industry. Shorty’s Diner, with its checkerboard floors and chrome-colored accents on the tables and chairs, is at 627 Merrimac Trail.
Short expects to open Shorty’s Sweet Side before the Fourth of July.
“Milkshakes and malts sort of go along with the ’50s diner concept and I just never had the room for it,” said Short, who added the dessert menu will offer soft-serve ice cream, milkshakes, malts and sno-balls.
Short is confident the venture into ice cream and desserts will go very well.
“Competition is something you shouldn‘t worry about if your price is there and the taste is there,” he said.
Shorty’s Diner will also be extending its hours and changing the time of the Cruz Thru at Shorty’s Diner car shows effective Friday. The diner will be open from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. Sundays. Breakfast is served all day and lunch is served from 11 a.m. until closing.
The Cruz Thrus are a time when classic and antique cars visit the diner. On a Friday night with good weather, up to 125 cars could be at the diner, Short said.
Anyone – with or without an antique car — is welcome during the Cruz Thrus, which will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays starting this week and likely running through October. The diner will be open and serving food off its lunch menu during the Cruz Thrus.
“Of course, we’re a diner so antique cars fit the diner. So they’ve just kind of gravitated here and we promote it,” Short said.
For more information about Shorty’s Diner, visit its website or Facebook page.
