Jigger's Diner for sale

Published Date

Written by Randy Garbin

In the early 1990s, Jigger's Diner in East Greenwhich, Rhode Island served as a storage room for an adjascent paint store. Instead of booths, counter, and cooking equipment, cases of paint cans filled the otherwise empty space. Then along came Carol Shriner, who began the arduous restoration process that involved constructing a new counter and hood over the backbar. The locals so appreciated her efforts, that someone stepped forward and gave Carol back the original Worcester clock. 

When it reopened in 1992, the diner became an immediate hit. It seemed to spark a general revival of downtown East Greenwhich, and by the time Carol stepped down as its owner in 2000, the Main Street had transformed from a motley collection of marginal retail to a tony, thriving cultural district. Its new owner Iva Reynhout did an admirable job of continuing Carol's goal of establishing a higher standard of diner fare. Despite our best efforts, we never established the same relationship with Iva as we had with Carol, but we otherwise took little issue with food or service. We loved it all the same. 

Last month, the diner closed for good. Iva apparently had difficulties meeting her sales tax obligation, an all-too-common occurence in the industry, where owners fail to resist the temptation to dip into funds that technically do not belong to them to pay other bills. As we have written in the past many times, this usually starts the countdown to failure. With Jigger's, a twenty year legacy established by Carol Shriner, came to that end. 

We haven't discussed this with the realtor, but you will find Jigger's listed for sale on their website for $379,750, which includes the sliver of Main Street frontage. Thanks to our efforts and stories published about it in everything from the New York Times to Gourmet, this diner enjoys a sterling reputation that spreads across much of New England. If you think you'd like to give it ago, you'll find the listing here. 

Before you make that jump, be sure to read our primer on owning a diner here. It might keep you from making a million dollar mistake.