Farewell, Ellie’s: Iconic 50s-themed diner in Delray Beach closing after 32 years

The midcentury cheer couldn’t last forever at Ellie’s 50’s Diner in Delray Beach.

Today’s restaurant-world realities invaded the space adorned with life-size Elvis and Marilyn Monroe statues and other memorabilia, and owners Bob and Ellie Smela decided it was time to retire.

They’re closing Ellie’s on July 10 and expect to finalize the sale of the property July 15. But Elvis and Marilyn left the room some days ago. They were purchased for about $2,400 and carted away by Wellington resident Rob Van Winkle, himself an icon. He hit stardom as a rapper named Vanilla Ice, back in the 90s.

The 90s is when Ellie’s made its own debut as a throwback diner on North Federal Highway. Its closing comes 32 years after that grand opening, after many themed weddings, classic-car nights, chamber of commerce meet-ups and countless occasions to doll up in 50s garb.

But those illusions were shattered by pandemic-era economic issues, Bob Smela says.

Why is Ellie's 50’s Diner closing?

“Food prices are getting out of line,” he says. “Eggs, for instance. We used to pay $18 for 15 dozen eggs just months ago. Now, they’re charging $48.”

While he did raise menu prices slightly a few months ago, Smela says he didn’t want to jolt customers with a dramatic hike in the cost of their meals.

Such is the challenge of running a diner in pandemic times — it’s hard to raise the comfort-food price point customers have come to expect, says one Delray restaurant expert.

“Restaurant owners like them, their margins are getting squeezed. It’s some of the simplest things. It’s the eggs. It’s the flour. It’s the cooking oil. They’ve quadrupled in price in some cases. The cost of proteins especially has gone up dramatically, and the customers don’t understand it,” says John Brewer, a restaurant specialist in the commercial real estate market.

Dining: Three local restaurants among Yelp’s ‘Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S.’

Also in Delray Beach: The Falcon bar soars again

Smela cites rising labor costs as another reason he’s selling the place.

“Our food costs went up and now people are asking for raises. I’ve had it,” Smela says.

He turned 80 in April, a milestone celebrated at Ellie’s Flamingo Ballroom hall. For part of that night, Smela wore a red lipstick mark on his forehead, evidence of a smooch from the evening’s Marilyn Monroe impersonator. The evening featured a full buffet dinner, a colorful, four-tier cake and birthday testimonials.

Time to hang up the aprons

That was one of many memorable nights the Smelas shared with customers and friends at Ellie’s. But it’s time to move on, they say.

The decision brings up a mix of feelings, says Ellie Smela.

“I’m excited, but it’s bittersweet. So many of our customers from years ago have come in to say their farewells. They come in and say, ‘Thanks for the memories,’” she says. “What I’ll miss the most is the people and always meeting new friends.”

Not only did she inspire Ellie’s name, but also Ellie Smela was the diner’s most recognizable face — apart from Elvis and Marilyn, of course. In fact, Ellie is pictured on the sign above the flamingo-pink restaurant façade. She’s the friendly soul you might see in pops of pink, 50s-style pedal pushers, neck scarf, maybe a special-occasion poodle skirt.

She embraced the 50s style but admits she was a newcomer to 50s-themed diner concepts like the ones her husband remembers from his New Jersey childhood days. Ellie isn’t from Jersey — she was born and raised on a farm in Wisconsin.

“I didn’t know much about diners, not at all,” she says. “But I learned there’s always someone who’s interested in a 50s diner.”

And after a friend stopped making the diner’s popular Elvis Wedding Cake — a pineapple-walnut cake with cream cheese icing — Ellie took on the task.

“I've been making it since. People call and ask, ‘Do you have the Elvis cake today? Save me two slices!’” she says.

Starting out as Ellie's Deli

The Ellie’s brand didn’t start as a diner. The Smelas, who met on a blind date in 1973 and now share two children, eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild, first opened a takeout deli called Ellie’s Deli and Catering in 1981 on Delray’s George Bush Boulevard . They named the place after Ellie because “Ellie’s Deli” had a ring to it, Bob says.

“I used to always say, ‘Come fill your bellies at Ellie’s Deli!’” he says.

Smela says he didn’t know much about delis or restaurants but a good friend gave him a crash course in the business. Soon, he and Ellie were running three lunch trucks out of that first location. Bob says he did much of the cooking for the first five years.

But anxious to grow the business, the Smelas looked for a place to expand into a full-service eatery they’d call Ellie’s 50’s Diner. They bought the Federal Highway space that had housed the old Bahamas Smokehouse, gutted it and then filled it with a blast of 1950s nostalgia.

Five years later, they purchased an adjacent space and turned it into Ellie’s Flamingo Ballroom, which offered a 180-person capacity.

What will happen to that party space and to the rest of the diner space is a mystery to them, say the Smelas, who would not name the soon-to-be buyers.

“They haven’t told us anything about their plans, except that they want all the kitchen equipment and furniture,” says Ellie.

Says Bob: “Who knows, they’ll probably tear everything down.”

Life after Ellie's 50's Diner: owners hitting the road

By then, he and Ellie expect to be on the road, he says. They own a farmhouse in Wisconsin and plan to spend a few weeks there. The place was built in 1876, says Ellie.

“It’s been in my family since my grandparents’ day. We were all raised there,” she says. “We used to travel there once a year. Now we’ll go back more often.”

After that, they plan a “nice, long car trip,” says Bob.

For all the good times he and his family have had at the diner, and despite every 50s song his grandkids learned to sing there, Bob says he’ll be happy to be out of the business.

“The restaurant business is one of the hardest there is,” he says. “I have two children and I wouldn’t let them go into this business.”

Ellie’s 50’s Diner: Closes July 10, located at 2410 N. Federal Hwy, Delray Beach, 561-276-1570, ElliesCatering.com.

Did your beloved restaurant close? Tell us

If you have fond memories of your favorite restaurant closing, please email our food and dining writer, Liz Balmaseda at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com. Please include your full name, address and name of restaurant that closed and why it was so special to you. Your submission (please keep it to a paragraph or two) may be featured in an upcoming story.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vanilla Ice buys Ellies diner's Elvis, before Delray restaurant closes