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The University is in negotiations with a new operator to open a 24-hour diner to replace Eat at Joe's, which closed over the summer. (Leah Tulin/DP File Photo)

Finally, Penn students might have the greasy-spoon diner they've been craving since 1996. University negotations with a new diner operator are underway, and if they continue to go smoothly in the next few weeks, a 24-hour diner will hit campus January 15. While University officials will not release the name of the operator until after lease negotiations are finalized, they have promised that the new operation will not be the franchise establishment Eat at Joe's was. According to the University's top real estate official, Tom Lussenhop, construction on the diner's location at 3925 Walnut Street, formerly held by Eat at Joe's, will begin "within the next month." Eat at Joe's, which closed June 30, was Penn's response to a 1996 Undergraduate Assembly survey that showed an overwhelming 97 percent of students wanted a 24-hour diner on campus. But the 1950s-theme diner's slow service, high prices and lack of around-the-clock hours couldn't have made it more unpopular, and after two years, Eat at Joe's shut its doors for good. "Eat at Joe's was a disaster," said Bob Christian, the president of the 40th Street Area Business Association. "Instead of getting a real diner, [the University] got this phony corporate diner, and it didn't work." But the vacant lot, still glowing fluorescent pink behind its glass doors, may soon be a forgotten fiasco as a new diner comes to take its place. Since its closing, the Undergraduate Assembly has been in talks with the University about possible replacement operators that can offer around-the-clock service. "What we're looking for now is an independently owned diner operator... and not a generic concept meant to appeal to multiple markets," Lussenhop said. "We are committed to opening a 24-hour diner as soon as conceivably possible," he added. Lussenhop said he hopes the replacement diner, as an independent operator not recognized on a national level, will be able to respond to local needs better and more efficiently than the large restaurant chain could. Eat at Joe's, which Lussenhop called "a somewhat cookie-cutter national franchise," was operated by CosCo Management. The company also owns La Pastabilities, Philly Steak and Gyro Co. and Salad Creations of the Moravian Cafes food court.

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