VILLAGE OF MANLIUS – Before the turn of the century, Buzzy’s Diner was a go-to in the village of Manlius for generations of night owls, early birds and late lunchers looking to chow down and chat.
Now, more than 20 years after its closing in 1999, the original crew behind the community staple has decided to carve out a weekend for its past employees and patrons to reconvene over the same tasty grub.
The first-ever reunion for the longtime East Seneca Street establishment is set to take place over two days inside the village recreation building at 6 Stickley Drive.
A slightly pared-down re-creation of the diner’s breakfast menu is being prepared for the occasion, which will be open to the public from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 with a continuation from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25.
As the Oley clan that ran the show will tell you, their local diner was home to a “Cheers”-like atmosphere—a feel represented by its slogan “where the elite meet and the rest just come to hang around.”
And just like the Boston bar from that sitcom, everybody behind the counter came to know the names of the customers walking through the door, or at least what their signature order was.
“The people that went to Buzzy’s were what made it so special,” said Lisa DeVeau, who worked there back in the day alongside several of her family members and friends.
Though there was another Buzzy’s on Route 20 in Morrisville, DeVeau said the one on East Seneca Street was always seen as the primary location because she and her siblings grew up in Manlius.
Her brother, George Paul Oley, began fulfilling a managerial role for the main diner at an early age and kept at it into the 1990s. He said he has been excited about seeing old clientele again after the passage of a couple of decades, including any regulars of the more dinner-disposed Morrisville diner who are able to make it to the reunion.
After opening in Manlius in 1970, Buzzy’s became known for not only its food and ambience but also the timeworn, ornamental wooden boots by the kitchen and the core group of four waitresses that swapped shifts there for 15 years.
Upstairs were seldom-occupied apartments, and in the spot where Cafe 119 currently stands, a temporarily connected pizzeria had table-top games and an arcade section.
To add an extra dose of humor, the youngest sibling in the bunch, Rob, found a piece of clip art showing a turtle lifting a dinner tray and seared it onto a screenprint with the words “fast service.” The patriarch of the family, George Bartholomew Oley, liked the design so much that he made it the business’ official logo.
The father of three was and still is better known as “Buzzy,” a nickname coined when he was a newborn and German buzz bombs were in the news. While operating his namesake diner at its two locations, he also took care of the catering end and twirled pizzas at Cosmo’s on Marshall Street.
According to Buzzy himself, another claim to fame was the diner’s reputation for opening early during deer season, when hunters would funnel in with a whoosh and render the interior standing room only.
“We used to serve like 250 people by 6:30 in the morning,” Buzzy said. “We served them so fast, it was incredible.”
To Rob, it was the “sense of belonging” and dependability that set apart his family’s business.
When the Labor Day storm of 1998 fell upon the Central New York area, the Manlius mainstay was the only restaurant in the village to stay open through and in the immediate wake of the storm. Hooked up to an emergency generator, the short-order spot was, for some people, the only source of food they had over that whole 24 hours.
The diner would end up closing down the following year after Buzzy developed diabetes and had a pair of mini strokes. By that point, his daughter and his sons were parents themselves, and all three were growing tired from the sleepless nights spent cooking and serving on holidays and weekends.
“I couldn’t see myself working there every Saturday and every Sunday while my kids grew up and missing out on some of the things that I wouldn’t want to miss out on,” Rob said.
After the building was sold, it became increasingly dilapidated until village crews tore it down, leaving behind an empty rectangle of grass.
Nowadays, though, the Oleys carry with them the entrepreneurial spirit and strong work ethic they learned as Buzzy’s employees.
The younger George went into residential remodeling and began putting on cornhole tournaments with Rob, who also has a painting business on the side. Lisa too has had multiple “sticks in the fire,” having dabbled with an organizing business and tie-dyeing before managing a construction company that lays flatpower and installs undercarpet wiring.
In retrospect, the siblings wish they could have shown their kids what it was like to visit Buzzy’s, but they said this weekend’s reunion will be the closest thing to it.
The family is bringing the same flat top and coffee urn used at the Manlius diner, and they’ll be whipping up pan-cooked omelets, French toast, muffins and their signature burgers with bacon and bleu cheese among other specialties. Commemorative mugs and shirts will also be available.
Tops Friendly Markets is the sponsoring food supplier for the event, and proceeds will go toward the FM Food Pantry.
