Dick's Diner in Murrysville to be featured as 1 of 'America's Best Restaurants'

Jim Fox III remembers sitting down to a table at Dick’s Diner as a child with his father, even though his dad was the founder of the popular Fox’s Pizza chain.

The family recognized the appeal of a small-town diner like Dick’s.

Today, Fox owns the restaurant, which will be featured this summer by national media and marketing company America’s Best Restaurants as part of its “ABR Roadshow” web series.

“Originally, it was just going to be a real estate deal, but we started looking into the restaurant, and the more we did, the more we thought about keeping it going,” Fox told TribLive when he acquired the property in 2023.

In the intervening years, the menu has been updated along with the interior and exterior, dinner hours that had been cut back during the covid-19 pandemic were reinstated and the longtime Route 22 staple, which will mark its 80th anniversary in 2026, was reinvigorated.

“Things have been outstanding,” said general manager Erik Retzer of Murrysville. “The biggest challenge we had was building a staff that works well together and has the same vision of us in making sure the customer comes first.”

Dick’s marketing manager Amanda Casteel helped the restaurant get onto the DoorDash app.

“That allows us to tap into a market we were never in previously,” Retzer said. “We would like to be able to expand to try and get more of a younger demographic, but our business is definitely driven by repeat customers, especially among the breakfast and lunch crowd.”

Restaurants featured on the “ABR Roadshow” are selected based on their customer reviews, menu items, social media presence and level of involvement with their community. The company was filming recently in the region, and happened to be at Fox’s Pizza when Fox invited them to cross the highway and grab a meal at Dick’s Diner.

“They came over and said, ‘This is one-of-a-kind with the history, how long it’s been here and how it’s one of the pillar businesses in Murrysville,’” Retzer said. “They said they’d be back in Pennsylvania later in the summer and wanted to do some filming to feature us.”

The company will be filming on location at Dick’s Diner on July 25, and the finished episode will premiere later this year on its website and social media pages.

“We’re obviously looking to showcase the food, but we’re also hoping to feature some of what goes on in the back of the house,” Retzer said. “Our team works hard, and we’ve also been working with students in Franklin Regional’s life skills program, bringing them in on Tuesdays and Fridays along with a student aide. We give them an opportunity to see what some of the entry-level jobs are like here.”

Two of the four life-skills students who worked at the diner during the past school year have been hired on as permanent staff.

“It’s a chance for us not just to do what we regularly do and serve the community our food, but also to reach out to people in that community who could use a break in life — and some have really become a part of the team here,” Retzer said.

Dick’s Diner is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is at 4200 William Penn Highway. For more, see DicksDinerMurrysville.com.