With its gleaming blue metallic facade, Kellogg's Diner has long been one of the recognizable spots in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, long before it got trendy – but running it is all business.

The New York Times showed just how difficult the task is for Irene Siderakis, who went from a stay-at-home mom to running it after her husband Chris died suddenly in 2018 at just 49.

“I had no idea how to run a diner or if I could,” she said. “I had to make a choice: sell the diner or learn the business on my own and show my boys we can do this and persevere.” She did what she had to do, keeping the 24-hour diner going.

She lives in Whitestone, Queens with her four sons: Themi, 18; Billy, 16; Mario, 15, and Demetri, 12, and their dog, Agapi and said she was saved by the diner's regulars and fans who started a GoFundMe to keep it from closing during the COVID-19 pandemic – when she contracted the coronavirus.

“But people really helped. This was a place everyone wanted to save,” she said.