1 Photo
The moment customers enter the Eastport Luncheonette, they cannot help but feel like family.From the floral tablecloths to the helium-filled balloons welcoming a new baby girl lining the counter, everything inside the quaint restaurant makes customers feel as if they are sitting inside a family member’s house, eagerly awaiting some delicious home-cooking.
And that is just the way that owner Noreen Glynn wanted it, according to her son Keith Glynn.
“She wanted to challenge herself,” Mr. Glynn said from behind the counter while mixing eggs in a bowl for a customer’s omelet on Tuesday morning. “That’s what she did. She built it up and made it a better place than when she bought it—she took pride in it.”
Ms. Glynn, who had owned the Montauk Highway luncheonette famous for its breakfast offerings—particularly, its pancakes—for the past 13 years, died on April 24, one month shy of her 60th birthday.
Originally from Patchogue, Ms. Glynn moved to Center Moriches in 1980, just before she and her husband, Sean, welcomed their first son, Patrick. Together, the couple would have two more sons, Keith and Daniel, all of whom spent a good deal of time assisting their mom in running her popular luncheonette.
Though she owned the establishment for only 13 years, Ms. Glynn was a luncheonette staple for nearly three decades. She worked as a waitress for 15 years before taking the plunge and buying the business from Paul Glazer in 2005, according to Keith Glynn.
Those who worked at the eatery would quickly become family, regardless of bloodlines, according to Mr. Glynn who, like his father, also lives in Center Moriches. Keith Glynn noted that he met his future wife, Kristin, after his mother hired her as a waitress. His sibling, Patrick, also met his future wife, Lindsay, after she started working at the luncheonette.
“I have been working in and out of this place since I was 13,” said Patrick Glynn who now lives in Maryland. “Everyone who comes here to work is family.”
As for Ms. Glynn, she could usually be found behind the counter most days, working the stove top and pushing through orders. She was a quiet woman, according to Keith Glynn, usually focusing on her cooking and keeping orders straight though she could always spare a minute or two for her seven grandchildren: Kaleigh, 13, Jack, 10, Cadence, 3, Aubrey, 2, Ronan, 1,Adaley, 8 months, and three-week-old Kenzie.
“She was more reserved but she liked having conversations. She could always talk about her grandkids,” Keith Glynn said. “She was always right here, right where I am now, cooking at the stove top talking about them.”
Patrick Glynn noted that his mother always wanted their family to remain close, even after he moved to Maryland with his family, and was later followed by his sibling, Danny.
“She always worked hard and instilled a sense of family in us, so we were always close,” Patrick Glynn said. “I moved away to Maryland five years ago, and my brother two years ago, and she always wanted us to be very close, a tight-knit family. She loved her grandkids, and that was her No. 1 thing—to spoil them.”
Knowing how much his mother loved her grandchildren, Keith Glynn said he was glad that she had the opportunity to meet her newest grandchild, Kenzie, who was born just last month.
As for himself, Mr. Glynn said he intends to take over the operation of the Eastport Luncheonette, explaining that among his siblings he spent the most time there wants to continue his mother’s legacy.
“The fact that she got to meet my daughter, that is pretty great,” he said. “She built this place up for one of her sons to keep it going, and that is important. She had a lot of pride in that.”
Services for Ms. Glynn were held last week at Sinnickson’s Moriches Funeral Home. A funeral mass was celebrated on Saturday at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Center Moriches and burial followed at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, also in Center Moriches.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ms. Glynn’s name to the American Cancer Society.
Erin McKinley on May 3, 2017