Iconic Pok-Ka-Dot Diner in Batavia celebrates 66 years

There is nothing fancy about the Pok-A-Dot. But when you are an iconic restaurant in business since 1953 and still loved by the locals, you don't have to be that fancy. Phil Pastore and his partner opened the place as a hot dog stand. Those guys are gone but the Pok-A-Dot is still run by the Pastore family. Nici Johnson has worked at the Pok-A-Dot for sixteen years. She says "everybody that works here has been here so long we have created a kind of family." Originally the place was a hot dog stand, and while they still serve hot dogs, the house specialty is Beek on Weck. T restaurant has been immortalized by Batavia born author John Gardner. There's a tribute to him by the Pok-A-Dot and every year in October there is a "John Gardner Reading". The restaurant reaches it's sixty-sixth anniversary in June and Lenona Pastore says there will be a big party.