By Anne Morrissy | Photo by Holly Leitner
In late December, locals rejoiced to learn that beloved diner Daddy Maxwell’s has reopened following a two-year hiatus, during which time another restaurant, Gracie’s Kitchen, occupied the space. The reopening of Daddy Maxwell’s was the work of new owners Miguel Linares and Dan Smith, who had the idea to bring back the restaurant when they heard how many locals missed its extensive diner menu and friendly, local atmosphere.
The pair was perfectly positioned for the project of reopening Daddy Maxwell’s, as they had both been employees at Daddy Maxwell’s, Smith as the kitchen manager in the early 2000s and Linares as a cook around the same time, when it was owned by husband-and-wife owners Janette and Marshall Maxwell.
The Maxwells bought the diner in 1987 and named it in honor of Marshall’s father, who put up some of the initial funding. “We’re keeping the menu as similar as possible,” Smith explains. “Luckily, we both still knew the recipes from back in the day.”
The diner’s unique shape dates to its origin as The Arctic Circle Drive-In, which first opened in the late 1940s and featured frozen custard treats, sandwiches and French fries served directly to your car. (Eventually, the waitresses even wore roller skates!) After the Maxwells bought the restaurant, they converted the original interior to table seating, adding a new kitchen, bathrooms and a diner counter. Around 2016, Janette took over sole responsibility for the diner. Following her passing in 2022, ownership changed hands.
When Smith and Linares realized the building was available again in 2024, they jumped at the opportunity. “Miguel would always ask me, ‘When are we going to do a restaurant together?’” Smith explains. The first weekend Daddy Maxwell’s reopened, just after Christmas, it drew in a sizeable crowd, all of whom had missed the community, the kitschy decor and the extensive diner menu.
Smith says he has seen a steady stream of customers since then, many of whom were regulars at the first Daddy Maxwell’s. Some of them have even come bearing gifts: one customer returned an original sign that once hung on the building’s exterior and another returned a painting of the iconic, igloo-shaped diner with a bevy of classic cars parked in front. Both have now returned to their original places of honor, just like the regulars who appear at the counter every morning.
“By the second or third day back open, they were there again like nothing had ever changed,” Smith says. “They grab their own coffee, sit down and chat, just like time never passed. That’s one of the most rewarding things, is just seeing everybody come back and form this community-type place.”
