GIVING THANKS
GIVING THANKS
An annual feast has become a festive tradition at Silver Diner.
Twenty-three years ago this month, Omar Martinez got an idea.
It was early November, Thanksgiving was right around the corner, and several of his colleagues at the Tysons Corner location of Silver Diner did not have plans for the holiday. Like him, many were immigrants—far from home and family, not to mention uninitiated into the American tradition of gathering around a roast turkey with cranberry sauce. Instead of a celebration of gratitude, for them, it was a day of loneliness. Which got Martinez thinking.
“Thanksgiving is about showing appreciation to the people in our lives,” says Martinez, who was general manager at Tysons at the time, now serving as an area director. “And so I said, okay—that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“Thanksgiving is about showing appreciation to the people in our lives.”
After devising a plan, Martinez decided that a festive feast would be in order. He ran to the grocery store, bought a few turkeys, and a few chickens, too—as was the preferred protein of many of his teammates, considering their myriad cultures when devising this feel-good menu. Back in the restaurant kitchen, he roasted those birds in the oven, whipped up some mashed potatoes, and made a big salad to boot. Then after the restaurant closed that afternoon, he gathered his colleagues at a few of the dining-room tables, and they all sat down together for a delicious late lunch.
Some employees came in despite it being their day-off. Some also invited members of their own families. There were plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home. It was a bona fide Thanksgiving—and so was born a Silver Diner tradition.
“It was a small token of thanks—thanking them for their hard work, thanking them for being part of our lives, and thanking them for being a part of Silver Diner,” says Martinez.
Omar Martinez, Area Director of Silver Diner.
Soon, word spread, and this Thanksgiving Day meal spread to several other locations—from Tysons to Rio to Rockville to Frederick, with each manager celebrating their teams with their own special touches, and every meal reflecting the beautiful diversity of those on staff, featuring both catered and homemade dishes. Martinez especially loves this one Latin-American potato salad, a flavorful rendition of the classic side dish, featuring beets, boiled eggs, spices, and dressing.
“We have a big diverse community, we have people from Ethiopian African communities, we have teammates who are Nepalese, we have Hispanics, African Americans, Caucasians, and everyone has different traditions and cultures and styles,” says Martinez. “That’s the beautiful thing—this diversity. And when we all sit down together, there’s no difference between us.”
This year, this month, on Thanksgiving Day, as per ritual, several Silver Diner locations will once again close their doors at 2 p.m., giving their staffs a night off to enjoy the evening with their loved ones. But before everyone heads home, they’ll gather in their restaurants and all break bread together. Many will invite their kids and spouses. Plenty now have relatives who work at the restaurants, too. Sometimes, there will be as many as 100 people there.
“That’s who we are—we’re a family-oriented company,” says Martinez. “And that’s why we’re still in business 36 years after opening our first location. We want to keep doing it for another 36 years, and more! And one of the biggest ways that we’ll accomplish that is through our people. They work so hard. We want to recognize and reward them for that. It’s become a very special thing to do.”
“We’re a family-oriented company. And that’s why we’re still in business.”
For his part, Martinez will plan to attend the Rockville and Rio lunches—to say hello to his teams, to thank them for their hard work, to give handshakes and a few hugs. But after all these years, he will likely still find himself surprised by one thing.
“I started this tradition with the intention of recognizing and thanking them,” he says. “But what I didn’t expect was that it would turn out to be mutual. I wasn’t expecting them to come up to me and say, ‘Thank you, we appreciate what you do.’ That sentiment is something that really hits me. It was like, wow ... they made me feel very appreciated, too.”
New! Just In Time Catering, just give us two hours.
THROW YOUR OWN PARTY!
Just in time for the holiday season, Silver Diner is thrilled to announce the launch of Just In Time Catering. Looking for last-minute orders for small work lunches, family gatherings, or other special occasions? Monday through Friday, our new catering menu now offers a variety of options for orders $500 or under. Think your breakfast go-tos through your dinner favorites—egg scrambles, homemade soups, platters of sliders, fresh salads, hearty entrees, and more—available for pickup or delivery. All we need is a two-hour notice.