Powers Diner To Re-Open In Port Huron

Filling the stools in a diner after a high school football game to guzzle down milkshakes — that's what John Liangos remembers about growing up.

He plans to bring those classic milkshakes to Port Huron, along with homemade french fries, 10 kinds of burgers and fried pickles.

And of course, the classic slider.
On Feb. 17, Liangos, 47, of Wyandotte, purchased the Powers Diner building at 1209 Military St.

The eatery will re-open mid-April and will retain the name Powers Diner.
Liangos grew up in the restaurant business, watching and learning from his dad. Liangos cooks for his family's restaurant.

"In the summer I am planning on having BBQs outside and setting up a few tables," he said. "I'm excited to be able to see all the old cars cruising down the street this summer. This diner is going to be all Coca-Cola and cars."

The stainless steel structure shuttered its doors in September 2011, when Phil and Kathy Syzak, who had owned the diner for 28 years, decided to close the business.

In 2003, the iconic shiny chrome diner building replaced the original Powers Classic Hamburgers, which was built in the 1930s.

Dale Powers operated two hamburger joints in Port Huron.

One was dubbed The Hamburger Stand, a drive-in restaurant at 1524 Pine Grove Ave. The city of Port Huron bought that restaurant in 1992. It was demolished to build an access road to the Thomas Edison Parkway.

The second bore Powers' name at the current diner site.
In the 1950s the sliders were 15 cents.

While the stands were founded by Powers in the mid-1930s, ownership changed hands a few times.

In 1975, Mary Ann Barcelona and Suzanne Oden bought the restaurants and renamed them J&J's Hamburgers after their husbands, Jerry and Jack, according to a 1983 Times Herald article.

J&J's, a small black-and-white stand, was one of few remaining drive-in restaurants where a waitress would come out to parked cars to serve customers.

In the 1980s the sliders were 45 cents — a steep increase from the 15-cent burgers back in the day — but the simplicity kept the customers coming.
It was known as the place everyone from homemakers to factory workers and policemen gathered to grab a bite to eat