
There’s an expression, “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.”
Busy people know the shortest path. Busy people do not talk endlessly about doing something, they just do it.
One would think that Ashley Berman, co-owner of Mel’s, and Brent Young, owner of the Meat Hook, would have enough on their plates – so to speak – and would not have the time to open another establishment in Hudson, the Hudson Diner.
Berman states, “Brent Young and I have been friends for fifteen years. We wanted to open up a restaurant together and have been looking at spaces – then Grazin’ became available. It was the dream space!”
They’ve always wanted to open a classic American diner. Now, the Hudson Diner is open for dinner, from Wednesday to Sunday 5-10pm, but they hope to expand to lunch, then breakfast, and one day be open seven days/week, like a traditional diner.
I visited on a Friday and a Wednesday evening, and both nights were packed.




Their menu options include classic burgers and fries, but made with grass-fed, quality meats and ingredients you would find at the Meat Hook and Mel’s. You will find steak tartar on the menu, but also a standard tuna melt.
I mentioned the sweet potato pancakes I used to order at the Diner about twenty years ago.
Ashley said that someone else talked about the former Fried Turf Platter they used to eat at the diner, and it’s on the menu now. She’s open to bringing back some of the old menu items.

The space has been renovated, with many of the original details. They stripped some of the wood and brought it back to life. They repainted and redid the floors. They kept the stools and the countertops and brought the booths back.
During the interview, a question lingered, “Are the two toilets still in the bathroom?”
By request, they renovated the bathroom tiles and floors and replaced the toilets, but kept them undivided in one room, as a tribute to what once was.
The Hudson Diner is open Wednesdays-Sundays, 5-10pm. Walks-ins only. Check them out.
You may ‘Walk Like an Egyptian”, but do you poop like a Roman?


The two infamous and iconic toilets, without divider, were replaced and re-installed.