Mar 23, 2016 By Anthony Conn managing Editor 3 min read

When students begin their collegiate careers at Waynesburg University, many are surprised to learn that the surrounding town has an airport. What is often more surprising to them is the fact that the airport has a diner.

Waynesburg’s Airport Diner is located on Roy E. Furman Highway across from the entrance to Walmart. Open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., the diner serves breakfast and lunch. 

The Airport Diner gets customers from the airport as people fly in and out of Morgantown and Rostraver, which are east of Washington.

Kathy Kiger has been the owner of the Airport Diner since 2000. She said it took a while to establish a core group of returning customers.

“It took about five years before they started coming around regularly,” said Kiger. “It took a lot of time for them to get settled in.”

Today, having a returning customer base isn’t a problem for the diner. 

“We have regular customers that come in all the time,” said Kim Richards, a cook at the diner for the past five years. “We have people that come in and get the same thing every day. We’ll [see] somebody walk by the door and we’ll say, ‘There’s so-and-so’ and we’ll start fixing their food before their order even comes back, because we know what they’re going to get.”

Kiger and Richards said there are many popular items on the menu, including homemade meatloaf, roast beef and fresh burgers. According to Kiger, one of the main attractions is the assortment of pies that are homemade by an elderly woman who lives nearby. The breakfast menu, however, is what often excites her customers the most.

“Our big thing is the Garbage Plate,” said Kiger. “We sell a lot of those. Everyone seems to like it.”

The garbage plate is a heaping mound of three eggs, peppers, onions, ham, sausage and home fries, “smothered” in cheese and served with toast. 

“I usually tell people about the Garbage Plate,” said Richards. “If someone has never been here, I say, ‘Oh, you need to have a Garbage Plate.'”

Being open for only two meals per day has not hindered the diner’s success. Kiger said she tried to open for three meals but it was difficult to stay staffed.

“It’s hard to find people to work in this area that actually work every day,” Kiger said. “When I decided I was going to try it, I couldn’t keep the people working so I went back to breakfast and lunch.”

During her time as owner, Kiger has seen staff members and customers come and go. Her experiences with them have taught her important lessons.

“I’ve learned a lot,” said Kiger. “I see a lot of people come in here. I’ve learned to appreciate people.”

Kiger said she plans to stay with the Airport Diner as long as the borough keeps the building in operation. 

For now, she will continue to promote her business and encourages college students to give the Airport Diner a try.