ADAMS -- Four months after Park Street's Miss Adams Diner was sold at auction to Steepleview Realty, the doors are open again and the kitchen is busy at the iconic eatery.

Business partners Ric Belair and Philomene Rivard have rented the space from Steepleview and opened for business on Monday. While there was little fanfare for the re-opening of the eatery, Belair said they were busy with customers almost all day.

"It started out slow, but as soon as people got out of bed -- it being a holiday -- and realized we were open, it started to pick up, and it was busy from then to closing." he said.

The pair originally tried to rent space for a restaurant on Ashland Street in North Adams, but the deal fell through not long before they were set to start operation. They found out the Miss Adams Diner was available the same day their original deal fell through.

Rivard said it was a stroke of luck because both her and Belair had always wanted to operate a diner.

"It's always been a childhood dream, and I think the world needs dreamers." she said.

Over the years, the business known as the Miss Adams Diner has had trouble staying open under the same owner or operator for very long. In just the last few years, the business has had at least three different owners and several proprietors.

Belair and Rivard admitted that the business' track record is a little intimidating as they are just starting out.

"It's a little scary." Rivard

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said.

"But we're focusing on bringing it back to its roots," Belair added. "We want it to be where it was 30 years ago. It should be a diner. It's what it has always been, and it's what people want. They want the old diner back, and that's good because it's what we always planned in the first place."

Rivard said they also want to focus on making the Miss Adams a family-oriented place. The walls are already adorned with pictures of her grandchildren, Belair's father made the picture frames and his mother made the diner's aprons. Rivard said she also wants to take pictures of families eating at the Miss Adams and add them to the blank frames on the wall.

The diner will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday for breakfast and lunch, Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for breakfast, lunch and dinner and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to noon for breakfast.

The menu features classic diner fare including pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon, breakfast sandwiches and omelets. Breakfast will be served all day.

There is also a breakfast special named after the diner. When the building was brought to town in 1949, it was known as the Worcester Lunch Car 821. So Rivard put on the menu The Number 821 which consists of two eggs, home fries, toast, two pancakes or French toast, and a choice of ham, bacon or sausage.

While the business has recently been reincarnated as a seafood restaurant and a second home for Jack's Hot Dog Stand, Rivard and Belair said they are of the opinion that it should always be a diner.

"It is a diner," Rivard said. "It was made to be a diner and it's going to stay a diner with us. The place mats we're having made say that the Miss Adams Diner is a part of the history of this town. Over the years, people have tried to change that history, but we're going to try to preserve history by changing it back."

The pair is planning a grand opening during the week of April 11.