'Another day another diner': Troy man helping to keep diners alive with social media page

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Troy man is making it his mission to travel to as many diners in the Capital Region as he can, all with the hope of bringing the younger generation back to diners. His journey is also gaining attention on social media, something that businesses said has helped them immensely.

You may have already seen his TikToks, Instagram or Facebook reels popping up on your feed. Patrick Fleming from Troy is the man behind a recent social media series called “Another Day Another Diner,” where he has reviewed and spotlighted dozens of diners in the Capital Region and beyond.

“I would travel around and just go to diners with my girlfriend Kayla and then one day we were sitting there and it was such a cool vibe and I was like lets capture this,” said Fleming.

Fleming’s first video received a decent amount of traction, but by the second video he had already hit half a million views — blowing away his expectations.

“She [Kayla] had called me and was like, ‘Hey you might want to log on and check this,'” said Fleming. “So then I was like okay, we might be onto something.”

Each time Fleming goes to a diner, he orders whatever menu item the staff recommend, along with a his signature, “Big black coffee”. Plus, more often than not, Fleming said he learns about the unique history each diner has. On Friday, NEWS10’s Vanessa Blasi joined Fleming and Kayla at Shirley’s Diner in Saratoga Springs — where the owner Alex came to share some of their own rich history.

“64 years it’s been open. The original owner’s wife’s name is Shirley. And we’ll keep the name because it is what it is, you know, and it’s a beautiful little diner,” said Alex.

Fleming’s girlfriend Kayla is then tasked with making all the video magic come to life. They film each food item they order, the interior of the diner and sometimes spotlight the owners. Yet, all of this content quickly became more than just videos for entertainment.

“I would go to these diners, and we would look around and a lot of the tables would be empty. So, I was trying to find a way to get the next generation of people to go in and support the diner. What better way to do that then social media,” said Fleming.

TikTok, Instagram and Facebook comments quickly began flooding in, and eventually people began flooding those diners.

“I got a message this morning, a diner reached out and basically said they had the best two months of their entire career, I guess you could say since opening, and I did the review about two months ago,” said Fleming.

Fleming said the feeling of receiving that message was incredible. And it wasn’t the only one he got. Plenty of diners across the Capital Region have shared gratitude and positive results — something Fleming wants to continue making happen.

“I think the people that are running these small businesses, they work so hard and they deserve the spotlight and a lot of times a few extra sales a month can really make a difference for them,” said Fleming. “

One day, Fleming is hoping to take this nationwide. His goal is to eventually create a documentary-style series where he tours the U.S., telling the stories of local diners and most importantly, the people behind them.

“50 diners, 50 states, 50 days kind of deal,” said Fleming.