The upcoming webisode featuring A-Town Diner will be released later this year

ATASCADERO — Filming for a new episode of “America’s Best Restaurants” took place at A-Town Diner on Thursday, Feb. 29. The diner has been under the ownership of Robert and Melinda (Mimi) Davis since Sept. 12, 2022. During filming, the diner stayed open to the public, and friends and local customers filled the diner with their own energy. Atascadero News also stopped by to see how filming was going.

“‘America’s Best Restaurants’ is in filming. They do a road show, they call it, where they go to diners and restaurants that are privately owned,” Mimi Davis said. “One restaurant, Mom and pops. They don’t do any corporate. Basically, what they’re trying to do, their goal is to help small restaurants succeed.” 

One of Davis’s longtime friends, Debbie McNair, is responsible for A-Town Diner landing on “America’s Best Restaurants'” radar. McNair reached out and nominated the establishment. Then, the show called up Davis in January of this year and told her they had an opening and would love to feature the diner on their show as part of their first trip out to California.  

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“When a restaurant gets nominated, they [‘America’s Best Restaurants’] do tons of research to make sure that the restaurant is a fit. So by the time they contacted me, they already knew all about the restaurant. They knew the whole story since there’s been a lot of press since I first took over in September of ’22,” added Davis. “They had all of that knowledge, and then they just wanted to talk to me and hear what I would tell them my story was, and I guess since they matched, they’re like, ‘okay, it is you.'”

Even though “America’s Best Restaurants” doesn’t have a broadcast or cable TV show, they will feature the A-Town Diner episode on their YouTube and FaceBook channels. Davis also said that once edits are completed and everything is said and done, she will have complete access to everything, including the video, that “America’s Best Restaurants” puts together. She will also be able to share it on all of her own social media platforms as well. 

“I’m hoping that the exposure will bring people in that haven’t been in a while. I’m trying to get the business back, not just making it even, because I’m still struggling financially with the business. I just really want it to take off on its own,” continued Davis. “I love it. I just love the diner.”

The A-Town Diner episode should be up around two months from now if everything goes according to plan. It will feature everything we know and love about the diner, from the staff to the food.

“If people drive through and say, ‘I saw you on that show,’ it would be so cool for me. That would be very cool,” concluded Davis.

To find out more about “America’s Best Restaurants,” go to americasbestrestaurants.com. And keep an eye out for the episode in the near future on their YouTube channel, youtube.com/channel/UCtXJc0pAZRPnmsgrHkgietQ.

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Photo 1: Jay Russel (left) from “America’s Best Restaurants” is shown with A-Town Diner owner Melinda (Mimi) Davis (right) on the day of filming. Photo by Christianna Marks.