After 40 years, the owner of this old-timey diner in Pinecrest wants to sell
You’ve probably eaten a heaping plate of perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs and divinely crispy bacon at this cramped diner inside an unassuming strip mall in Pinecrest at least once.
You probably waited on a bench outside in the scorching heat, too.
The hearty food, reasonable check, quirky ambiance and even a little attitude from the sassy servers were well worth your time.
We’re, of course, talking about Wagons West, a booth-lined, dimly lit comfort food fixture in the leafy Pinecrest neighborhood for more than four decades.
Now it can be yours. The 1,574 square foot restaurant is for sale.
“Your chance to own a piece of Miami history! Let’s make a deal,” says a recent tiny ad in the local community newspaper The Pinecrest Tribune.
Owner/co-founder Walter “Wally” Muench is ready to pack it in, just like his older brother and co-founder Steve, who retired to the Villages in Central Florida a few years back.
“We’re under the radar about the sale,” the 75-year-old said. “But I think it’s time.”
The owner did not disclose the price and is asking for serious inquiries only.
The gregarious Muench (that smiley guy in the Hawaiian shirt who doles out the menu, runs your credit card and cracks jokes) wants to see his kids more, and basically to do what retired people do, or rather, don’t do.
The divorced South Miami resident has three grown sons — one a budding doctor in New York City, and the other two live in California — so he travels to see them as much as possible.
“They all worked here at one point or another,” Muench says of his kids. “They left the nest about seven years ago to pursue their own things.”
The German native and his now 80-year-old sibling opened the homey family spot at the Suniland Shopping Center back in 1981, a decade after arriving in South Florida. Rent was $900, now it’s $16K (hence, a few recent price hikes on the grub).
“We were trying to figure out an idea for a business. We thought, ‘People gotta eat,’ ” Muench said with a laugh.
The men operated two other small restaurants in the area that are long gone, until striking gold with this strip mall gem.
When they first opened, Wagons West was a Greek diner, the Suniland Luncheonette.
“It was really Gothic looking, with black chandeliers, the works,” recalls Muench. “I took down the sign myself in April 1981.”
The new owners immediately set out to transform the decor, turning it into the Wagons West its fans know today. As for the cowboy theme, they decided to model the greasy spoon after a feed store seen in Horse Country, and give it a lawyer-approved name that was a riff on the Chuck Wagon chain.
“We decorated it ranch style, with a cast iron skillet hanging on the wall,” he said of the myriad knickknacks that have changed very little over the years.
These days, a giant, stuffed Mickey Mouse sitting on a bridge chair will greet you at the door by Muench’s host stand, filled with mementos like a vase of sand from Miami Beach, a well-worn American flag and a handwritten note: “Sign in here. Plz be patient.”
Though this dimly lit joint, jammed floor to ceiling with kitsch — framed posters with sassy sayings like “Eat it or go hungry” and “Complaints will be heard on the second Tuesday of next week” adorn the walls — looks like it got stuck in a time warp, the crowds keep coming.
On any given weekend, from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., there’s up to a one hour wait to grab a four egg omelet, stacked club sandwich or stick to your ribs meatloaf.
The secret to the somewhat grubby eatery’s success, even in the cellphone era? Muench has an idea. Hunger pangs do not evolve.
“Give people good food with good service at a reasonable price,” he said. “We always managed to never compromise on the product: If you make something you can’t eat yourself, don’t serve it. That’s always been our policy. Don’t put something out that you’re ashamed of. There’s no secret formula.”
Another key? The Pinecrest resident is usually there right on site, or just a phone call or short drive away, if there’s an issue the longtime staffers can’t solve. He’s also been known to sit down and chew the fat with diners and chitchat (ahem, gripe) about current affairs.
And it doesn’t hurt that Muench, a self-taught chef, knows his way around a kitchen.
“I learned by doing it by the seat of my pants. I even cooked up until recently. Little by little, I stepped back. I’m not as fast as I used to be but I can do it in a pinch.”
On a typical day, the guys in the back will cook on average 300 or 400 eggs, on a weekend, between 700 and 800 from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some people come in for breakfast and then return for lunch.
“We’re like ‘Cheers,’ where everybody knows your name,” Muench says. “And we’re still kind of old fashioned, even today.”
He hopes the new owners will maintain his hands-on approach, respect for comfort food diner fare and keep some old- time staffers, some of whom have been clocking in for almost 40 years. (One veteran waitress is still there from the old days. Vivian Schroder, from Brooklyn, is a little “salty,” but “people love her,” says her boss.)
Longtime customer Hal Feldman has been going there over 20 years.
The realtor (who does not work for Muench) says that he believes the diner’s name and history will be the sell.
Feldman, whose go-to order is an open faced turkey sandwich, also hopes the new owners retain the tradition.
“Wagons West is a celebration of Americana, a dying breed,” he said. “The clientele that goes there is not the type that would regularly go to ‘name your favorite fast food’ place. They enjoy eating there, who they’re going to see, and that the restaurant is an extension of a family.”
Feldman also gives a lot of credit to the owner, who has become a friend and confidant to many loyal patrons.
“Like any small business, it’s very difficult to compete against the big guys. Walter is a survivor,” Feldman says. “The reality is he has put his whole life into that restaurant, and he’s deserving of heading into the sunset.”
Muench has a message for anyone who decides to buy his baby.
“The ideal situation would be to turn it over to someone who wants to do this right and maintain it,” he said, without disclosing a price. “There’s a good customer base for a strip mall in an affluent area. If you do it right, you could make it work.”
Interest piqued? Text Wally at 305-283-2028. He’ll probably answer on the second ring, depending on the time of day.
More info: WagonsWestRestaurant.com
This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
