In the past few weeks, residents driving down Opelika Road may have noticed a gleaming building just east of the intersection at University Boulevard.

The building, recently remodeled with a shining silver exterior, is the new home of the Auburn Diner.

Dr. Michael Thompson, a retired professor originally from New Mexico, officially opened the Auburn Diner Labor Day weekend.

Thompson, who taught college for 25 years, said his family has been in the restaurant business “for ever, and ever, and ever.”

“My daughter and I decided that we just wanted to open a restaurant in her grandfather’s, my father’s, memory,” Thompson said.

The menu offers a wide variety of food that ranges from Belgian waffles and Greek gyros to chicken wings and an Angus Rib Eye.

One unique item on the menu is an item called disco fries. The concoction is nothing but steak fries sitting in gravy covered with cheese.

“The whole concept behind a diner is that you have lots and lots of options,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, who worked with a group of Greek diners in Atlanta, diners were originally a Greek invention.

Thompson said in the 1850s, Greek immigrants in New York City lived in tenement apartments, and a lot of them didn’t have any cooking facilities. So, Greeks would open a restaurant and all the workers would come and eat every night.

“So they had to have everything,” Thompson said. “They had to have breakfast and dinner ... and that’s where the whole concept of a diner came from.”

The prices of an entree ranges from spaghetti for $7.95 to a 16-ounce steak for $18.95.

A display of different cakes and Greek desserts greets customers as they walk through the door. From New York Black-Out to classic carrot cake, each serving is priced at $6.95.

The Auburn Diner also offers a weekly special. On Friday and Saturday night from midnight to 6 a.m., two can eat for the price of one.

The Auburn Diner is open Sunday through Thursday 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 24 hours.

For more information, visit auburndiner.com.