In the 1930’s and ’40s, Walter J. “Bill” Moore operated Moore’s Restaurant chain in Reading. He opened the first location in 1937 at the present site of Reading’s post office. The post office was constructed only two years later in 1939, in which he moved to 421 Penn Street.
In addition to the 421 Penn Street location, Moore also opened four more locations on South 6th Street near Cherry Street, on Philadelphia Pike in West Reading, and at 9th and Penn Street.
The 421 Penn Street location closed in 1955. All of the other downtown locations became casualties of urban renewal in the late 1960s and were razed. In 1956 Moore expanded once more and opened Moore’s Restaurant on the corner of Lancaster Avenue and Route 10 in Reading’s 18th ward.
Moore owned and operated the restaurant until his death in 1984, in which Philip Row took over and the restaurant became a Dempsey’s. In 1990, the most recent operator Elsayed Elmarzouky purchased the restaurant and renamed it Queen City Diner. He named the diner Queen City because he used to work at a diner of the same name in New York, where he met his wife.
Queen City closed during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. The building is still vacant although renovations have been completed, including the dismantling of the cupola pictured above and a repaint of the exterior. It has been rumored that a marijuana dispensary will eventually occupy the structure, but that has not yet come to fruition.
Sources: Diners of Pennsylvania, Reading Eagle
![Moore's Diner as it sat at 421 Penn Street in Reading. Moore's was first established at 5th & Court in 1937 by Walter J. Moore. He eventually opened four other diner locations downtown, and a restaurant on the corner of Lancaster Ave and Morgantown Road, which later became Queen City Diner. [colorized]](https://scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t39.30808-6/439342573_469943478696893_6557708698437293941_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=Fh5icujveaUAb6F11ZK&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfCW0z-DoIyHokDb-InJ1RUupYrFthdiSp9Mb64qpCC_Dw&oe=662FD418)
Article in Reading Times on Oct 21, 1938 regarding Walter J Moore’s dining car, built in two sections, was rolled from 25 N Fifth St, site of proposed new Reading Post Office, to Barbey Real Estate Company lot on the north side of Penn Street, a short distance east of Fourth.
thanks Bonnie, I’ll look that article up, sounds super interesting!
Can’t forget Fegley’s in Mt Penn
I am getting too old, and my memory is failing, but at the Moore’s located at Route 10 and Business Route 222, wasn’t there is sign on the restaurant that said, “It’s the strawberry pie.”
Yes there was! I lived up the road next to the Little Brown Jug. Is that still there?
Strawberry pie went there frpm Hazleton just for that pie