Lydia Miftari said her years growing up in her father’s restaurants piqued her interest for the food industry early on. Eddie’s Diner in Plano now marks her fourth venture, and the business continues to be a family affair. “My dad always had family-styled restaurants, and I started working when I was about 10,” Lydia said. Lydia runs the restaurant with her husband, Bekim Miftari, and their son, Eddie, who is the namesake of the diner. The Miftaris opened their first restaurant in a community west of Chicago. After moving around in Illinois and Missouri, they relocated to Frisco to be closer to Lydia’s brother, who owns the Frisco Diner. They opened Eddie’s Diner at the beginning of 2018. Over her years of experience, Lydia said she has learned customers respond best to friendly, family-oriented dining atmospheres. “You meet a lot of neat people and become part of their family,” she said. “They invite you to weddings and graduations and baptisms, and next thing you know, they are off and having their own families.” Lydia chose to keep Eddie’s Diner open only during breakfast and lunch hours. The time in the evenings has freed her to attend more of her son’s sporting events during his senior year of high school. “I really wanted to spend some time with him,” Lydia said. “He played football all through high school. I wanted to be sure I didn’t miss anything, and I did not miss anything.” Lydia said she was surprised to find so many of her Plano customers have also relocated from different states. “It shocks me that there’s not a lot of Texans in this area,” Lydia said. “With that being said, it’s really cool when I have someone that’s from the Midwest or the East Coast. … It’s kind of like you have an automatic bond.” And those types of interactions are what makes running a restaurant worth it for Lydia. “If you don’t like people, you shouldn’t own a restaurant,” she said. Eddie's Diner 4709 W. Parker Road, Ste. 425, Plano 469-931-2353 www.facebook.com/EddiesDinerPlano Hours: 7 a.m-2:30 p.m. daily