Gilmore Girls fans flock to Luke's Diner at Holy Grain Coffee

STARS HOLLOW  Sarah Sandel and Erin Warren had Wednesday-morning plans to meet for a coffee. 

But the night before the date, they heard about Luke’s Diner. 

In anticipation of the Netflix revival of the TV show “Gilmore Girls,” Netflix hosted “Luke’s Diner” experiences Oct. 5 at more than 200 coffee shops around the country. Locally, Holy Grain Coffee in Dr. Phillips transformed into the show’s famous eatery for the morning. 

In the light of the news, Warren, a Windermere resident, donned her Yale T-shirt, and, like many local “Gilmore Girls” fans, switched her coffee date with Sandel to Luke’s. 

They weren’t the only ones. Hundreds of “Gilmore Girls” fans flocked to Holy Grain Coffee Shop Wednesday morning, some waiting nearly two hours to even get inside for a free cup of Luke’s Coffee. 

“I didn’t expect it to be this big,” Warren said. “I think someone at Netflix is getting a raise today.” 

In the show “Gilmore Girls,” Luke Danes, one of the main characters, owns the local diner that appears in nearly every episode. Luke doesn’t allow cell phones in his diner, a request that was posted to the wall of Holy Grain Coffee — and broken by nearly every patron, just as character Lorelai would have done. 

“It’s one of those perky little fandom things that people have going on, and I like to be a part of it,” said Sandel, a MetroWest resident. 

The show’s strong emphasis on family relationships — good or bad — stuck out to the people who attended the event. Many people enjoy the strong mother-daughter relationship between main characters Rory and Lorelai. 

“That’s just a great mom-daughter relationship that everyone should have,” said Kristyn Shannon, who went with friends. 

Others recalled enjoying the show with family. 

“My sister turned me on to it, and I’m really close with my sister,” said Margo Eagon, who enjoyed coffee by herself after friends had to leave for work. “But I’m really close with my mom, too, so when I watch it with her, it’s like watching a show about us. It’s a very family-oriented show. It just makes you feel good about whether you get along with your parents or you don’t. There’s always something to relate to. … Even though the relationship between the mother and daughter is really good, the relationship between the mother and the grandmother is not good.”

The show revives on Netflix starting Nov. 25, more than nine years after the last episode aired in 2007. The Luke’s Diner event took place Oct. 5, the 16th anniversary of the day the show first aired. 

Many fans are excited about the revival — so excited that waiting for two hours to get into Luke’s Diner was completely worth it. 

“I owe this to my middle-school self,” said Justine Kaminsky, who attends the Disney College Program and watched the show growing up. 

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].