Luke’s Diner Came to Detroit and ‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans Went Nuts

Brenna Houck is a Cities Manager for the Eater network. She previously edited Eater Detroit and reported for Eater. You can follow her on the internet at @brennahouck.

By now, if you've never seen an episode of Gilmore Girls, you've probably caught on to Netflix's promotional Luke's Diner takeovers that are happening at 200 cafes across the country. It's a trending topic on Twitter and Facebook. Fans are simply freaking out over free coffee and Stars Hollow nostalgia.

Here in Detroit the response was no different. When we first reported Avalon International Breads' impending Luke's Detroit pop-up last week the reaction was huge (even Caesar weighed-in). As it turned out, Avalon was not the only shop in on the Gilmore action. Always Brewing Detroit, Urban Bean Co., and Chazzano Coffee in Ferndale were also in on the anniversary celebration.

According to staff working the counters at Avalon today, people started camping out on the sidewalk outside the shop in the wee hours of the morning and by 7:30 a.m. the line wrapped clear around the block onto Cass Avenue. Some patrons waited around two hours for their caffeine. The shop itself was outfitted with a cardboard Luke's Diner sign and the mandatory "No Cellphones" posters. Netflix's supplied free cups began to run out around 9:30 a.m. though there were plenty of blue and yellow Luke's coffee sleeves leftover.

Avalon added it's own touches too. Many of the employees donned hats and wore Luke's signature plaid shirts underneath their branded aprons. The bakery also created special Gilmore-inspired specials including a "You Look Like You Need a Pie" pie and coffee combo and a "Danish Day" option featuring a cherry cream cheese danish and a coffee.

The cups themselves sported Snapchat codes and coffee-related Gilmore quotes including some from the forthcoming revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, slated for release on November 25. Couldn't spend two hours on a work day waiting in line for coffee? Scope what went down at ~~Avalon~~ Luke's via the photos below.