Hollywood Diner Is Back Open & Offering More Than Food

BALTIMORE (WJZ) --  A Baltimore and Hollywood legend is back.

As Mike Schuh reports, the Hollywood Diner is once again offering more than just food.

Meet Rev. Richard White. Coming up, he says he was a Park Heights hustler and had he not changed his life, he'd be dead or behind bars.

"No, I will not fail because there are people depending on me," he said.

People like high school dropout Charles Perlie.  He's seen what has happened to his friends. He says the easy path would have been drugs, violence or prison.

So, in the shadow of City Hall, a diner owned by City Hall is a place where your job -- humble as it may be -- is the training you need to stay out of trouble.

It's a place White reopened after City Hall agreed he's the kind of leader kids work for to learn a trade and to build an honest life.

"The things that are going to make an impact is to where they can relate to someone that has been through what they are going through and has faced what they're about to face," said White.

A fictional diner made famous by a Baltimore icon is again having a real impact on those who need it most.

"But if you make the right decision, if you do the right things, you will benefit in the end," said White.

The diner is open from 7 until 3 p.m. except for Saturday.