The Nest was a roadside diner on Durban’s North Beach, along with its neighbor The Cuban Hat
It was a popular hangout from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. It was located on the Lower Marine Parade, and like many diners, it was a meeting place for young people after movies or as bars along the Golden Mile closed for the night
History of
The Nest
- A drive-in locale: The Nest was a classic drive-in establishment, where people could get refreshments served on trays hung on their car windows.
- Iconic menu items: Patrons fondly remember menu items such as pies with curry gravy and double-thick milkshakes.
- Demolition: The restaurant was demolished around 1975 to make way for beachfront redevelopment.
- Site successor: The restaurant Joe Kool’s on North Beach is now in the location where The Nest once stood.
better known as the greasy spoon
“I woke up smelling the vinigar on the heavily salted chips we would buy from the Nest, en route to the Kennilworth entertainment building. Big fat square soggy chips they were, in a wax paper packet, with the fattests ones in the middle. Delicious.
I remember pulling up outside the Cuban Hat and the tray being attached to the car window. After giving the order, the waiters would repeat it back to you in their unique chant. The same chant would be sung if you gave the order at the actual counter of the Cuban Hat to the guy at the back doing the cooking. He had a hair lip.
‘One pie curry gravy with chips
One toasted chicken mayonase
One Strawberry milkshake, one coke – tanks ser.’
Mr Scordis was the owner of the hat in the late 1960’s. I recall his house in Durban North because his wife was strangled during a break-in. My mother drove me past it. It was on the way to the old Umgeni bridge.”