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Luke Danes opened his diner sometime in 1992, years before he met Lorelai Gilmore. Luke never mentioned when he opened the business, but his hated ex-girlfriend did.

Published on April 6, 2024

Each year, Gilmore Girls fans return to the series for a rewatch. There is something comforting about the series. The town of Stars Hollow, in particular, is beloved by fans. The tiny hamlet has a lot of wonderful attributes, but its quaint and quirky storefronts make it feel extremely special. Luke’s Diner, the eatery owned by Luke Danes, is a fan favorite. While Gilmore Girls viewers learned plenty about Luke and his diner over the years, he never actually mentions when he opened the business. His ex-girlfriend kind of did, though. 

Anna Nardini revealed when Luke opened Luke’s Diner 

It might have felt like Luke’s Diner was a part of Stars Hollow from the very beginning, but the beloved eatery wasn’t really that old in the grand scheme of things. Luke Danes never mentioned the date he opened the diner, but a former flame did. Anna Nardini, the woman Luke dated long before he laid eyes on Lorelai Gilmore, was there when he started it all. 

In a season 6 episode, Anna, who Luke only reconnected with when he learned he had fathered her daughter, revealed that she was there when Luke opened his diner. While Luke and Anna had a monogamous relationship, they were not together for a long period of time. Anna and Luke had broken up by the time Anna learned she was pregnant. She never bothered to tell Luke. 

Since Anna and Luke’s daughter was 12 years old when she went searching for her biological father, you can surmise that Luke’s Diner had been open for around 13 years as of 2005. Since April was born in 1993, we can surmise Luke opened the diner in 1992, about five years before he met Lorelai Gilmore. 

Lorelai and Luke didn’t meet until years later 

While Luke and Lorelai were already close friends when fans first met them, the duo weren’t well-acquainted with each other during Lorelai’s early years in Stars Hollow. According to a season 5 episode, Luke and Lorelai met eight years before their first date. Lorelai had already been living in Stars Hollow for more than a decade at that point. Luke, born and raised in the Connecticut Hamlet, had never left. 

So, how is it that the pair never crossed paths before that fateful day Lorelai went looking for coffee? While the revelation stymies many Gilmore Girls fans, it’s rather believable. While Gilmore Girls focuses on a small subset of Stars Hollow residents, the town isn’t actually that tiny. More than 9,000 people call Stars Hollow home. Since Lorelai spent the years before she bought her house at the Independence Inn on the outskirts of town, it’s believable that she wouldn’t have happened into the diner until she had to figure out how to feed her child and herself without Sookie St. James in the kitchen.

They might not have met right away, but they did meet and eventually fell in love. According to Scott Patterson, the actor who played Luke Danes, their love affair is still going strong. Not only did he shout out his on-screen wife for their on-screen anniversary, but Patterson also has thoughts on where Lorelai and Luke would be today. According to him, they are 100% still married. 

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