It seemed like such a good idea in 1982, when then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer implored patriotic Baltimoreans to bring back the star of Barry Levinson’s film “Diner.”

The star, of course, was the former Westbury Grill, a chrome-clad roadside diner which had been trucked down from Long Island and used for Levinson’s celebrated movie about five guys growing up in 1950s Baltimore.

WBAL Radio granted Schaefer’s wish and purchased the diner from Paramount Pictures. Over the next two years, local businesses and citizens donated nearly $1 million in services, equipment and hard cash to renovate the building.

Christened The Kids’ Diner (then changed to Hollywood Diner), the restaurant was set up as a city-run training center for entry-level restaurant jobs.

But what should have been a triumphal Hollywood ending turned sour when Schaefer, the first customer, said of his meal, “It’s good, but it’s not great.”

Ever since, the city has been looking to find a winning formula for the diminutive diner tucked between Saratoga Street and the thick columns of the elevated Jones Falls Expressway.

Its latest attempt was halted, at least temporarily, when the Board of Estimates today deferred approval of the diner’s latest proposed tenant.

The five-member board did not explain its action, but it was apparent from the panel’s pre-hearing that the mayor’s and city council president’s offices did not know about the arrangement and wanted more information.

Vacant Since March

The diner has been unused since March (and erratically operated before then) when the city’s real estate department kicked out the last tenant, the Chesapeake Center for Youth Development and operator Cheryl Townsend, in part because they were not fulfilling the mission of training enough youth for restaurant jobs.

Townsend was the last of many people who tried to make a go of the restaurant using different themes and food items, but who failed in part because its location made it hard to attract nighttime customers.

(It also didn’t help that Schaefer, an enthusiast of cheap eats, once complained that – at $1.95 for a grilled cheese sandwich – Hollywood’s prices were outlandish.)

Last March, the real estate department placed management of the diner out for private proposals and received two. The one selected came from Thomasino’s Pizza, Subs and Pasta LLC, owned by Richard T. White Jr., whose earlier carry-out shop on Park Heights Avenue had gone out of business.

The city did not release the name of the other bidder, saying the process was confidential until a tenant was selected.

Under the proposal deferred by the board, White’s company would lease the 852-sq.-foot diner for $710 a month and be responsible for operating “a specialized educational program for students with an emphasis on food services, business and marketing.”

White could not be reached for comment today. He earlier told the city he hoped to have the diner up and running by the week after Labor Day, the same week that the Board of Estimates has now rescheduled its decision on the project.