<p id=”par-1_87″>Each year, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/gilmore-girls/?swcfpc=1″><em>Gilmore Girls</em> </a>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. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gilmore-girls-scott-patterson-order-another-season.html/”>Luke’s Diner,</a> the eatery owned by Luke Danes, is a fan favorite. While <em>Gilmore Girls</em> 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. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-anna-nardini-revealed-when-luke-opened-luke-s-diner-nbsp”>Anna Nardini revealed when Luke opened Luke’s Diner </h2>
<p id=”par-2_67″>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. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-large” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1202″ height=”726″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=1024&h=618&strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore inside Luke’s Diner in ‘Gilmore Girls'” class=”wp-image-3648649″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg 1202w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=640&h=387 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=1024&h=618 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=768&h=464 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=579&h=350 579w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=280&h=169 280w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=200&h=121 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=839&h=507 839w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lukes-Diner-Gilmore-Girls.jpg?w=99&h=60 99w” sizes=”(max-width: 1202px) 100vw, 1202px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore | YouTube/Gilmore Girls</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_67″>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 <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gilmore-girls-did-anna-nardini-lie-to-luke-and-lorelai.html/”>Luke and Anna</a> 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. </p>
<p id=”par-4_56″>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. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-lorelai-and-luke-didn-t-meet-until-years-later-nbsp”>Lorelai and Luke didn’t meet until years later </h2>
<p id=”par-5_70″>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. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” width=”1200″ height=”800″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore and Scott Patterson as Luke Danes smiling, holding hands in ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life'” class=”wp-image-2717304″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?w=150&h=100 150w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?w=640&h=427 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?w=768&h=512 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?w=1024&h=683 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Gilmore-Girls-1.jpg?w=90&h=60 90w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore and Scott Patterson as Luke Danes | Saeed Adyani/Netflix</figcaption></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gilmore-girls-we-know-the-brand-of-coffee-lukes-diner-used.html/”>
‘Gilmore Girls’: We Know the Brand of Coffee Luke’s Diner Used </a>
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<p id=”par-6_103″>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 <em>Gilmore Girls</em> focuses on a small subset of Stars Hollow residents, the town isn’t actually that tiny. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gilmore-girls-do-you-know-how-many-people-lived-in-stars-hollow.html/”>More than 9,000 people</a> 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.</p>
<p id=”par-7_67″>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 <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gilmore-girls-star-scott-patterson-just-commemorated-luke-lorelais-anniversary.html/”>their on-screen anniversary,</a> but Patterson also has thoughts on where Lorelai and Luke would be today. According to him, they are 100% still married. </p>