What are the odds? The answer is approximately 1 in 2 million. The Old South Diner might be the luckiest place in the state, if not the country. In just two years, five people have won at least $1million on lottery tickets purchased at the diner. “It’s insane,” said Sean Durnin, the owner of Sushi Sean 11:11 Market & Bistro, who hit the $1 million jackpot on a ticket from the Old South Diner in August 2024. “I start to feel sorry for whoever wins next. They’re going to get blasted with messages.”

The hot streak on Old South Road started in March 2024, when Boston resident Jose Fontanez stopped by the shop while visiting his girlfriend on the island. He won $1 million on a $10 scratch ticket, beating odds of 1 in over 2 million. He said he would put the prize money down on a house. Less than three months later, Hyannis resident Garen Downie became the second winner at Old South, this time for $2 million on the Massachusetts State Lottery’s “Lifetime Millions” game, a $50scratch ticket. Then in August 2024—just two months after Downie won big—lightning struck a third time when Durnin won $1 million on a $20 ticket he bought from where else but the Old South Diner.

And then this March, it happened twice, with house cleaning business owner Yancy Contreras Menjivar claiming a $2 million jackpot on the state’s new “$2,000,000 Stacked” instant ticket game, and another $2 million Powerball ticket sold at the diner—claimed by island resident Mary Haley two days later. “It’s become a punchline at the Old South Diner,” Durnin said. “Before it was known as a place to get quick Chinese food, now it’s a cosigner for my house. Everybody’s thinking their chances are better to win there than anywhere else.”

That may well be true, though there has been a sixth million-dollar winner on Nantucket at a different location. Last December, Julio Hidalgo Perez won $1 million on a $50 lottery ticket he purchased at Mid Island Fuel on Sparks Avenue. According to Rachel Guerra, deputy director of communications for the Massachusetts State Lottery, the Old South Diner has consistently been among the top 10% of shops across the state in recent years. Only a few other locations in the state have had the luck the Old South Diner has had, including Silk’s Variety in Sheffield (three $1 million jackpots in2024), Pride Station in East Longmeadow (two in2024) and Ted’s Stateline Mobil in Methuen (three in 2022). For each million-dollar ticket sold, stores in the state receive a $10,000 bonus. That brings the Old South Diner’s windfall to $50,000.

Unsurprisingly, the Old South Diner leads all Nantucket shops in lottery tickets sold by dollar figure. In 2024, its net sales topped $2.7 million, and grew to $3.7 million last year. That means that last year, the Old South Diner sold $11,000 worth of lottery tickets per day. The odds of one establishment in the state selling five million-dollar tickets is still astronomical. The Nantucket Current estimates those odds come out to roughly .005%.

Durnin, who put his winnings in an account for his son’s education, said he didn’t typically play the lottery before his winning ticket in 2024. He only picked up a lottery ticket that day after scrambling to find the empty car seat that fell out of the back of his truck while he was delivering food. Durnin thought he struck gold when he found the car seat near the Old South Diner. Then came the $1 million in the scratch ticket. “It’s so weird looking back on it,” he said. “I’ll buy tickets now and know this will never happen again. One out of a million? I have better chances of getting struck by lightning or getting bit by a shark on the beach.”