The diner owner who briefly shelters Eleven in season 1 of "Stranger Things" is Benny Hammond. He owns and cooks at Benny's Burgers, a small Hawkins restaurant where Eleven goes after escaping Hawkins National Laboratory.
Benny finds Eleven stealing food from the diner and quickly realizes that she is frightened, hungry, and unable to explain herself. Rather than turning her away, he gives her food and clothing, then calls social services for help. The supposed social worker is actually Connie Frazier, a Hawkins Lab operative sent to recover Eleven. Connie kills Benny, making him one of the show's earliest civilian victims.
Benny's brief appearance establishes an important contrast: Eleven's first meaningful contact outside the laboratory is with an adult who treats her compassionately. His death also shows how far the laboratory will go to conceal its experiments. Viewers sometimes confuse Benny with Melvald's General Store owner Donald Melvald, but Melvald is Joyce Byers's employer, not the diner owner. Benny is also described as a friend of Jim Hopper.