SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
In November, the 3rd Street Cafe will mark its first year of business. It’s been a godsend to people working downtown who want a place to grab breakfast, and a convenience for people who like to meet for lunch or coffee downtown.
The cafe is in the location occupied, in pre-flood days, by the Dacotah, which had been a gathering place. Laurie Bergman, who owns and operates the 3rd Street Cafe, is excited about the way her business slowly is building.
Before she went full-time into the cafe business, she had worked 10 years as a car saleswoman. She knows it will take time and effort to keep building on volume. She offers breakfast specials between 7 and 9 A.M. during the week. She gives one free lunch a week in a drawing from business cards left by customers.
Improvements have been slow and steady. When it opened, for instance, Laurie had a friend use water paint to put the name of the cafe on the window, and it kept washing or fading off. Now, there is a permanent painting on the window and on the door. When it opened, there were wooden booths and tables. Now, there is a second row of booths that are soft and comfortable. Now, the tables have real cloths on them. There is a valance across the bottom of the front window. It has taken on the look of a place where you can find home cooking.
When I went in recently around noon, I ordered two scrambled eggs and an English muffin. The waitress said, “Sorry, we don’t serve breakfast after eleven.”
“OK,” I said. “I’ll have a cup of chicken dumpling soup and a half of a ham on rye sandwich” ($3.79). This actually was a better choice, anyway. The sandwich was small, but great. So was the spear of dill pickle that came with it. The chicken dumpling soup was Grade A, except that it was not hot enough. I found out later I really could have had breakfast. The waitress was new and didn’t know.
I stopped in again for breakfast on my way to the Farmers Market on a Saturday. I knew 3rd Street Cafe serves breakfast until 2 P.M. on weekends. So I ordered two scrambled eggs, sausage and an English muffin. The waitress said, “Actually, we are out of English muffins.” I said, “Fine. I will have wheat toast.” The breakfast was good.
The cafe bakes its own pastries, and is proud of its pie, made by Laurie’s mother, Marlene Hanson. The lemon pie, though, is a specialty prepared by Jenny Brandon of the waitstaff. Laurie also is enlisting her father, Duane Hanson, for soup making. With her brother and sister, Rick and Becky Hanson, Laurie has operated the Kegs Drive-In for the past four years.
Lunch or “dinner” specials are featured on weekdays in 3rd Street Cafe. Recent offerings have been hamburger macaroni hotdish with Jell-O and a roll ($4.89) and roast pork with applesauce and mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable and roll ($6.49). With cooler weather, chili will be offered every day.
Dinner choices include chicken, walleye, shrimp, hamburger steak, liver and onions and chicken strips. Prices range from $6.19 to $6.49. And there are burgers and sandwiches.
Pluses include nice-quality napkins, nice table settings with underlining plates, and generous servings of vegetables and coleslaw. There are very nice large salt and pepper shakers made of glass with chrome tops. Service is not swift, but then, this is not fast food. Sometimes, food listed on the menu is not available.
3rd Street Cafe closed and was replaced by an Italian restaurant, Bella Vino.