A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name!

One of the real unique qualities about this Grand Lake we know and love are the characters we run across that make it just that. Not all dreams are embedded in becoming a millionaire, selling high end real estate or the luxury boats we find on Grand Lake. Many of these characters I find so fascinating are small business operators who cherish their dreams just as much as the big dogs. And that renders the old marketing cliché from the Big Dog brand of clothes, “If you can’t run with big dogs, stay on the porch,” obsolete.

Dreams are dreams, long hours are long hours and commitment is commitment and a better mouse trap, as they say, is just that. The Celebrity Café, located in Langley near the second junction of highways 82 & 28, where you turn to head across the Pensacola Dam and to Disney, is a dream in progress. A place where most of the clientele are called by their first names.

The Celebrity Café adventure, and it is just that, is a dream being nurtured by the Harvey family, who hail from nearby Spavinaw, by way of California when the patriarch of the family retired and relocated here. The ring leader of this family affair is Amanda, a vertically challenged bubbly blond filled with enthusiasm and energy, who never met a stranger and loves people.

Amanda is joined by her brother James and sister-in-law Marlene. In addition to the Harveys, the team includes Lou, who does just about everything, Samantha, who waits tables, Sandy, who handles the drive thru window and Buck, who does the cooking.

The backbone of the business is provide by James who has a long history baking pastries of all types including donuts, sweet rolls and a lot more, but his sausage rolls and biscuits are the house specialty and are prepared daily. And if you’re not there by ten or so to get yours, just forget about it. A variety of traditional breakfast items are on the menu as well. My personal choice is the “Build your own Omelets” option. From the beginning, their primary focus has been catering to the breakfast crowd opening at the crack of dawn at 5:00 a.m. and closing promptly at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday. But they now have ventured into providing lunch, extending their hours till 2:00 p.m.featuring Philly Steak and Chicken sandwiches along with the usual burgers and side dishes of potato and macaroni salad.

Although the food is very good, the real stars of this joint are the people. So just why were they motivated to start a small restaurant with a seating capacity of a mere twenty and possibly twelve more if you count the small patio seating outsie? Amanda, with a twinkle in her eye and says, “We wanted to provide the locals in the community an affordable place to eat and it’s really very interesting. You meet all different kinds of people and they all have a story.” She added, “We have regulars who show up here every day for breakfast like Willie, who we surprised with a little birthday party to celebrate turning 93 last week and Tony Berend, who we call splits. It’s fun.” Before I could inquire as to how Berend, a welder, got the nickname of slits, she quickly explained how he had done the splits the first he came in the restaurant and casually asked, “Ever see a guy my age do that?” Splits has stuck ever since.

Unique it is and you’ll probably come away with a story. We know we did and those orders can be called in to 782-2288.

See Ya’ Around the Pond!