Neighborhood Cafe Serves up Capital View!
Capital View Cafe & Catering has been a family-owned Mexican-American breakfast restaurant located on the Westside of St Paul since 1993. In 2018 three generations of women bought the cafe, Danielle, Kathy, and Savannah. Kathy raised her family on the Westside and recently retired from 30 years in banking. Kathy has two kids, six grandkids, and five great-grandchildren. Their grandkids and cousins make the cafe home and are always helping out and entertaining customers. Everyone working at the restaurant is family, including the kitchen crew, who have become part of the family. Danielle, Kathy’s daughter, has worked in restaurants and bars for years. She started working as an eight-year-old mopping and cleaning floors at the Bauer Bros Salvage, her uncle, and grandpa’s business. At ten years old, Danielle cooked at the Busy B Cafe, her great-uncle’s cafe. She served/managed at the Coffee Cup on Rice St for 25 years. Owning small businesses is just the lifestyle the family is used to. Her daughter, Savannah, quickly took the incentive to adapt to her role serving at the cafe. Working together in business with family can sometimes be challenging, but they find a way to make it fun.
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The women are no strangers to adversity. Within the first 6 weeks of owning the business, the basement flooded, and a corner of the building fell in from torrential rains. The High Bridge was closed for two years and made it difficult for customers coming from downtown to get to the cafe. When the High Bridge opened in July 2018, they joined WSCO to host the bridge re-opening celebration! A year after, the pandemic halted business, and it has been a struggle to get customers back into the cafe. Most recently, they were robbed with minor damage and left with feelings of violation. After all this, they are optimistic and hopeful for the future. They adore their regular customers, and the cafe feels like an extension of their home to many people. One customer, XYZ, comes into the cafe twice a day. He sits in the same chair each time, orders breakfast, and swings in again after lunch for some pie. The most popular meal on the menu is the Cajun breakfast, followed by the Churro waffles.
The women all agreed the customers make the best part of the cafe. The walls are decorated with paintings of regular customers and past staff. Painted by a retired priest known as “McDonald.” A new local artist and regular customer, Maxine, keeps the tradition going with a unique portrait of Kathy.
Visit the Capital View Cafe & Catering a staple in Westside for almost 30 years. Open Tuesday – Sunday from 8:00 AM -1:00 PM. Be on the lookout for an occasional Lebanese dinner. In addition to catering for weddings and events, they have a room available to rent for private parties. Their hopes are to increase business and get back to where it used to be and can now be found on Door Dash. They are grateful for all their loyal customers.
If you enjoyed learning about Capital View Cafe, check out these other Westside Interviews.
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