For those who’ve been hankerin’ for a plate of buttery hash browns, over-easy eggs and crisp bacon served up style your hunger pangs will be sated soon.
“We now have a verbal agreement and working on getting the lease signed. We should be in possession next week to begin the renovations,” says .
Dancer has been diligently trying to sign a lease since shortly after .
A tangled “mess” of legalities held up Dancer who says the next challenge will be to get all the proper permits and county health department concerns addressed.
Planned renovations include new carpet, booths, paint and correcting the handicap access, Dancer says.
“Aesthetically, it will have a facelift, with a renewed atmosphere of a clean venue, great food, friendly staff and pleasant neighborhood hangout,” he says.
All the same staff will return along with the same menu, plus a few new items.
“The menu will remain the same with a cast of new ongoing daily specials to introduce new and experimental dishes. Prices will not change at this time,” he says.
Bobbi’s Coffee Shop, an icon to some in the community, was closed for non-payment of rent by owner Mary Miljarak who owed more than $56,000 in back rent. Miljarak bought the business in 2006 from Sally Carpenter who bought it in 1995 from the original owner, Bobbi Thorne.
Upset by how the business that carries her name had deteriorated over the last couple of years, . Thorne feels the downturn in cleanliness and food quality under Miljarak’s management sullied the sterling reputation she built.
Thorne is also concerned that Dancer will not return the diner to its glory days.
But there are those in the community who say the name Bobbi’s is a fixture and they have only fond memories of delicious food, eat-off-the-floor-clean shop, friendly service, and of the original Bobbi herself.
Everyone will call it Bobbi's and it will sound the same, but Dancer is renaming the diner Bobbie's Cafe.
Dancer, who will run the shop with his mother’s help vows to return Bobbi’s—soon to be Bobbie's—to the same level as he remembers when he ate at the diner when Thorne ran it.
“My mom and I are very excited to take the next step to bring Bobbi's back to the neighborhood. Bobbi's will be better than ever,” he says.
Dancer’s best guess at an re-opening date is Aug. 1.
