The downtown café is a true destination for many small Minnesota communities. A cup of coffee, homemade soup, and a hot breakfast served in a cozy place. You may be surrounded by familiar faces or friends you haven’t met yet.
So when Frazee’s historical Palace Café closed its doors earlier this year, many locals felt a genuine sense of loss. An iconic café in closes in our downtown? How could that happen?
Where there is a will, there’s a way, right?
David and Debbie Streiff took the challenge, stepped in, and today the Palace is back! The doors opened on October 6 of 2022, and the whole town came by that day to celebrate – or so it seemed to the Streiffs.
How did they end up resurrecting the Palace?
“We live just outside of Frazee,” Debbie said. “Everybody knew Mandy, the owner, was selling it. We were thinking, like, could we do that?”
David remembers hearing stories that “so-and-so was buying it” so they didn’t pursue it right away. But they eventually created a business plan and scheduled a meeting with the owners.
Debbie gave them the proposal, her vision of the diner, and shortly thereafter the Streiffs were given the opportunity to buy both the business and the building.
Sold!
Debbie and David give much credit to the former owners, whose concerns for what a thriving café can do for a small town outweighed some other considerations. “They care about Frazee,” Debbie said.
David concurred. “The four guys who owned it wanted someone to bring it back, to keep the restaurant going, and that was the reason we got it. They could have sold it numerous times, but the vision of the people looking to buy it was not what the gentlemen wanted.”
Talk about love for community and knowing what helps small towns thrive.
The Streiffs also have the chops to get the job done. David has worked in the food industry for the past 30-plus years, having worked his way up from his first job as a dishwasher to management a couple of years later. He managed restaurants – and cooked – in Detroit Lakes, Fargo, plus a chain on the east coast.
He’s in charge of the kitchen and welcomes customer input. “We want to get to know the business and the customers and see what they want,” David said. “Already in the last month, we’ve changed menus and we’re on our third hamburger bun. Like the first plate of French fries I put out, I found out it was not the right amount so we immediately upped it. Pancakes were changed because of customer comments.” That feedback is invaluable because, he says, others may think the same thing but not say anything.
Too Minnesota nice?
“What I’ve learned is what works in one place doesn’t work in another,” he said. “Every restaurant is different, has its own personality.”
Debbie works greeting customers, scheduling staff, and running the till. She also had the final say in giving the place a total refresh decorated with a sense of Frazee history. “I wanted a feeling of ‘welcome to my kitchen,’ my dining room,” Debbie said. “Come and sit down and make yourself at home.”
She said they are trying to make that atmosphere, with photos and memorabilia of Frazee’s history. “It’s like having pictures on the walls of your grandparents in your kitchen.”
“Yeah, we’re like family. Like one big, weird, dysfunctional family,” David jokes.
What about that café family? “We are so blessed to have this amazing staff,” Debbie said. “The town loves them and they’re a lot of fun so that’s a main reason a lot of people come in to see the original staff of Amanda, Kat and Delaney. They are truly amazing and dedicated. It’s a reason we are so successful off the bat.”
You can sit down and eat with your own family Tuesdays through Saturdays, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., and enjoy breakfast on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m..
Bon appetit!
