11/29/2021
I’m finally sitting down to write this, as it didn’t start to feel real to me until today.
If you didn't hear it through the grapevine yet---it is true, that this past Wednesday was our last day of operation here at The Metropolitan Cafe. This is not due to any health issue or injury, or anything forcing us to stop. It just seems that this is the right time to move on. 20 years in one place is a long time, not to mention operating that whole time in a high-traffic, volatile, rapidly changing spot.
It seems to me it was only yesterday that my Mom , Dad and I walked into the old Masonic Lodge / Western Union Bldg. at 2032 Main St. and met our long term landlord and new friend Ken Good. I, and probably you, will never meet a more helpful, giving, understanding, and honest businessman as Ken. We lost my father Pete the first year we were open, and it nearly took away my desire to continue on , and I know we never would have stayed here as long as we did if Ken hadn’t been here nearly the whole time we stayed. It’s been a TON of never-ending work over the last 2 decades, but I have to honestly say that I have loved nearly every day I spent down here. I know that I am going to go into some kind of culture shock now.
While most of you have to show up for work at your own jobs with a bunch of people you might consider knuckleheads, it felt unfair that I got to spend every Monday through Friday working alongside my talented and funny mother Christine, who quickly became famous for her incredible cooking and baking skills. I couldn’t ask for a bettor mentor, co-worker , and friend. However, in hindsight, I guess I never thought that maybe SHE considered herself as having to work with a knucklehead every day. LOL She’s happy and healthy by the way, hanging out on the farm about an hour out of town.
If you have been coming in to the Café for most of the years we were open, you know that my wife Stephani worked tirelessly alongside of me most of the time as well. Thank God we both have a massive sense of humor and rarely carried home those angry kitchen blow-ups that are common to the industry. I think my swear jar paid for at least 3 months worth of electric bills down here. LOL. Steph was a massive part of our efforts for most of the time we were in operation, but she was invaluable to the Café over the last 2 years especially.
If you have been coming in for more than a few years, you might have also noticed that nearly every one of my family members has worked here at one time or another. My daughter Emi grew up in here , literally, from the time she could walk. Most of you met her when she was a toddler and would scramble up into an empty chair, usually at a table where someone was dining alone and melt their hearts, If you were lucky, she would do an impromptu sketch of you and give it to you on the spot. She graduated to doing a little bit of nearly everything around here. My brother-in-law Tim helped me fix (repeatedly) nearly everything that broke down around here. My siblings and all of my nieces and nephews who worked here or just hung around, brought some kind of talent or personality that became part of the aura of the place , and it was always funny to watch them walk in here years after they last worked and have at least 20 people saying “hi!” to them. This place was like a giant family.
We had more than a few accolades thrown our way by different publications over the years, but my favorite sign of success was when customers would bring out of town family and
friends in to eat during the holidays or whenever they had the day off. Like my Papou Jimmy said about good reviews, “ They’re nice, but what you should care about is seeing the same faces coming back again and again. If you do, you’re doing it right”
I have to agree.
I’m going to miss working each day surrounded by family, but what’s going to truly get me , is not seeing all of my customers nearly every weekday like I do. We were not the busiest or highest volume place downtown, but I would put the quality and loyalty of my customers up against any other business in Dallas. This place was like a bar that didn’t serve alcohol. It seemed that nearly all of my customers knew each other, and why not? They were in line with each other most days.
I don’t feel like I’m losing customers. I feel like I’m losing about a thousand good friends. Let me just say that I truly appreciated, and always did my best to make sure that each and everyone of you were taken care of. I will miss all of you on a personal level more than as a customer.
I don’t know what’s next, but I know that I still love this business.
I’m working on bringing someone else in to take over the spot. It will be somewhat different, as the new owners are re-configuring floor plans and such.
So for one last time, let me say , Thanks for coming in.
See you later.
Mike
P.S. If there are any new plans or anything changes, I will post it on this page, so stay tuned.
