Yes, go to Dave's!

Would know those people anywhere......

Haven't been there for a while since the long (unrelated to Dave's) health recovery

Word has it that business for Dave's Restaurant isn't good. The long construction tie-up in the being-renovated old Clarke's building across from Dave's has driven away many of Dave's circling and frustrated customers.

Downtown Waukesha's historic & struggling attempts to "get it right" may claim a 105 year old institution, hopefully not fitting a part of some investors' plans.

The SR News joins in support of Dave's ahead of any new-fangled joint that may come along.

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(from the Freeman:

After 105 Years, Dave's Is Still Cooking

Restaurant ‘just part of downtown’

Dave’s restaurant manager Pam Sefton, left, and owner Jose Suarez have helped the establishment reach its 105th anniversary this year.

Former owner Peter Hronis said Dave’s existed as a bar prior to its conversion into a restaurant.

By SHELLY JANKE Freeman Staff (Shelly Janke can be reached at sjanke@conleynet.com)

WAUKESHA – Maybe it’s the mini boxes of cereal available for breakfast, or how longtime waitress Pam Sefton never lets a cup of coffee go unfilled and always knows which customers will want extra butter with their toast. To repeat customer Al Roberts, the key to Dave’s Restaurant’s longevity is simply that it’s a friendly place to get “great service and excellent food at a great price.” “The first thing I hear when I walk in the door is, ‘The usual, Al?’” Roberts said. Harley-Davidson enthusiasts will be in good company next week, as community favorite Dave’s Restaurant is also celebrating the establishment’s 105th anniversary this summer.

Owner Jose Suarez, who took over the restaurant one year ago after he spent about 15 years cooking behind the counter, is excited to see a business boost when thousands of riders descend on Waukesha next week. Lately, business is down about 50 percent because customers, some of which are disabled, can’t find parking in the near vicinity. Suarez said renovations at the Clarke Hotel have monopolized street parking and left few spots available for customers. “Customers say to me that they don’t come here much because they make circles around and can’t park,” Suarez said.

He thinks business will pick up once the construction ends, however. Peter Hronis, who owned Dave’s Restaurant from 1983 until 2007 and now owns and operates Spring City Restaurant, 2820 N. Grandview Blvd., said the establishment has existed in the form of either a restaurant or a bar throughout its history, and took the Dave’s name in 1969. Hronis said the approximately 55-seat restaurant on West Broadway is successful because customers don’t want to wait long for a hardy breakfast.

“It has a very fast, hot breakfast,” he said. “When they see the bacon sizzling, in a smaller place, you’re sitting behind the counter and you got it in two seconds. From 150 feet away, it tends to get cold.”

Hronis said that like Suarez, he went through a tough time in the early 1980s , when city street improvements and work on a new sewer system kept customers away for six months. “Another month and I would have probably never made it,” he said. Roberts doesn’t mind parking in the distance, especially after his usual two eggs over medium with toast and extra butter, which he enjoys at Dave’s about three times a week. “The walk is good because then I can walk the breakfast off,” he said.

Eric Evans, who is originally from Waukesha and now lives in Washington, D.C., is in town to attend next week’s Harley-Davidson celebration. He stopped by Dave’s for a late-morning breakfast Thursday with his family. “It’s been here a while, so it’s just part of downtown,” Evans said.

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Let's get behind Dave's. We're going back down there again.

In by-gone days when we would travel through foreign towns we would always look for the intimate downtown cafes to catch a good breakfast and drink in some of the true local atmosphere.

Not mcdonalds, not black swannery; places like Dave's Restaurant.