West End Cafe Information

The West End Cafe was established on December 4 1980. It was originally located at the corner of Brookstown Ave. and W Fourth St. I purchased the Cafe from Jason and Mary Hanney who lent their name to it. Naturally I had to chose a new name for it and lacking in imagination I chose "WEST END CAFE". The concept has really not changed much over the years. The original menu consisted of sandwiches, salads, soups and of course our "world famous chili". Although the original chili recipe was given to me by Jason it evolved over time under my considerable culinary talent to truly deserve the current name "ROB'S WORLD FAMOUS CHILI" even if I haven't made a batch in over a year. The Cafe of old was very small with only 8 counter seat and 7 booths. The location was originally called "The Toddle House". It was open 24 hours a day 365 days a year from 1946 until the late 60's. They served a very basic menu consisting of burgers, sandwiches and breakfast all day. Customers still speak of their icebox pies. I purchased Jason and Mary's concept because it was a good one that I thought I could still improve on. They served good food in generous portions at a reasonable price. The service was quick and friendly served up by a staff that enjoyed their jobs even though it was very hectic at times. I was determined to continue this concept and still am. My effort to improve on their concept was to try to be a little more customer friendly. The menu that I inherited for example had written across the bottom NO SUBSTITUTIONS.