Day Trips

The masterpiece pie case

The City Cafe in Elgin has an artist for a pastry chef. That is not to say that the rest of the menu isn't delicious, but the pies are a work of art. Colorful and sculpted, a triangle of this masterpiece is a slice of heaven.

"We do a lot of meringues," says owner Jan Halladay. She calls them "mile-high meringues," a very fitting description. The 4-inch-deep pie topping looks like flames frozen in white goodness with a golden brown crown.

"It is very tricky working with egg whites," Halladay says. The secret wouldn't be a secret if she told me, but she did say that you have to know exactly when to stop beating the eggs so that the meringue is not too soft nor too hard. And as if that weren't hard enough, you have to cook the pies just the right amount of time to set the egg whites so they don't "weep" or aren't burnt.

It was through pastries that Halladay came to own the City Cafe. The native of the Chicago area joined the Red Lion Inn hotel chain while in college in Minnesota. Her last assignment with the national corporation was in Austin where she helped a friend start a pastry business. "I got a lot of experience working with her," she says.

In 1997, Halladay bought the cafe on Elgin's Main Street, and the area residents couldn't be happier. "I did all of the baking for the first two years," she says. Since then, she has trained Lucia Jimenez to create the coconut cream, cherry cheesecake, and apple masterpieces. The pecan pie is chock-full of nuts but like all of the City Cafe's creations, has a unique twist on a familiar flavor.

Pies may be a specialty, but Halladay says the restaurant is most famous for big portions, home cooking, and low prices. "We make food like my grandmother used to make," Halladay says of the menu that covers home-cooking fare from salads to chicken-fried steaks to enchiladas and veggie plates. The dumplings for the chicken and dumplings special are rolled out by hand, and the pot roast is slow-cooked, just like momma used to have time to do.

In a town best known for its sausage, the City Cafe has found its own niche serving fresh home cooking. The building has been a center of activity on Main Street since 1890. It has served as a bakery, drugstore, barbershop, and tavern before the name was attached in 1910. Over the years it gained a seedy reputation as more of a beer joint than cafe until it was remodeled in 1991 to its present grandeur.

Maybe grandeur is too strong of a word, but the rustic elegance of the two dining rooms lets the diner know that the focus is on the cooking. The tables are solid wood, conveying the family feel of the dining experience. This is where the locals come for breakfast, lunch, or coffee break and then return with their families for supper. "I'd say that at least 75 percent of our customers are repeat business," Halladay says.

One customer that keeps coming back for more is hall-of-fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. "He's one of our biggest fans," she says. Dan Rather has been in more than a few times, and with film crews working in the area, lots of movie people have stopped by to sample the menu or to try the Meyers sausage platter.

Halladay says that she doesn't miss the corporate world of the national hotel chain one bit. Its the people, she says, that make the difference in a small town, and she has given back to the community. Of the 39 employees at the City Cafe, most have been with her from the beginning. "Employers need to take care of their employees," she says, "and the employees will give so much back."

"Tell everybody that this business runs so well because it's run by a girl," says Stephanie Banuelos, the cashier at the front counter.

The City Cafe is in downtown Elgin just north of the railroad tracks. The cafe opens at 6am seven days a week and closes at 9pm except on Friday and Saturday when they lock the doors at 10pm. To order a pie for the holiday table, call 512/281-3663.

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