By Roger Anderson
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, October 22, 2007 12:00 am
Sunday, Monday, Sante Fe.
Tuesday, Wednesday, freshly made.
Thursday, Friday tastes gourmet.
With 11 hand-pattied, black Angus beef burgers on the menu, it's hard to imagine a day that isn't happy at the Douglas Avenue Diner.
While the Sante Fe ($6.99) is topped with grilled peppers, onions, pico de gallo, cheese and chipotle mayo, the Chili Burger ($6.79) features homemade chili, haystack onions and cheddar cheese as toppers.
"A lot of love goes into that hamburger," co-owner Fran Tohovitis said. "When you go to the franchise and eat it, there's no love that goes into that hamburger."
Tohovitis, along with husband Tom, opened the Douglas Avenue Diner, located a few doors down from the Pick 'n Save in the Greentree Shopping Center just north of 4 Mile Road, in March. In the six months since, the diner has become a northside staple.
"It's the only place like this on the north side of town," Don Allen of Wind Point said. "Good food, good service; the owner is almost always here; really nice and friendly staff. The food is absolutely fantastic."
While the ambiance of the diner is often what first attracts customers to the restaurant, it's the food and "family" that keep them coming back.
"Here, we know everybody by name, we know their families, they know our servers. It's more homey," Fran said. "I know (customer's) names by the first time … they like that and they like to be treated special. There's a lot of people that have no families, they come here and we're their families."
Designed to mimic a 1950s or '60s diner, the solid red seating and checkered flag-patterned flooring stand out like a '69 Cadillac Deville convertible parked in front of your house. The walls are adorned with memorabilia from a half-century ago and while the satellite radio is new, the songs it is playing are anything but.
"You have the older people who come in and bring their grandchildren to see how things were at their time," Fran said as she sat down to enjoy a cheeseburger herself.
Opening every day at 7 a.m., the Tohovitis' put what Fran described "as more than 100 percent" of themselves into their restaurant. Open until 9 p.m. everyday except Sunday (3 p.m.), Tom has recently found himself working 15-hour days.
On most mornings, the breakfast crowd starts as a trickle, slowly building into a nice lunch-time group (especially Friday through Sunday), before the dinner rush hits at about 5:30 or 6 p.m. Lasting around two hours during the week, and three on the weekends, the dinner rush can require a reservation. Fran recommends calling the day before, or the day of, an intended visit.
"Sunday is very crazy. Sunday breakfast and Friday dinners I'll have a wait," she said.
If everything at the diner seems pretty established for a restaurant just six months of age, that's because the Tohovitis' aren't newcomers when it comes to cooking for others. A native of Greece, Tom arrived in the United States after a nine-year stay in Australia. After meeting Fran, who grew up in Chicago, the couple ran the Olympic Family Restaurant for 18 years in Sturtevant. Their next venture was the Acropolis, on 27th Street and Ryan Road in Oak Creek, which they sold after six years.
"We're the last of the mom and pop stores," Fran said. "Franchises have taken over. And you're not going to see us anymore. We're becoming extinct. And people come in and they tell us that. They say 'we're sorry to see that there's less of you around.' "
Planning to operate the Douglas Avenue Diner for just six or seven years, at which time their three children will be done with school, the Tohovitis' have developed a succinct operation that keeps them apart, yet together.
"I take care of the front of the house, my husband, tom, takes care of the back of the house, and we don't interfere with each other or we won't stay married."
Walking into the diner, Fran will likely be the first person to greet you; even if it's a "hello" or a" how are you?" from across the room. Tom acts as the quality control center. Nothing is served at the restaurant without his approval.
"I make sure that everything comes the way it's supposed to be," Tom, who has 33 years of kitchen experience, said. "I check all the food. Anything that comes through the window, it comes by my hand. It's all quality, nothing under quality; everything is the top of the line."
Going through hundreds of pounds of burgers each week, the food combined with its unique setting and friendly service are making the diner a must-see in Racine.
Allen, whose brother was visiting from Arizona, knew he had to bring him to the Douglas Avenue Diner at least once during his visit. Knowing that he would have had to drive to Chicago or Milwaukee to eat at a retro-styled restaurant, Allen said he enjoys the fact that he's just a few minutes from good food, fun memories and the chance to see an old friend.
"I run into people that I haven't seen in years and they say 'wow, is this place great or what?' " he said.
The 2007 Best of Racine County New Restaurant winner features a lunch/dinner menu with seven options for children 10 and under ($4.29 each), five pages of burgers, sandwiches, entrees, salads and shake options, and a board of daily specials. It also has a full breakfast menu featuring made-to-order omelets.
"The nice thing about our menu is that we offer breakfast all day long. You want an omelet at 9 o'clock at night you can have it," Fran said. "Where most places after 11 o'clock you really have no breakfast or a limited breakfast."
And the Tohovitis' want customers to realize that the menu is not a dictionary. It's no where close to a literal translation of what you can have to eat.
"When you're at home you can do whatever you want, you can create whatever you like, and you can do (that) here," Fran said.
For Amy Dey of Caledonia, it's the French fries and Sante Fe wrap that had her stopping in for the fourth time in three weeks on Friday. But after getting a taste of her husband's afternoon breakfast dish, she said she's going to go in a different direction during her next visit.
"The first time we came in here it was cool. I liked the black and white and all the stuff up here (but) now it really doesn't matter," Dey said of the '50s-era decor. "It's just about the closeness and I really eat the same thing every time I come. (But) next time I'll probably try breakfast no matter what."
Although the menu features a good amount of options, a majority of people order an omelette, salad ($6.89-$6.99) or burger. According to waitress Sheila Cuccia, the strawberry chicken and apple-walnut salads were the summer's biggest hits. But the food, of course, is only one reason she enjoys her job.
"I think it's the best place I've ever worked. Because it's organized, we've got beepers, our trays are loaded up, (food) gets out hot," said Cuccia of Racine, who has 25 years of serving experience.
For the Tohovitis', serving experience is one of the major hiring requirements. Because the restaurant is smaller and the one-on-one interaction does not allow Fran to provide much training, she counts on experienced employees to help put smiles on faces.
"It's very important," she said of her employees' experience. "You have to have the right people, because the people that work for you are the people that really make the restaurant.
"It's nice when you can put a smile on someone's face. It's not just the food. You can make you own hamburger at home. If I can make you feel good when you come and eat that hamburger, it's a nice feeling."
It's a happy day.
If You Go
WHAT: Douglas Avenue Diner
WHERE: 5121 Douglas Ave. (Greentree Shopping Center, just north of 4 Mile Road)
WHEN: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. (Close at 3 p.m. Sundays)
INFO: Call (262) 681-7819
MENU: Breakfast served all day, with prices ranging from $5.79 for a basic omelette to $7.39 for a Country Fried Steak Platter. Pancakes and waffles are also available, with a variety of side dishes. The non-breakfast menu has appetizers, salads and soups, hand-pattied burgers and sandwiches. Dinner combos includ chicken and ribs for $14.99 and full-rack baby back ribs for $17.99. Entrees include Fettuccine Alfredo for $8.99 and Creole Jambablaya for $13.79. Weekly specials include a Friday Fish Fry and homemade meatloaf after 11 a.m. on Wednesdays.