ANTIGO, Wis. (WSAW) - 75 years is a long time for a business to be around, especially one that’s entirely run by family. It’s been tradition for a man who’s dedicated his life to the café.
“I’ve been here since I was in high school—so I would say well over 60 years,” Gus Ourada, co-owner and son of the original owners, said.
But 60 years is only part of the 75-year run the Dixie Lunch Café has in Antigo, which celebrated 75 years on Saturday.
“As young kids, my sister sue, my brother Larry, all of us in the family had helped out with our parents,” Ourada said with fond memories.
It’s a family tradition like no other, from a young boy to cooking in the kitchen. And it doesn’t stop with Gus.
“I probably started working here when I was 14 or 15,” co-owner and Gus’s sister Sue Stanton said.
And it goes all the way down to grandkids.
“Every time we came back, any chance I could get to work here, that was the first thing I could do. Because I was so jealous of my cousins who were my age that all get to work here,” Monica Ourada, who travels to Antigo from Washington annually to visit to her family’s business, said with a smile.
It was a long drive for her—2,000 miles to be exact—in a 30-year-old van that broke down four times on the way. But she says it was worth it.
“We purposely didn’t eat breakfast, we didn’t eat lunch. Just so we could come here and have Dixie food,” Monica explained.
But the Ourada family doesn’t extend to just blood relatives. Regulars come once a day—sometimes twice.
“I just remember a lot of people,” Harry Fronek, one of those every day customers, said.
Fronek came to the Dixie Café on the first day they opened 75 years ago with his dad. He’s been a regular ever since.
When asked how many times he’s been to the café since that day 75 years ago, he replied “too many” with a laugh.
It’s the small town charm of the longest family run café in the state that keeps it going. Even through tough times like a pandemic.
“Boy, sales were down. Some of our people still came but not as often,” Stanton said about the last six months.
A 30 percent drop in sales since March has left the café a little empty. But they still continue their friendly service.
The family has full intentions to continue operating as long as they can.
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October 04, 2020 at 06:15AM
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Antigo's Dixie Lunch Cafe celebrates 75-years of a family run business - WSAW
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