Baker's Café finds room to rise

When she moved The Baker's Café from a Sandusky Street space to the higher-rent district of South Main Street, owner Lisa Allen knew she was taking a chance. Two years of higher rent payments and a protracted pandemic later, the move has proven a bigger success than Allen could have anticipated. "We projected that we would grow, but we didn't project that we would grow to this point," Allen said. The Baker's Café has outgrown its 1,700 square feet, which already was triple what it had on Sandusky Street. The current kitchen cannot comfortably support its burgeoning catering business, and Allen also sees a demand for a small events room. So now she is nearly doubling the existing space by adding 1,500 square feet in the back of the building. She is adding catering prep space and storage as well as an event room, to be completed by April. The event room, which will be able to seat 35 to 40 people, will be for business meetings, baby and bridal showers, and other gatherings. Allen's daughter, Lydia Soto, has spearheaded the growth of the catering business. The catering business offers box lunches, charcuterie boards, and breakfast including quiche and breakfast sandwiches. Cocktails are also offered. "It's just kind of another division of the café that has been very lucrative. It's allowed us to grow," Allen said. "We need that (additional) space to be able to accommodate that, especially when a lot of things are happening at the same time as our lunch business. We're quite busy over lunch typically." Last November, Allen obtained a liquor license to serve cocktails. She also is seeking approval to serve beer and wine. Allen attributes The Baker's Café's success to three things. "I like to think that offering a good product and the customer service. I feel very proud that my staff are very customer friendly. I push that," she said. "I push the customer service and the consistent quality product, and I think that's a big part of our success." Of course, the Main Street location has helped, too. "We had people who, once we came to the Main Street location, thought we were new," and were shocked to learn The Baker's Café had been operating for years, Allen said. "It's kind of crazy that you move a few feet, and people all of a sudden see you," Allen said. "But that's the way it was."