By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
ELLIS — They may be new to the area, but Lutheran Pastor John Morley and his wife, Gigi, have quickly become an active part of Ellis community.
“This community has been very warm and loving,” John said. “It feels like we are home again.”
But after exploring their new hometown, they found something lacking.
And with diverse backgrounds that include commercial kitchen and business management experience, they decided they could bring something to area residents that Ellis is missing – a homestyle diner that will be shaped by the community.
The couple will soon open Gigi’s Cafe, 814 Washington, for breakfast and lunch in downtown Ellis.
The Morleys came to Ellis after John accepted the pastor position at the Christ Lutheran Church, 106 E. Eighth, near the end of September.
“The second day we were here, we walked down Main street and when she passed this place, her eyes just lit up,” John said.
A couple of months later, they decided to give it a go and began working on opening the restaurant.
“Everything has just fallen into place since then,” John said.
With homestyle decor peppered with local history, the couple is working to achieve a feel they describe as “cozy.”
John said there will be two aspects to the diner he hopes will draw people.
The first, he said, is simply “sit-down, good, country home cooking.”
The other feature, which is a little more unique, is a grab-and-go counter near the front door.
People can come in, get a cup of coffee, a homemade sausage-egg-and-cheese biscuit, burritos, or other items that people can stop in and grab, John said.
“There is nowhere else to get that,” he said. “Ideally, they can just stop in, grab it and go.”
The breakfast menu will feature traditional items, served quickly and the lunch menu will feature a classic diner items including burgers and sandwiches and will offer daily rotating lunch specials featured on their facebook page.
“We are going to do very few things, but what we are going do to we are going to do very well,” John well.
As the community begins to frequent the restaurant, they said they will shape the business to fit what their customers' desire.
“We are always going to be looking for what people want,” John said. “It’s the service industry and we are here to serve.”
“There are going to be a lot of people that don’t like what you like,” Gigi said. “You want to make it so everybody will find something they like.”
Like the customer-centered menu, they hope the business will become a “unifying” place for the community and be of service as much as possible while helping promote the community’s small-town charm.
“Coming as strangers into a new community, brand new to Ellis, we look around and we see all these beautiful things that Ellis has to offer … this is really cool stuff,” John said.
The menu and decor will reflect that history and embrace what makes Ellis such a great place to live, John said and will feature information about local attractions such as the Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and the Railroad Museum.
And with no other restaurant like theirs in Ellis, they believe they will add to the community.
“We are not trying to compete. We are trying to accentuate,” John said.
“That’s the beauty of small towns. You can’t do that in a big city,” he said. “There is uniqueness to Ellis that you can do that.”
Helping the community is something important to them and they are actively looking for ways to incorporate as much as they can into the Ellis community.
“Just opening this restaurant, we have experienced a sense of unity that I think has really been helpful,” John said. He said everybody has been wonderfully supportive.
“We are trying to keep as much as we can local,” Gigi said.
“We are doing our best to stimulate what we can,” John said.
A part of that community support is hiring staff bringing more jobs to the city.
While they complete work inside the building to prepare for menu tastings and ultimately the opening, some staff members are already in place.
“So far, it’s been pretty good,” Gigi said of the hiring process. She will serve as the primary cook and will mostly need to hire servers. John will help out in the kitchen as well.
They have already hired three part-time staff members, but are waiting to determine final staffing levels after seeing the amount of business that comes in.
“Right now, we feel pretty confident,” Gigi said.
Outside of running the restaurant, they are excited to bring life back into a building in downtown.
“It’s been a lot of different things,” Gigi said, recalling conversations about the building being a flower shop, an antique store and two other cafes over the years.
Once the restaurant opens, they are already exploring using the cafe as a center for youth to have a place to gather during weekend evenings.
“We really are viewing this as a way we can help the community,” John said.
A tentative opening date of March 10 has been set. Hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
To follow the progress of the opening, visit Gigi’s Cafe Facebook page.
