Waldo mainstay breakfast, lunch restaurant plans to reopen — and with new owners

Ellen Klem has long had her eye on The Classic Cookie & Cafe.

Growing up, she not only ate there with her parents, she started babysitting the owners’ children. Nearly two decades ago, she became its next door neighbor with only an alley separating them.

That’s when Klem, an occupational therapist and mother of four, went from fan to prospective owner. She knew the current owner, Leslie Stockard, would retire one day and she planned to make her an offer.

That time has come.

Klem and her friend and walking buddy, Bob Rosson, are taking over the restaurant at 409 W. Gregory Blvd. and hope to reopen it on Nov. 18.

Klem will take the early morning shift, then help Rosson set up lunch and he will work through closing.

“I’ve been training myself to get up at 4:30,” Klem said.

The Classic Cookie signed a lease on the Country Club Plaza in late 1981 and soon began selling five cookie flavors fresh from the oven.

In 1988, the Plaza location and one downtown were sold to Mrs. Fields Cookies, and The Classic Cookie relocated to its current Waldo location later that year.

Stockard has owned it since 1998 and expanded the breakfast and lunch menu.

An area restaurateur managed it briefly in 2015 and planned to buy it before turning it back over to Stockard.

New partner Rosson has spent 33 years as an information technology consultant with clients worldwide. After jumping on an airplane weekly, he said he was ready to put his suitcase away.

The Classic Cookie is known for its cookies, which include snickerdoodles, chocolate chocolate chips, oatmeal raisin chip and chocolate peanut butter chip.

It also has muffins, salads, Belgian waffles, cinnamon french toast, buttermilk pancakes, corn beef hash, sandwiches such as a chicken salad spinach wrap, soup of the day and baked chicken noodle casserole.

The new owners will introduce online ordering and think they will get enough carryout business and box lunch orders for business meetings to sustain the restaurant during the pandemic.

Hours will be 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Next year they will expand hours and their new chef, Lance Haines, who has about 25 years experience at area restaurants, will add a few new dishes.

Meanwhile, Stockyard is working part-time at Mike’s Wine & Spirits in Waldo and plans to travel “as COVID allows.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 1:18 PM.