Santa Fe Cafe serves breakfast, comfort food and friendly service in Overland Park

Twelve years ago, Marilyn and Veton Rugova of Overland Park decided they were ready to open their own business.

At the time, she worked as a restaurant server and he worked for a pest control company. They both craved change and made a pact that their next business venture would be in a completely different industry.

Then Marilyn started looking for business listings online and found out that Overland Park’s Santa Fe Cafe was for sale. The diner-style cafe had had four owners since opening in the mid-1980s and needed a lot of work, with its cracked tile floors, dingy gray-green walls and outdated appliances.

“I just saw so much potential,” Marilyn said. “I went home and said ‘I want it!’ ”

Veton went along with the idea, despite the couple’s pact (and later followed suit by opening his own pest control business). The Rugovas bought Santa Fe Cafe and went to work replacing the ceiling and floors, painting and overhauling the kitchen. Over the years, they added rustic wood beams, wagon-wheel chandeliers, a gas fireplace and Western-style decor that nods to the cafe’s location on the Santa Fe Trail.

The one thing that didn’t need a drastic makeover was the food menu, which features a solid selection of classic breakfast and lunch items such as omelets, buttermilk pancakes, cheeseburgers, sandwiches and salads.

One of Santa Fe Cafe’s signature meals is the Conestoga breakfast ($8.89), named after the horse-drawn heavy covered wagons that once rolled through the Overland Park area. The plate is big enough for a cowboy, with two eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns and toast. Another popular breakfast is the Bandito omelet ($9.69), stuffed with crumbled chorizo sausage, diced ham, green pepper, diced onion and shredded cheese. The omelet is served with hash browns and topped with a creamy cilantro tomato sauce. For 50 cents, customers can upgrade from hash browns to Santa Fe Trail Taters, cubed potatoes grilled with peppers and onions until golden brown.

When I went to Santa Fe Cafe on a Saturday in early October, I ordered the Los Alamos Veggie scrambler ($9.08), a bowl of hot hash browns topped with scrambled eggs and sauteed veggies (spinach, mushrooms, onion, tomatoes). Shredded Gruyere — one of my favorite cheeses — was a nice touch and less expected than Cheddar or American.

The cafe also serves sweet morning selections such as blueberry Belgian waffles ($7.19), hearty oatmeal ($5.34), French toast made with cinnamon-swirled bread ($7.19) and Trail Cakes, buttermilk pancakes loaded with granola and sliced bananas ($6.69 for a short stack). The day I was there, pumpkin spice pancakes were on special, and my husband and I split one of the fluffy plate-sized cakes. The autumnal treat was delicious with a drizzle of maple syrup and a cup of coffee.

At Santa Fe Cafe, the coffee is refilled often and served in mismatched mugs donated by customers. Mine had Pac-Man on it.

“We want this place to be as comfortable as your kitchen table,” Marilyn said.

It’s easy to see that Marilyn has a history in the service industry — she greets customers like old friends, because in many cases, they are. Santa Fe Cafe’s servers are fast and friendly, and the dining room has a cozy, home-like feel.

The weekday lunch specials revolve saround comfort food classics. On Monday, there’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy ($9.41). Tuesday is all about pot roast ($10.69) and chicken and noodles ($9.14). There’s cheesy pot pie ($9.41) on Wednesday, fried chicken ($9.41) on Thursday and salmon croquettes ($9.62) with mashed potatoes, gravy and creamed peas on Friday.

Santa Fe Cafe regulars rave about the turkey sandwich special ($9.99) on Thursdays. To make it, the cafe’s cooks inject a 22-pound turkey with white wine before roasting it. The sliced turkey is piled high on an open-face sandwich with gravy, mashed potatoes and a side of vegetables such as green beans. The sandwich debuted as a daily special a year ago. It was so popular that Marilyn made it a weekly special.

Marilyn said she’s always looking for ways to improve Santa Fe Cafe, a restaurant that has been around for more than 30 years.

“It’s my baby, honey,” she said. “I just do everything I can to make it the best it can be every day.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Santa Fe Cafe serves breakfast, comfort food and friendly service in Overland Park."