Route 26 Cafe in LaCrosse plans to open next week

After the cafe in LaCrosse closed in May, the new operator, Barb Curtiss, in July signed a lease with LaCrosse Community Pride, the organization which owns the building.

Although Curtiss originally planned to open by the first of September, she hit a couple of snags along the way. She now plans to open next Wednesday, Sept. 10.

The new business is known as Route 26 Cafe, Curtiss said.

Curtiss and her husband, Keith, moved to LaCrosse in 2005. They are building a house near Hay. Curtiss, who is originally from Okanogan, said they both fell in love with the LaCrosse area after living in Arizona and Texas. Keith now works in the public works department for Whitman County.

Curtiss was one of the cooks in the former Grillbilly Cafe and also waited tables so she could visit with the customers.

“I’ve always done accounting and loved working with people,” she said. She also worked in a restaurant in Oroville.

After a total renovation of the old Teapot Cafe, the Grillbilly Cafe opened in May 2013.

That cafe closed in May after a year of operation. Owners Joe and Dionne Evans said they couldn’t handle the work load any longer and wanted to concentrate on working on their ranch near Hay.

“When she decided to close, it broke my heart,” Curtiss said.

Curtiss said the cafe’s hours will be Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Curtiss said she also will offer a Sunday brunch once a month, but has yet to decide which Sunday she will be open.

Route 26 Cafe will offer burgers, chef or tuna salads, chicken or steak salads, sandwiches, milkshakes, root beer floats, soda, iced tea and special brownie sundaes.

“I love the people and I love this cafe,” she said.