Nestled back in a strip mall at the corner of State Line and 103rd Street sits an unassuming little place. Neighbor to Jaspers Italian Restaurant, this restaurant with mustard-yellow colored walls could be missed on a quick glance. However, hungry shoppers and commuters looking for an old-fashioned, family-dining atmosphere should look again, and they might notice the sign reading Jerry’s Café. Walking by the front of the restaurant, passersby may find it hard to ignore the delicious aromas of handmade cinnamon rolls wafting out the door.
Open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, Jerry’s Café is a traditional diner serving breakfast and lunch. Jerry himself, Jerry Naster, is quick to greet patrons as they enter and to point out any dining options that the hungry customer may enjoy.
“We always keep our customers in mind, and what they would enjoy to eat,” Naster said. “It’s not fancy stuff. We keep is simple, but everything tastes really good.”
On a typical weekday afternoon, Jerry’s Café is bustling with clientele. Jerry’s has been kept small, seating approximately 44, which adds to the diner’s down home feel.
“People don’t come in because it’s a big, fancy place. People come in for the food,” Naster said. “We want everyone to feel welcome and to enjoy this as a nice, old-fashioned place.”
Though the dining area may be small, everything else comes big at Jerry’s Café. The portions are big. The attention to detail is big and welcoming. The smiles are all big. This even carries over to the condiments, evidenced when Naster brought out an enormous ketchup bottle to one table.
“This ought to do it,” he joked.
Constantly on the move, Nester bobs from table to table, chatting with patrons, joking around and answering questions. He may not know the names of all of his customers, but he certainly gives the impression of knowing them all.
“How’s work?”
“How’s the kids?”
“How’s the food?”
Everyone gets the same friendly treatment.
Jerry’s Café seems to take on the personality of its exuberant founder.
“As long as I have worked here, I have never seen one complaint from a customer,” said Yvette Rowland, a waitress with Jerry’s Café for about a year. “I think we send people home happy. Since re-opening, some people haven’t found the new location, but word of mouth is changing that. People are telling their friends. Right now, I think we are the best kept little secret around. But new people are discovering us every day.”
At different locations, the Jewish restaurant owner has been filling up patrons for the past 15 years. He originally owned a Jerry’s Woodweather Café, located in the West Bottoms, but sold it a few years ago. Unable to leave his passion for running a restaurant, Naster opened this new location 15 months ago, offering breakfast and lunch options for the local suburbanites.
“It’s been better that I hoped for,” he said of the new location. “It has smashed all of my expectations.”
Naster realized his love for running a restaurant soon after he started. The Lenexa native worked as a meat cutter for 30 years, when he decided he wanted a change. When he started, Naster says he couldn’t boil an egg. His cooking education was a trial by fire, as he learned on the job.
“I had a lot of help at the beginning,” Naster said. “Some good and some not so good. But I learned a lot.”
Now Jerry’s Café is staffed by experienced chefs and has carved out a niche with its generously-sized portions of comfort food.
“Breakfast is our big thing,” Naster said. “We get a lot of people in who want to have a good meal in the morning.
To start the day off with a hearty meal, Jerry’s Café serves pancakes the size of platters and omelets that can feed two people. For lunch, Jerry’s is well known for its Rueben sandwich and robust homemade soups. Or customers can simply chow down on a burger and fries.
“I think we make the best burgers in town,” Naster said. “I know a lot of places make those claims but I don’t care. I would put ours up against anyone around.”
The lunch rush for Jerry’s Café lasts almost until closing time at 3, and Naster stays busy, but does take a moment to consider what makes a successful restaurant.
“Serve delicious food,” he says. “That’s really it.”