Food in Laramie is not scarce.  Within the city limits there are two McDonald’s, two Wendy’s, a Burger King, a Qdoba and a whopping four

Subways.  Not to mention that Laramie has just about every pizza place you can think of, but what if none of these do it for you?  What if you

want a bit more atmosphere?  Well, Laramie has a lot of that, too.  There are several Restaurants down town that have great atmosphere and

great food. 

Owners weigh cafe

Gary Schmid, the new and proud co-owner of the 17^th Street Café said, “I always wanted to do something like this for as long as I can remember.”  Now that he owns the new café Gary is finally living his dream, and he’s doing it with the woman he loves.

The 17^th Street Café is a new business in Laramie located at the corner of 17^th and Custer streets, right across from McIntyre Hall.  The café is open from 7:00 a.m. to 2:p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 12: p.m. on Sunday and “serves up the best breakfast in town, as far as we’re concerned,” Dean Talley, head cook for the café, said.

Schmid said he bought the café on Jan. 1 and opened it as the 17^th Street Café on Friday May 13, a daring date to start a new business.  “I just thought it was an interesting time to open,” he said.  “We wanted to have a friendly little café where you can sit down and enjoy breakfast and lunch,” Rochelle Phillips, co-owner of the café, said.  Not only is Rochelle co-owner of the business, but she is also Schmid’s girlfriend.

“It’s like a fairy tale,” Phillips said as she looked affectionately at Gary.  And why wouldn’t it be?  Gary is living his dream, and he’s doing it with Rochelle, the love of his life, but it wasn’t easy coming up with this arrangement.

Schmid said he was living in Austin, Texas when he and Rochelle met.  He moved to Laramie to be with her, but before he could, he needed work.  “I told her I wouldn’t move here unless I had a job,” Schmid said.  Phillips knew the Fat Burrito, a former business in Laramie, was for sale.  Thinking fast, she proposed the idea of purchasing the building to Schmid so he would have a job.  Schmid loved the idea, so he moved to Laramie, bought the Fat Burrito and opened it as the 17^th Street Café.

Schmid and Phillips have been together for a year now, but they aren’t the only couple working in the café.  Talley and Suzanne Bryant, baker for the café, have been together for 23 years.  “it’s like a family here,” Phillips said.

Schmid said the customers are also treated like family, and he is very passionate about good customer service.  “It is just so cool to see everybody walk in with big smiles on their faces,” Schmid said.  Schmid said he is also passionate about breakfast and the morning time, and he shows that in his menu.The breakfast at the 17^th Street Café is enough to make your mouth water.  Schmid features dishes such as ham and cheese enchiladas, the southwest chicken skillet and scrambled egg tacos;  Great breakfast dishes with a Mexican kick. Although, if Mexican breakfast isn’t your thing, you can get traditional breakfast items, like pancakes, as well.  If the breakfast doesn’t get you, then the lunch menu is sure to arouse your taste buds.  “We serve best barbeque in town,” Talley said.  If your moth still isn’t watering, then wait until you taste the homemade pies.

Bryant has been baking pies ever since she was a little girl and now she is the head baker for the café.  Bryant said she knows several different pie recipes, but her best pie has to be the strawberry rhubarb pie.  “It’s my trademark pie.  It’s the one everyone wants,” she said.  Bryant’s signature pie hasn’t been on the café’s menu, up until now.  Bryant said she also bakes fresh cinnamon rolls every morning.

Not only is the café a great place to eat, but it also brings a sense of nostalgia to the customers.  Schmid said the café used to be a grocery store called “Rainbow Grocery,” even before it was the Fat Burrito.  The Rainbow Grocery sign still hangs in front of the café today and Schmid said it’s there to stay. “The Rainbow Grocery sign will not leave; I’ll keep that there, forever.” Schmid said.  Schmid explained many of the customers will come in and reminisce about a time when the café was the Rainbow Grocery and Schmid doesn’t want to take that away from them.

Phillips and Schmid both love the new café, but times are tough for small businesses in Laramie.  Just in the last two years Godfather’s Pizza, the Juice Joint and Carl’s Jr.  all went out of business, but that doesn’t seem to discourage Schmitt or Phillips.  “We can’t worry about the other people,” Schmid said.  Even though Phillips and Schmid are new to the restaurant industry, they are confidant the café will be successful.

If you weren’t a morning person already you should consider becoming one because the breakfast at the café doesn’t disappoint.  If you can’t manage to wake up before noon, pop in for lunch for some of the best barbeque in Laramie because the 17^th Street Café is open for business. 

Town Pokes pie pride

The aroma of freshly baked dough and pizza sauce fill the restaurant.  But as I venture through the kitchen, I discover it is easy to get lost in the confusing hallways.  After much needed guidance, I found my way to the office.  “Sorry about the Maze,” Chris Ransom, general manager of Grand Avenue Pizza, said.  “This place has only been renovated a hundred times.”

Grand Avenue Pizza in Laramie, is a local restaurant that makes everything on its menu from scratch.  It rests on the corner of Third Street and Grand Ave. — but this pizza place isn’t the only one on Third Street.  “You got Dominos, Little Creaser, Papa John’s, Grand Avenue Pizza and us.  And that’s just Third street!” Derek Johnson, assistant manager of the Laramie Pizza hut, said.  That’s right; that lonely stretch of road known as Third Street is home to 72 percent of the local pizza industry.

Laramie itself houses just about every known pizza franchise in the country. From Mr. Jim’s Pizza to Papa Murphy’s, and five of the eight businesses dish it out on Third Street.

  These big-name pizza companies that set up shop in Laramie have cheap specials.  Pizza Hut has a carry-out special for a large one-topping pizza for $7.99, and Dominos beats that with its $6.99 carry-out special.  Papa John’s doesn’t compete so much with price.  Instead it advertises better quality pizza for just a little more cash, as does Mr. Jim’s Pizza. “we serve quality pizzas,” Mike Gire, owner of Mr. Jim’s Pizza, said.  So what does Grand Avenue do?  How does it compete with all this heat on Third Street? 

  “It’s two different worlds of pizza.”  Rebecka Smith, general manager of Papa John’s in Laramie, said.  “We are a slightly different animal from Grand Avenue.”  It is obvious Grand Avenue Pizza is distinct from the big-name companies.  After all, it is locally owned and operated, it’s the only branch and, as Ransom put it, “where else are you going to find Thai Pie?”

Thai Pie, a pizza that features a unique Asian taste, is just one of the many special dishes you can only find at Grand Avenue Pizza.  Ransom bragged the Grand Avenue menu is quite substantial.  “I could probably eat here five days a week for a year and never have the same thing twice,” he said.    Ransom added that the variety Grand Avenue has to offer can’t be beat by any of the big-name pizza places; and it’s no surprise.  The menu features 17 gourmet pizzas and pastas, and 13 specialty calzones.  Sure, every pizza place has some sort of specialty.  Pizza Hut has a buffalo wing pizza, and Papa John’s makes white sauce pizzas, but Ransom believes those will never be as innovative as Grand Avenue’s pizzas. But the price of the pizza is still important.

Ransom said Grand Avenue tries to keep up with the competitive low prices of Pizza Hut and Dominoes.  Grand Avenue advertises a $7.99 carry-out special, just like Pizza Hut.  But the special is only offered until 5 p.m., and with Pizza Hut’s three-topping $10 pizza deals, the battle for the best price looks one sided.  However, Grand Avenue pizza offers a free service no other pizza company does.

Pizza delivery.  It’s one of the many things that make pizza so great.  Just pick up the phone, tell them what you want and boom, a hot, delicious pie is delivered right to your door.  Papa John’s or Pizza Hut didn’t claim the title of best delivery service in Laramie, but when I asked Ransom about Grand Avenue’s, he only had one thing to say.  “No delivery charge.”  Free delivery is definitely different and uncalled for, Mr. Ransom.  No other pizza company in Laramie offers free delivery and the fee usually adds $2 to the order, but Gire said there is no way the delivery service is “free.”  “At some point they are going to have to compensate the driver,” Gire said.  “It’s still costing them.”

   Pizza Hut and Grand Avenue both have dining rooms.  Their dining rooms are very clean, have a nice atmosphere and friendly customer service.  The dining rooms in Grand Avenue and Pizza Hut seem to give them an advantage on Third Street, because the other pizza places don’t have dining rooms.  “We’re primarily a pick-up pizza place,” Smith said.  Gire said he sees places like Pizza Hut and Grand Avenue as “a gathering of friends.” 

These companies have wonderful approaches to creating a good atmosphere.  Grand Avenue Pizza and Pizza Hut both have nice dining rooms where Papa John’s and Mr. Jim’s Pizza both have a simple, speedy atmosphere.  So, It all comes down to which pizza tastes best.

 “Papa John’s advertises better ingredients, better pizza.” Ransom said, “But you don’t get better ingredients than us.  Everything is fresh; nothing comes out of a can, even our cheese is grated fresh daily.”  As far as Ransom is concerned, Grand Avenue Pizza makes the best pizza.

Johnson has a more personal view on the art of pizza making.  “I make damn good pizzas,” he said.  He said he was loyal to Pizza Hut Pizza.  As for Smith, she seems to be a loyalist too.  “Ours” she chuckled.  “And I’m not saying that just because I work here.”

Gire said Mr. Jim’s is the only pizza place in town that seasons it’s crusts.  “The crust is very unique,” he said.  Gire added that he puts 20 percent more toppings on his pizzas than the other places.  “Everything is weighed, nothing is done by free hand,” Gire said.

It seems everyone has their own taste, but Grand Avenue Pizza has better variety and better ingredients than the other places.  You can’t get much fresher than “never canned” in today’s world, but you can get cheaper pizza from other places.  “In a low economy where people want to save money, they are going to want to go to the cheaper places,” Ransom said.  As far as Ransom is concerned Grand Avenue Pizza is a good restaurant, and  must be doing something right because it is still there on Third Street, keeping up with the competition and dishing out pizzas like no one else’s business—can.

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