BERKLEY, Mich. (WXYZ) — “Here you are!” said Cindy Coon as she delivered a tuna fish sandwich, chips, and ice tea to George Speshock as he parked along the curb outside the business.
Speshock says he stopped by The Lunch Cafe with purpose. He wanted to support one of his favorite restaurants on 12 Mile in Berkley.
“Support all of the great places that are out there. Like I said this place is fantastic,” he said. “Especially on Mondays. They have the best chili.”
And chili is not the only soup on the menu.
“I serve about 85 different soups, and I make everything from scratch,” said Cindy Coon, who owns The Lunch Cafe with her daughter Angela.
They make not only their soups, but their dressings from scratch. They source many of their ingredients locally, refusing to go the easy route that would involve just ordering from a distributor.
The Lunch Cafe also provides delicious food far below the prices of competitors.
The Coon family opened the business thirteen years ago as the recession hit hard, with the goal of giving tender loving care to customers in a tough time, offering a great meal at a great deal.
“We opened in a really bad economy in 2007 and so my mom says, if we can get through that, we can get through anything,” said Angela Coon.
“Our loyal customers keep coming, but the business is definitely down,” said Cindy of the impact of the pandemic.
They got a boost in business from a local Morgan Stanley office recently. It called wanting to deliver TLC to first responders. The Lunch Cafe fulfilled the order and delivered meals workers at Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak and Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai Grace.
“I was actually able to go down to DMC Sinai Grace and deliver yesterday. That was… I had to hold back tears. They are thanking us. Which is interesting, so backwards, you know what I mean,” said Angela.
This business is literally named with the idea that they aren’t just serving food, they are serving love. In these hard times, they say the loyal customers are returning the love full circle.
“We get choked up because it means a lot to us. We’ve been here for 13 years and the appreciation is incredible,” said Angela.