Future of Sergeant. Pepper’s Cafe in Springfield in limbo after fire

Natalie Morris
| Specially for the Staatsblad register

Multiple fires closed two Springfield eateries last week.

And while the owners of Cafe Moxo and the new Sgt. Pepper’s Cafe on Jefferson Street is considering their next steps. Lu Asani wishes them a quicker return to operations than she and her husband, Kenny, experienced.

The Asani’s long-awaited sophomore project, The Capital Cafe at 1825 MacArthur Blvd., was destroyed by fire a week after its opening date last November.

The future of the cafe is in limbo as Asani’s insurance company has yet to sign off on the damage or even determine whether the exterior of the former McDonald’s building is structurally sound enough to be repaired or razed.

“Our plan is to move forward (with the cafe),” said Asani, who also owns and operates the Chatham Cafe in Chatham. “It has always been about moving forward.

“I get calls, customers come in and say, ‘I’m sorry you quit.’ I explain that we haven’t given up. We’re waiting for the insurance company. Hopefully we can get back to work soon.”

Muhammad Sumara opened Sgt. Pepper’s Cafe at 700 W. Jefferson St. in December.

“I still don’t know,” Sumara said this week when asked about the next steps after the June 20 fire that shut down the company.

Popular downtown eatery Cafe Moxo was also forced to close last week after a June 19 fire in the 400 block of East Adams Street.

More: Fundraising efforts are underway for residents and businesses affected by the fire in downtown Springfield

Owner Mark Forinash, who owns Cafe Moxo and leases the 411 E. Adams St. space, said he is waiting on insurance to determine if the building can be saved. But he has now started looking for a temporary home base.

“We’re catching our breath and starting to look at buildings, a location that could be a temporary Cafe Moxo,” he said.

“Downtown is where my heart is, where my home is, where Cafe Moxo started and we want it to end (here). But for now, we might have to look elsewhere.”

Cafe Moxo has been active in the city centre since 2007.

Speaking of the city

New owners are the focus of Gina’s Talk of the Town in Elkhart.

Jay and Amy Roberts took over the tavern on June 3, just five months after the previous owner announced his retirement and put the business up for sale.

This is Roberts’ first foray into the dining industry.

“We moved to Elkhart two years ago and it’s really great here,” said Jay Roberts, who previously worked in the wireless industry for 20 years. “When the opportunity arose to purchase the restaurant, we thought, ‘Why not!’”

Regular customers won’t notice much change for a while, he said.

The kitchen opening hours remain Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesday to Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The menu still includes sandwiches, burgers and horseshoes. There are fried chicken specials on Wednesdays and fish on Fridays.

Even the name remains unchanged, although the longer-term plan is to shorten it to The Talk of the Town.

Gina Peters, who had just run the Elkhart tavern for eight years, put the business up for sale in January, but vowed to stay in business until she found a new buyer. The company has been serving customers on Elkhart’s main drag since the 1990s.

The A La Carte column highlights restaurant openings, closures, renovations and relocations, as well as staff changes and business news. Natalie Morris can be reached at 217-737-7254 or by email at [email protected].