When Dawn Fletcher heard Nature’s Best Cafe planned to close last November, she wasted no time organizing an effort to help save the small-owned business.
She started a GoFundMe account that raised more than $5,000, created magnets to advertise the business and distributed over a thousand letters throughout the neighborhood. Other neighbors chipped in too, with one lending their marketing expertise to the business and another conducting a survey of the cafe’s customers.
But despite all the efforts, it was not enough to keep up with rising food costs. Nature’s Best Cafe will close its doors on July 31, the restaurant announced on social media.
“We had bingo nights and trivia nights and we’ve done different events,” said Evonne Cruz, co-owner of Nature’s Best Cafe. “We’ve been catering, but we’re working seven days a week so it’s just not a feasible way to sustain (the business), and also we’re still in the red.”
The small, family-owned business opened a decade ago at a strip mall at 1904 Brookdale Road off Route 59. Evonne’s husband, Simitrio, had worked in the food industry for years prior to that but wanted to open a restaurant that served healthy, gluten-free food to customers. His wife and two of their three children have gluten allergies, which inspired his menu.
The business evolved to expand its customer base, with a menu that includes everything from hand-tossed pizzas to sandwiches and salads. All of the dishes are made from scratch and the business tries to source as many local ingredients as possible, a defining feature of the restaurant but also one that comes with its costs, the owners said.
“Nothing has gone down. If anything, it’s gone up more, the food costs have just been through the roof,” Cruz said.
That includes many basic ingredients like meats and vegetables. At one point, tomatoes were “crazy expensive,” she said.
Adding to that, foot traffic was decreasing despite neighbors banding together to spread the word about the restaurant.
“We really worked on beefing up our catering business, which was actually great, because that has been paying our bills,” Cruz said. “Really, it’s that what we need is … a continuum of steady customers coming in on a regular basis.”
Analytics showed a downward trend in customers year-over-year. Cruz did not have a definitive reason for the decline but said he believed the current economy was a factor.
“Evenings were the biggest decrease, but still year-over-year, we could look at our numbers and we could see that it was lowering (overall),” she said, despite the business holding evening events and increasing its social media presence.
While it is difficult to close the business, she is trying to stay optimistic, she said.
“It is sad because it’s a chapter in our family. Our kids all worked at the cafe. They kind of grew up with the neighborhood kids … we watched everybody get their driver’s license and first jobs and moving on, go to college,” Cruz said. “Simitrio has worked tirelessly. He’s literally worked long days and long weeks, and so he’s given it his best shot. I know for him it’s a challenge to change chapters.”
For Fletcher, saying goodbye is difficult as well. She helped the restaurant stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic as she watched Simitrio work a night job in addition to running his cafe.
“Simitrio was the first boss that my youngest daughter had. She has mentioned that to (Cruz), Simitrio is family,” she said. “Every young person should be so lucky as to have a patient and considerate boss as their introduction to the workplace.”
Fletcher will keep the GoFundMe for the cafe open to help Simitrio with his transition.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
