Main Street Cafe & Lounge
Warren, Minnesota
Jared Wohlers
The Main Street Café & Lounge in Warren, Minnesota has had quite a few different owners over the past twenty years. Jared Wohlers is the current owner of the Main Street Café & Lounge. His first anniversary of owning the Main Street Café & Lounge is coming up in July.
Even though he’s the owner, Jared is involved in pretty much everything. He spends the majority of his time in the kitchen, but can also be found out front. Jared has been in the service industry his entire life, and is a native of Warren. While attending college in Fargo, he worked as a restaurant server. He said, “One day, my parents contacted me and said the restaurant was for sale. It's always been kind of something that I've talked about – how amazing it would be to have my own restaurant one day.” He was able to jump on the opportunity to buy the Main Street Café & Lounge.
Breakfast All Day
They do breakfast all day long. Jared jovially explained, “Don't think anything fancy. Think small town cafe. We do omelets, pancakes, different types of egg combinations, and skillets. We also do a classic burger and fries, club sandwiches, and salads. One thing I’ve said was that I wasn't going to bring a sushi restaurant to small town Warren!”
Main Street Café & Lounge has a back room that's divided by a partition, so groups can reserve the area for a meeting or a special event. They also do catering. Jared indicated that a week ahead is preferred for reserving their back room or booking catering, but earlier is definitely better since they do book up. He said, “Typically if I have a week’s notice, I can make almost anything happen.”
The maximum capacity of the Main Street Café & Lounge is around 75 people. They’re open from 7 am—2 pm every day. Then, they take a midday break from 2 pm—4 pm to do cleaning and prep work, and reopen from 4 pm—8 pm. The menu is kept the same all day.
When discussing why people like to eat there, Jared elaborated, “We’re one of the only places to eat in town. Our food is great. Our service is good, but I kind of have a monopoly. It’s the only place in town that you can really sit down in a family environment.” One menu item that Jared described as a favorite is their hot beef or hot pork sandwiches. He said, “People around here go crazy for them. It's like a roast beef sandwich or a pork sandwich, on white bread. Mashed potatoes are right on top, and gravy is put over the entire thing. It's kind of like a little mess on a plate.”
No More Handwritten Tickets
After buying the Main Street Café & Lounge, Jared kept the menu items similar to what they were in the past, but simplified the ordering process. A Robin Hood Business Services staff member stopped by after hearing that the business was under new ownership. Jared knew that he wanted to have a POS system, and he liked the demo they gave. Previously, they used handwritten tickets and an old-fashioned cash register.
Jared hasn’t worked with any other POS providers besides Robin Hood Business Services since he became a business owner, but he used several other POS systems when he worked at other restaurants. He stated, “I have absolutely no complaints about Robin Hood Business Services. They’re right up there with the others I’ve worked on in corporate restaurants.”
Fast Customer Service
Early on, he had one issue with his POS system. The first cashier of the day needed to enter the opening cash, but then the system wouldn’t accept it. He figured out a workaround, but that was cumbersome. Robin Hood Business Services helped him sort it out. Ultimately, he ended up getting rid of the opening cash. He said, “It got solved pretty quickly.”
Jared also explained how one morning when he showed up, he found their computer system completely down. He said, “I had to get in contact really quickly, really early in the morning. I was able to get a hold of someone, and we were able to figure it out within 15 minutes. That was really nice, and I was so appreciative. Robin Hood Business Services goes above and beyond every time!”
The ability to customize the POS system to your business needs is something Jared really likes. “You can make the system as complicated as you want, or as easy as you want. You just have to communicate that’s what you want to do.”
Are you looking for additional features to add to your POS system? Call Robin Hood Business Services at 218-688-2204 for a free consultation.
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