Ken and Glenda Rivett of the Rivett’s Route 66 Cafe in Sapulpa, Okla., are taking off their aprons and giving them to Allen and Susan Shamburg of Grand Junction, Colo., on Tuesday, according to the Sapulpa Daily Herald.
The Rivetts are retiring after operating the breakfast-and-lunch restaurant for seven days a week for 10 years. They say the history of the diner goes back even further, to 1927. It once was known as the Courthouse Grill.
“We still get e-mail messages from people in Holland and Germany who came to our restaurant years ago,” Ken Rivett said. “One even sent us a wedding announcement,” he said.
And for the past 10 years the menu has stayed just about the same. There’s only been one price increase, Glenda Rivett said.
The second thing was to cater to the daytime breakfast and lunch crowd with daily specials such as the old standard chicken fried steak and gravy.
The featured breakfast menu item was eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy.
“We have never changed the quality of the food we serve,” Ken Rivett said.
“The only change I can remember is we changed from thick sliced to regular sliced bacon,” Glenda Rivett said.
And they have passed along at least one secret to their success: the quality of their coffee.
“We told them about the coffee,” she said. “”We have used Cain’s since the day we opened.”
The Rivetts believe the quality of the coffee continues to attract a morning coffee crowd.
“And we told the new owners that if they were smart, they would not cheapen the food products and give good service with a smile,” Ken Rivett said.
The cafe was even on the Internet, with this modest site.