Vision Meets Reality!
With the recent closing of Dunn's Toy Store and Lunch Counter, I felt there was a need for a restaurant to serve breakfast and lunch to the Downtown community. We also decided to move our ice cream counter out of the chocolate factory and put it into the cafe. While the lunch business was good from the start it quickly became obvious that there wasn't much demand for breakfast and we were going to have to to scoop a lot of ice cream to pay the bills. So within the first year we moved the ice cream back into the chocolate factory and replaced it with a bar. Then we stopped serving breakfast and started serving dinner. This was a painstakingly expensive transformation. At the time no one was having much success serving dinner in the Downtown. In the beginning, I spent many lonely nights wondering what it would take to get people to leave their suburban homes and drive downtown to dine with us. We had great food, a warm atmosphere with friendly service but given our location that just didn't seem to be enough.
Music To Our Ears!
One night while dining in a restaurant in Downtown Deland, I heard a Jazz band lead by Don Nedobeck. The place was packed and so I decided to give music a try in our cafe. Music is a main passion in my life and it was extremely important to me that we concentrate on using quality musicians and that the music be something people could listen to while eating dinner. The caliber of musicianship in the area is incredible. I have really enjoyed getting to know a lot of the musicians, their passion, and dedication to their craft has been great and has provided a unique dining experience that you would only expect to find in a big city.
"Feels Like Family"
The staff and guests often tell me that Angell & Phelps Cafe is a warm place and that it "feels like family". Years ago, when I was trying to figure out how to get the word out on the cafe, I came to the conclusion that rather than spend a lot of money chasing the elusive "new customer" it would be better to put our marketing and advertising efforts towards getting our existing customers to come back more often. Our VIP program has been very popular. I'm not aware of any other restaurant in this area that gives it's guest a FREE meal in the month of their birthday, or gives a $10 Gift Certificate for every $100 spent. We also provide a great newsletter. Although writing a newsletter is a lot of work each month, I fell it is vital that we stay in touch with you, our most valuable asset. We are very aware that you have lots of choices when you go out to eat and we greatly appreciate your being a part of "the family".
Dedicated Staff!
Lastly, I would like to give a big thanks to our great staff. I receive lots of compliments on how hard they work and how much pride they take in the place. This is a very demanding and stressfull business. To do is right, takes a dedicated team that believes in what their doing and I'm very thankful for the positive energy they bring to the place. As they say in that movie - "We're Just Getting Started!"
Al Smith Jr
Owner of Angell & Phelps
