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Historic Red Cloud café lures restaurateur from retirement
Mary Terry intended to retire from the restaurant business when they moved to Red Cloud, Nebraska a few yeas ago.
“I retired for a whole year, but I couldn’t stand it because I miss the people,” she said. “We recognized an unmet demand for breakfast in Red Cloud, saw an opportunity and decided to take it.”
Mary Terry and her husband, Steve, purchased the 20-bed historical McFarland Hotel and restaurant in 2004. After extensive restoration and remodeling, they opened Cutter’s Café in January, 2005, and the restoration of the hotel, built in 1893, is underway.
Steve Terry operates an Internet-based truck dispatching business, which means he can work from basically anywhere he has an Internet connection. A graduate of Red Cloud High School and Hastings College, when he and Mary came back to visit his parents, as Mary said, “We fell in love with the town.”
The Terry family moved to Red Cloud from Denver, Colorado where Mary had managed a 150-seat restaurant. Although she really had intended to retire from the restaurant business, the charm of the McFarland Hotel and it’s restaurant captivated her. Described as “needing a lot of work” to begin with, today, Cutter’s Cafe is a charming step back in time. The woodwork gleams, the brass sparkles. Overhead a beautifully restored stamped-tin ceiling is trimmed with fancy crown molding. Antique lamps and other furniture complete the atmosphere.
A good place to eat
The five fulltime and nine part time Cutter’s Café employees serve breakfast and lunch as well as Cutter’s special homemade pizzas in the evening. You can also have pizza delivered on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays. The café also opens for parties, class reunions and special events during evenings and weekends.
On Sundays, Cutter’s serves a buffet, widely claimed to be among the region’s best. Although the dishes vary, a typical menu might include pan-fried chicken, pork loin with apricot sauce, shrimp appetizers, hot wings, mashed potatoes, vegetable and salad choices, and homemade cheesecake or warm apple crisp for dessert.
“Nearly every item on our menu is prepared from fresh food,” said Terry. “We slice French fries from fresh potatoes, and our mashed potatoes and hash browns are fresh too.”
Mary is also concerned about presentation. “We spend a little extra effort because we expect the food to taste good and look good going out.”
Life in a small town
“Customers often tell me that Red Cloud is proud to have our family move back and to have Cutter’s Café open again,” says Mary. For her part, she says they try to buy everything locally, including building supplies and ingredients for their recipes.
“I just enjoy doing for people,” Terry says. “Since an elderly patron lost her driver’s license, I often pick her up and bring her in for breakfast, and when she is ill, I’ll even deliver food to her. But that’s just what communities like ours are like.”
A man dressed in jeans and a red and black plaid shirt parks his pick-up truck in front of the restaurant and Mary smiles. “When we see our customers get out of their cars, we know what they will order for breakfast,” says Terry. “Jim, for instance, orders one pancake and one egg fried over-easy every morning.”
Marketing the business in the region presents a challenge to Terry. She says, “People need to know we are open, and our food tastes wonderful, and we appreciate their patronage.” But even if business is a little slower-paced than her Denver restaurant, there are other compensations. “The Republican River Valley is so beautiful. I like to see the colorful trees and lovely views when we drive on the river road. We see deer everywhere, and we often see raccoon, bunnies and flocks of wild turkeys.”
Cutter’s Café is clearly a labor of love for Mary Terry – she admits profits accumulate slowly. But, she notes, cheerfully, all businesses are valued in small towns, but none more than a good place to eat.
Who To Contact...
Cutters Café
Mary Terry
137 West 4th Avenue
Red Cloud, NE 68970
cutterscafe@yahoo.com
(402) 746-2505
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