Broadway Cafe

[M]

Saw on the facebook that Broadway is closing it's door.  Good riddance 

[a3uge]

Never felt bad about parking in their parking lot every day junior/senior year after their horrible food and service. Bye.

[valpo64]

If that is the diner located at the corner of US 30 and IN 49, their lease must be up so now the campus improvements planned for that corner can begin.  Initial plan  appeared to make a great impression for anyone approaching the campus from the East.

[vu84v2]

Maybe they will turn it back into a Big Boy!

[bbtds]

If that is the diner located at the corner of US 30 and IN 49, their lease must be up so now the campus improvements planned for that corner can begin.  Initial plan  appeared to make a great impression for anyone approaching the campus from the East.

Just to make sure everyone is clear the Broadway Cafe is just west of the intersection of US 30 and Sturdy Rd. The State Hwy 49 intersection, or more appropriately interchange, is east of campus.

[valpo64]

I believe the University owns the property and was leasing it.

[a3uge]

I believe the University owns the property and was leasing it.

Is this true? The university was in a battle over this land 5 years ago, and the restaurant had framed newspaper articles about the dispute up front.

[vu72]

The Mastr plan calls for that area to be a pond.

[agibson]

Saw on the facebook that Broadway is closing it's door.  Good riddance 

I've only been once or twice in recent years. I seem to remember quite a smoky experience once when that was a thing at restaurants in Indiana. I won't miss them too dearly.

But, it was a Valparaiso institution. We don't have too many diners left. Their avgolemeno (chicken lemon rice soup) was good, as were their fresh rolls.

[bbtds]

Saw on the facebook that Broadway is closing it's door.  Good riddance 

I've only been once or twice in recent years. I seem to remember quite a smoky experience once when that was a thing at restaurants in Indiana. I won't miss them too dearly.

But, it was a Valparaiso institution. We don't have too many diners left. Their avgolemeno (chicken lemon rice soup) was good, as were their fresh rolls.

They did have one of the bigger more options menu in all of Valpo.

[justducky]

Saw on the facebook that Broadway is closing it's door.  Good riddance 

I've only been once or twice in recent years. I seem to remember quite a smoky experience once when that was a thing at restaurants in Indiana. I won't miss them too dearly.

But, it was a Valparaiso institution. We don't have too many diners left. Their avgolemeno (chicken lemon rice soup) was good, as were their fresh rolls.

I always liked their whole catfish. Fortunately it was always on the menu but unfortunately they always seemed to be out.  .     That kind of broke me of the habit of stopping in.

[talksalot]

From the OnLine TIMES...
Long-time customers have been flocking to Broadway Cafe on U.S. 30 in Valparaiso to buy lemon rice soup by the gallon and freeze it for later use.

After 23 years, the landmark Greek diner at 1805 E. Morthland Drive will soon serve its last country skillet and final stack of fluffy pancakes.

Broadway Cafe owner George Borovilos, 67, said he plans to retire after 50 years in the restaurant business and an illness. The family-style restaurant, known for its neon signs, Blues Brothers statues, comfy booths, home cooking and glass cake display case, will close for good at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"A restaurant's too much work," he said. "It's seven days a week, 24 hours a day with no break. No more."

Borovilos said he didn't look to sell the vintage 240-seat diner because it's on property owned by neighboring Valparaiso University, and the lease expires in 14 months.

"You couldn't sell it with a lease for just 14 months," he said. "Nobody would buy it."

The community responded with an outpouring of mourning after Broadway Cafe announced its closure on Facebook, with many expressing surprise since "it was always packed." Comments included "what a loss to the community," "you will be missed terribly," and "Broadway has been one of my favorites for 23 years."

Customers asked for recipes, such as for the ranch dressing, the blue cheese dressing and the ever-popular lemon rice soup.

"People call me every five minutes asking why we're closing and say they appreciated coming in," Borovilos said. "They've been coming in to buy the chicken lemon rice soup and freeze it up, but I tell them it's no good that way."

Broadway Cafe had an ice cream parlor and served all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner, with an extensive menu that included crepes, steaks, seafood, Italian cuisine, Asian entrees and "Hoosier-broasted chicken." Best sellers included Greek pork chops, skillets, the fluffy four-egg omelets and any type of soup, especially lemon rice, cabbage and chicken dumpling.

It was the kind of old-school place where people could find beef liver, fried perch and roasted pork loin, and every dinner came with rolls, dessert and your pick-two choice of salad, soup, cottage cheese or tomato juice.

[Chairback]

Glad that eyesore will be gone. 

[VUGrad1314]

Great chicken lemon rice soup,rolls, pork chops, and in my opinion the best breakfast skillets in Valpo. I will miss them, but the health of the university is my paramount concern as an alum. At least we still have Jimmy's, Viking Chili Bowl, Suzy's, Schoop's, Phil B's, Round The Clock and Bob Evans for good breakfast and similar fare.

[M]

I hope they don't make it a pond, and I absolutely love water and being by the water. It would get so filled with garbage blowing off Rt 30. 

[justducky]

I always liked their whole catfish. Fortunately it was always on the menu but unfortunately they always seemed to be out.

I hope they don't make it a pond, and I absolutely love water and being by the water. It would get so filled with garbage blowing off Rt 30. 

Well if they do make it a pond maybe I can sneak in at the dead of night with some bottom rigged night crawlers and continue my tradition of leaving the property without getting any catfish. Maybe M will grab another pole and come with me? If we get spotted by campus police we can hide our gear and start filling garbage bags trying to make them believe we are performing a public service. 

[crusader05]

It's definitely some sort of water structure on the Strategic Plan. That said, the University wasn't planning on having that land for another 14 months so I wonder how that effects development. They're already in the middle of their planned campus update for this year by putting in all the green space on the East end of Campus, wonder if they have it in the budget or plans to get to work on that end too.

[bbtds]

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nwitimes.com/business/lake-newsletter/valparaiso-s-beloved-broadway-cafe-serves-final-bowl-of-lemon/article_2f73f784-b428-52ba-9359-157b8a7cb13a.amp.html

Valparaiso's beloved Broadway Cafe serves final bowl of lemon rice soup]

Regulars hugged the servers they'd gotten to know over the years, telling them they will be missed or exchanging Facebook handles so they could stay in touch.

Longtime customers wondered where they would go now and what would become of the life-sized "Blues Brothers" statues by the entrance, joking that they could put them out on their lawn or move their car out of the garage to make room.

They posed for pictures with Broadway Cafe owner George Borovilos, who turned off the lights at his landmark Greek diner on U.S. 30 by the Valparaiso University campus for the final time Sunday. Lines stretched out the door for much of the day, and many people phoned in take-out orders to beat the crowds.


"I've never seen so much crying in my life," Borovilos said. "We're family. That's why they call it a family restaurant. Twenty-three years — that's a whole generation. Everybody's going to miss it. Everybody's taking pictures or wanting to keep something from the restaurants."

Customers took many souvenirs on the final day Sunday, including the "please wait to be seated" sign.

People came from as far away as Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan on Sunday to eat the lemon rice soup, Greek pork chops or all-day breakfast one last time.

"It's unbelievable," Borovilos said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Borovilos decided to retire at the age of 67. He said he can't sell the family style restaurant because it sits on Valparaiso University property, the lease runs out in 14 months and he's been told the university has other plans for the property in the future.

It will be missed.

Hobart resident Anita Popp, who was a chef at fine dining spots like Louis' Bon Appetit in Crown Point and Clayton's in Valparaiso, said the soup at Broadway Cafe was amazing and the turkey was the best thing she's ever eaten. She's eaten there every day since learning it would close.

"They were both five-star restaurants, and this is my favorite restaurant," she said. "The atmosphere, the love here is amazing. I didn't even cry when the restaurants I worked at closed, but I just started crying when my daughter from Ohio called to tell me my favorite restaurant was closing after seeing it on Facebook. The food here is five-star, I would give it 10 stars, but it just has an atmosphere of love."

Doris Brown has dined frequently at the old-school 240-seat Greek diner, with a neon sign around the counter and fluted Greek columns etched into glass partitions over the booths, with her husband Winston "Brownie" Brown since it opened, coming in several times a week and often bringing friends from school or church.

On Friday, she and "four or five of us ladies" serenaded the restaurant from the balcony with choir renditions of "Sentimental Journey," "Count Your Blessings," "God Will Take Care of You" and other songs.

"We bid them farewell," she said. "It's overwhelming to me that they're leaving the place. I just can't imagine never eating at the Broadway Cafe again. It's just a sad time. I have so many memories."

Nicholas Svetich said he's been regularly coming to the Broadway Cafe "for 12 or 15 years, a long time." As much as he loved the food, he said he came for the familiar faces.

"This wasn't just some place you came to eat," he said. "You knew the people here, good old George and his whole family. How do you explain an institution?"

He also loved the food, especially the Greek Spartan pork chops.

"You could get whatever you felt like — saganaki or French onion soup," he said. "It didn't matter what you wanted, they had it. And it was always good. After coming here 15 years, I knew the whole menu but still had to look at it every time... What do we do now? Where are we going to go?"


Hebron residents Linda and Rob Morgan were regulars who have been coming since the restaurant used to be a Big Boy hamburger restaurant decades ago. They ate at Broadway Cafe for breakfast, lunch and dinner often since there's "nothing" in Hebron.

"It's good service, good food, just a good place," she said.

Noting the Blues Brothers statues in the waiting room were for sale, she hinted to her husband that her birthday was coming up.

The Broadway Cafe plans to auction off tables, chairs, fixtures and more, and will announce the date of the auction on its Facebook page. It sold out of T-shirts.

People have repeatedly asked the family to share or sell recipes, but they will remain a family secret, family member Dina Vazanellis said.

"Most of our customers have been coming in for a very long time," she said. "They have a lot of fond memories — first dates, graduations, anniversaries. A lot of people say their grandparents used to come here every day and it reminds them of their grandparents when they walk in. A lot of people have a lot of memories."

One customer came in five times Sunday, just to soak up as much of the atmosphere as possible.

"A lot of regulars coming in were family," she said. "We got to know them, and to know their families. Everybody's been coming in for years.

[wh]

We were there on Sunday. Our waitress told us that it is going to be a fountain with adjacent parking. She didn't say whether it will be a pool or a pond.

I could see something like that being quite attractive. Maybe lights at night, etc. Nice curb appeal.

[vu72]

Our waitress told us that it is going to be a fountain

Cool!  Like the Bellagio I presume.

[wh]

Our waitress told us that it is going to be a fountain

Cool!  Like the Bellagio I presume.

Just picture a chapel in the background instead of hotels, and you're there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhHMUKn5dhQ

By the way, 2 things you can count on if the university put a Bellagio-style show on display free-of-charge are (1) Valpo residents wouldn't embrace it, and (2) parking would be completely inadequate.

[VUGrad1314]

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nwitimes.com/business/lake-newsletter/valparaiso-s-beloved-broadway-cafe-serves-final-bowl-of-lemon/article_2f73f784-b428-52ba-9359-157b8a7cb13a.amp.html Valparaiso's beloved Broadway Cafe serves final bowl of lemon rice soup] Regulars hugged the servers they'd gotten to know over the years, telling them they will be missed or exchanging Facebook handles so they could stay in touch. Longtime customers wondered where they would go now and what would become of the life-sized "Blues Brothers" statues by the entrance, joking that they could put them out on their lawn or move their car out of the garage to make room. They posed for pictures with Broadway Cafe owner George Borovilos, who turned off the lights at his landmark Greek diner on U.S. 30 by the Valparaiso University campus for the final time Sunday. Lines stretched out the door for much of the day, and many people phoned in take-out orders to beat the crowds. "I've never seen so much crying in my life," Borovilos said. "We're family. That's why they call it a family restaurant. Twenty-three years — that's a whole generation. Everybody's going to miss it. Everybody's taking pictures or wanting to keep something from the restaurants." Customers took many souvenirs on the final day Sunday, including the "please wait to be seated" sign. People came from as far away as Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan on Sunday to eat the lemon rice soup, Greek pork chops or all-day breakfast one last time. "It's unbelievable," Borovilos said. "I've never seen anything like it." Borovilos decided to retire at the age of 67. He said he can't sell the family style restaurant because it sits on Valparaiso University property, the lease runs out in 14 months and he's been told the university has other plans for the property in the future. It will be missed. Hobart resident Anita Popp, who was a chef at fine dining spots like Louis' Bon Appetit in Crown Point and Clayton's in Valparaiso, said the soup at Broadway Cafe was amazing and the turkey was the best thing she's ever eaten. She's eaten there every day since learning it would close. "They were both five-star restaurants, and this is my favorite restaurant," she said. "The atmosphere, the love here is amazing. I didn't even cry when the restaurants I worked at closed, but I just started crying when my daughter from Ohio called to tell me my favorite restaurant was closing after seeing it on Facebook. The food here is five-star, I would give it 10 stars, but it just has an atmosphere of love." Doris Brown has dined frequently at the old-school 240-seat Greek diner, with a neon sign around the counter and fluted Greek columns etched into glass partitions over the booths, with her husband Winston "Brownie" Brown since it opened, coming in several times a week and often bringing friends from school or church. On Friday, she and "four or five of us ladies" serenaded the restaurant from the balcony with choir renditions of "Sentimental Journey," "Count Your Blessings," "God Will Take Care of You" and other songs. "We bid them farewell," she said. "It's overwhelming to me that they're leaving the place. I just can't imagine never eating at the Broadway Cafe again. It's just a sad time. I have so many memories." Nicholas Svetich said he's been regularly coming to the Broadway Cafe "for 12 or 15 years, a long time." As much as he loved the food, he said he came for the familiar faces. "This wasn't just some place you came to eat," he said. "You knew the people here, good old George and his whole family. How do you explain an institution?" He also loved the food, especially the Greek Spartan pork chops. "You could get whatever you felt like — saganaki or French onion soup," he said. "It didn't matter what you wanted, they had it. And it was always good. After coming here 15 years, I knew the whole menu but still had to look at it every time... What do we do now? Where are we going to go?" Hebron residents Linda and Rob Morgan were regulars who have been coming since the restaurant used to be a Big Boy hamburger restaurant decades ago. They ate at Broadway Cafe for breakfast, lunch and dinner often since there's "nothing" in Hebron. "It's good service, good food, just a good place," she said. Noting the Blues Brothers statues in the waiting room were for sale, she hinted to her husband that her birthday was coming up. The Broadway Cafe plans to auction off tables, chairs, fixtures and more, and will announce the date of the auction on its Facebook page. It sold out of T-shirts. People have repeatedly asked the family to share or sell recipes, but they will remain a family secret, family member Dina Vazanellis said. "Most of our customers have been coming in for a very long time," she said. "They have a lot of fond memories — first dates, graduations, anniversaries. A lot of people say their grandparents used to come here every day and it reminds them of their grandparents when they walk in. A lot of people have a lot of memories." One customer came in five times Sunday, just to soak up as much of the atmosphere as possible. "A lot of regulars coming in were family," she said. "We got to know them, and to know their families. Everybody's been coming in for years.

This is what I meant when I said I would miss Broadway Cafe. It was about more than just the food. It was a place we would go to for birthdays, after Summer drives with my family, I went there with my friends who I rarely see these days, with work colleagues,  I went all the time after morning classes at Meier Hall, I've taken my girlfriend there multiple times She loved it, it was the go to restaurant whenever my grandparents came to visit. It wasn't so much the food which I always thought was very good it was the memories the peope I ate with  the jokes a the laughter we shared, the conversations we had. That's why I'll miss this place the most. Thanks for the meals and for the memories!

[valpopal]

An interesting twist:


Broadway Cafe closes, owner on trial on charge of promoting gambling at the business




VALPARAISO — Just a week after shutting down the local Broadway Cafe after 23 years in operation, owner George Borovilos will stand trial this week on allegations of promoting a gambling operation out of the business.


The 67-year-old Valparaiso resident, who is charged with a single felony count of promoting professional gambling, is scheduled to appear Tuesday afternoon for jury selection in the courtroom of Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford.


The case, which resulted in charges against others as well in Porter and LaPorte counties, was triggered on Oct. 25, 2013 when a gaming control officer with Indiana Gaming Commission noticed what he believed to be gambling going on around him as he was having breakfast at the Broadway Cafe on U.S. 30 by Sturdy Road, according to court records.


"Prior to this date, I had no knowledge of any gambling/sports betting activity occurring at Broadway Cafe," the officer wrote in the charging information.


He said he witnessed a member of the kitchen staff placing bets in a nearby booth with another man wearing a fedora hat and an eye patch.


The officer said he was able to obtain a sports betting card known as a parlay card that allows customers to gamble on the outcome of professional and college football games, according to the charging information. He was given the card by a waitress, who carried them in a pocket in her smock.


The officer claims he returned to the business repeatedly through 2015 to place bets, police said. He said an employee told him along the way that the owner's wife does not like the gambling taking place on site.


The officer said on one visit in September 2015 he saw Borovilos sitting at a booth with a man known for taking bets at the restaurant, and the man was filling out parlay cards.


On the following day, Borovilos took betting cards from the officer and then handed them back after being informed it was too late to cast a bet, according to charging information.


Later that month, the officer was sitting near Borovilos at the restaurant when a waitress handed the officer two parlay cards, he said.


Borovilos is also accused in two incidents, one as late as Oct. 9, 2015, of acknowledging the betting going on in the restaurant by pointing it out to the officer, according to court documents.


Defense attorney Larry Rogers could not be reached Monday afternoon for comment on the case.


Police served search warrants in the case later in October 2015, targeting several individuals and the shop where the gambling cards were allegedly printed, according to court documents.

[VUGrad1314]

Wow this is sobering news... Perhaps the closure of the business and this case are related?

[vu72]

And Judge Roger Bradford is a Valpo law grad!  A little ironic!