MARCH 29TH, BREAKFAST or LUNCH, 10:00 AM, SUMMERSET HALL CAFE, DOVER, KS‬

[Al Hayes]

This week’s pick may be very interesting to some of us. It had been thought that this cafe was closed until I called to find out if they were still open. My findings were that the Cafe has recently changed hands and is now open for business. An interesting side note to all of this, is that the new owner is no stranger to our Romeo Riders. Lo and behold the new owner, Becky, is a cousin to a couple of our Romeo riders that most of us know well, Janet & Tadd from Independence, Kansas. We thank you, Becky, for keeping our favorite Cafe alive!!!

To promote Becky’s new adventure, here is some history of interest. The building here began as the Sage General Store in the late 1800s. The owner, Alfred Sage, named it “Sommerset Hall” after his birthplace in Somersetshire, Bristol, England. The Oddfellows Lodge began meeting in the upstairs in 1902 and purchased the building in 1905. The Dover Lodge (I.O.O.F #490) still meets in Sommerset Hall today.
The Cafe, which occupies the lower floor of the building, became nationally famous in November 2008 when Good Morning America Weekend announced that the Coconut Cream Pie baked by Sommerset Hall Cafe's Norma Grubb was the winner of their Best Slice Challenge. The notoriety increased demand for the pies to the point that whole pies could no longer be purchased, and the slices of pie must be eaten in the Cafe. Norma only baked about 8 pies a day, wanting her customers to be able to enjoy a slice of pie with their meals.

Angela is now the new pie maker for “Summerset Hall Cafe” I can personally recommend that the pies made by Angela can still steal your heart away. She has earned her own notoriety by keeping the heritage of “Summerset Hall Cafe in Dover, Ks. alive and well. So, let’s saddle up to go meet the new owner, Becky, and try a piece of some “Notorious” pie. “Happy Trails, and hope to see you all there!

SUMMERSET HALL CAFE
5701 SW Douglas Road
Dover, Topeka Ks 66610
(785) 256-6223

Here is the link to all scheduled Romeo Rides:
https://tinyurl.com/wd4hsez

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The old Sage General Store in the late 1800s.

Todays “Sommerset Hall,” was named after Alfred Sage's birthplace in Somersetshire, Bristol, England.

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[Al Hayes]

What a beautiful day to ride, started off a little frigid but warmed up rather quickly. I was able to meet the new owner, Becky, for the first time today. If I were a gambling man I would bet that she is going to make this place the talk of the town again.

We had many riders turn out to take advantage of this beautiful day. The last count I took was 30 riders when I got distracted and quit counting. Swanee said that he had counted 19 bikes. The ladies who waited on us did a fabulous job bringing out our delicious meals. With locals and all, we literally filled the place with just a few seats left.

Now let’s look to the evidence of what just took place today!

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Congratulation to the proud new owner, Becky!!!

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Angela, pie maker "Extraordinaire."

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Missy, our waitress who always serves with a smile.