Momma Jane’s Pancake House reopened Wednesday under “new” – actually previous – ownership after a three-week closure that had bereft customers taking to social media to mourn and wonder why.
Jane Sheppard, who owned Momma Jane’s from 1999 to 2010, recently took the business back from the woman she’d been selling it to on contract.
And now Sheppard, sitting at the community table right by the front door of the restaurant, had fun Wednesday joking about returning to the business she’d sold. She said she’d decided to market it as Momma Jane’s was going green and “recycling owners.”
But other than that, everything’s the same. Same hours, same menu, same employees. The business, at 900 W. Sixth St., is open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
Sheppard is cooking every day for now, but wants to hire another cook right away. “Apply in person,” she said to any would-be applicants.
“I was comfortably retired. Now I’m not. But it’s ok. It’s good. I love this place and we have an awesome little staff,” she said of the 10 employees.
She said, “I enjoy being retired, but I’m not going to leave this place unattended.”
She and her husband own a small farm in Hood River County, where, before their retirement, “we raised children and pears.”
None of their three children are in the restaurant business, she said.
Momma Jane’s started in the 1960s as Pat’s Pancake House, owned by Pat Lutje. It’s been through six owners.
Sheppard only intends to run the business for another year, and then she’ll re-retire.
The story of how the business got its name hinges on the word “The.”
It had run for years as Pat’s Pancake House, and Sheppard had named it “The Pancake House,” but was only using that as a business name under a separate corporation. But a business in Tillamook incorporated as “The Pancake House,” giving it exclusive rights to the name.
She was casting about for a new name, when she got an assist from a customer. For years, a retired trooper named Harrison Boles had come in every morning and he’d say “Hey Momma Jane, how you doing?’” Sheppard recounted. And so the business name was born.
After her five and a half year hiatus, Sheppard still saw some regulars Wednesday. “Our customer base didn’t change,” she said.
“People get very attached to this place for some reason,” she said.
But then again, she loves it too. “I have an affinity for fun.” She worked at the pancake house for three years before she bought it in 1990. “It was the funnest place I’d ever worked. People here bring their sense of humor and their appetite and it’s fun and that’s all you can ask of a breakfast house. We’re not fine dining, we have breakfast and lunch.”
She said, “Some people have been coming in every day for 40 years, sometimes twice a day.”
As she sat at the community table, she said, “This table has been here through every incarnation. If this table could talk, your ears would burn off from the stories.”
She had a crew of retired men who were such faithful customers she ended up giving them a key to the place. They’d let themselves in — before the doors opened at 6 a.m. —make coffee, clean up after themselves, leave cash to pay for their coffee, and lock up after they left.
“Life gets no better than that,” she said.
Asked if they were good tippers, she said, “No they weren’t good tippers. Are you kidding? They were coffee drinkers. They were entertainment.”
All of the men – who she can name, and can still picture at each space they always sat at – are gone now.
“There has not been another group of old guys to take their place,” she said.
Another time, a group of temporarily displaced old retired guys whose main early-morning hangout, Johnny’s Café, was closed for repairs, came and usurped the community table where the Momma Jane’s old retired guys usually sat at.
There was harrumphing and scowls, and the Johnny’s crowd never did come back, Sheppard said.
Another time, she decided to mess with the regulars and replaced their kidney-shaped community table with two smaller tables, placing high chairs all around for them.
The community table can sit 10 or 11 -- “12 if you’re friendly.”
And while she finds herself back in the saddle, it’s an easier go of it this time. “I know what I’m doing this time,” she said.
Sheppard learned about a month ago that the owner who was buying the business on contract had stopped making insurance payments.
That was a breach of contract, Sheppard said, so she took the business back.
She had to have the woman trespassed from the business late Tuesday morning.
The woman had claimed she owned property still at the business, according to police logs. A little more than an hour later, the woman, Kristina Marie Long, 43, was arrested on charges of telephonic harassment after her mother called police to report she had phoned her after being told not to by police. Long was released Tuesday after posting bail.
Long worked at the restaurant for three years prior to buying the business, Sheppard said. She described her as a “dynamo”who grew up in restaurants and knew the business well. “I dearly love her,” Sheppard said of Long.
This brief three-week closure is nothing compared to the time years ago Momma Jane’s was closed for six months after an attic fire forced a full remodel.
Customers flooded back as soon as it reopened, she said. Business on Wednesday was “off and on.”
“We did no advertising. We did a soft opening to see how it goes,” she said.
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