GREENVILLE – The Brethren Retirement Community has reopened its newly remodeled café, offering residents, staff, families, and the public an updated dining space with expanded buffet options and all-new equipment and furnishings.
“We are really excited to welcome people back to see the new space and to try out all the options on the new buffet,” said Holly Hill, BRC vice president and chief marketing officer.
The renovated café features a 16-foot buffet with both hot and cold selections, along with soup wells and a fresh salad bar. Hill said BRC’s homemade soups remain a centerpiece of the menu.
“We are known for our homemade soups,” Hill said. “We make 20 gallons of homemade soup every day, which we serve to the residents and include in the buffet.”
Guests can also build their own salads with a variety of toppings, choose from a deli area to create custom subs, and enjoy daily hot entrees and rotating specialty bars.
“We always have the hot daily entrée and a special bar of the day,” Hill said. “Whether it be a Chinese food bar, a Mexican food bar, a sub bar, or a pizza bar. Hamburgers and fries are always popular with folks, and then we have a nice variety of desserts as well — pie, cookies, cakes, puddings — so always lots of desserts.”
Hill said the project had been in the works for several years.
“This has been in the planning for several years,” Hill said. “We ran into some tariff increases and had put the project on hold a little bit so the tariffs could slow down, and then we brought it back. There have been a lot of folks’ hands in the planning. This has been one of the biggest renovation projects that we have done because of the equipment side of things.”
While BRC regularly updates areas of its campus with cosmetic improvements such as paint, flooring, artwork, and furniture, Hill said this renovation was much more extensive because of the need to replace aging kitchen equipment.
“Some of the equipment that was in the cafeteria was original since 1973,” Hill said. “We had done a few small cosmetic updates over the years, but some of the equipment we replaced had lasted since 1973, so everything in here is brand new, from the equipment to the furnishings and everything in between.”
To help shape the new design, BRC staff toured other businesses with cafeteria-style service before settling on the large buffet concept.
“We came up with this big 16-foot buffet that has the hot and the cold sections with the soup wells in it as well, and it seemed to fit the space really well,” Hill said.
Hill noted the café is designed to serve a wide range of people, from student employees to adult staff, residents, and visitors.
“While it’s a 55-and-older community, we serve a lot of ranges of ages and abilities, so we try to accommodate those who have different needs,” Hill said.
The café is cashless and accepts credit, debit, and gift cards. Gift cards are also available for purchase, giving family members another way to treat loved ones living at BRC.
“It’s a great opportunity for resident families to purchase gift cards for their loved ones for a day or a holiday,” Hill said. “Then they can come in and get special things.”
Hill said the remodeled café also gives residents another dining option and a change of pace from BRC’s other on-campus venues.
“We have eight dining rooms in the building here that the residents can dine in, but they can also come to the cafeteria if they would rather choose their own entrée for the day,” Hill said. “In the main dining room that has the beautiful view of the pond, residents are able to order restaurant-style, and they have 15 entrée options at meal time, so it makes us a little different that the residents have such a variety of options to choose from. The food here is very good. We get a lot of compliments.”
The café is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9 a.m., lunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and supper from 3 to 5 p.m. On weekends, the café opens at 10 a.m., with no breakfast service on Saturday or Sunday.
For one or two guests, reservations are not needed. Hill said larger groups, such as families of six or eight, are asked to make reservations. The main dining room is also open to the public.
BRC used several local vendors during the renovation, including Sowers Construction, Marty McCabe Painting, G&G Floor Fashions, and Innovative Office Solutions, which provided furniture.
“We have great partnerships with a lot of the local vendors, and they helped us accomplish this renovation,” Hill said.
Hill emphasized that the café is not just for staff or residents, but for the entire community.
“Everybody is welcome,” Hill said. “It is very reasonably priced, and I think people like being able to go through and get exactly what they want. You get to pick your portion size and what you get. A lot of the comments we’re receiving are about the salad bar and that the salad bar makes it unique.”
She said some community members may still think of it as a staff cafeteria, but BRC wants people to know it is much more than that.
“A lot of people think this is the staff cafeteria — this is much more than a staff cafeteria,” Hill said. “Sure, our staff eats here, but it’s open to any of our residents in the main building or out in the village, and it is also for the general community as well. We welcome people to come in and try it out and see what they think.”
Oakwood Village resident Carol Bruss said the renovation has created an inviting atmosphere.
“When I first entered the newly remodeled café, I felt like I was entering a very nice restaurant,” Bruss said. “It is beautifully appointed, the food is tasty, and the price is reasonable.”
“The new cafe is lovely and nice,” said BRC resident Jodee Studebaker. “The decor and furniture go together very well, and the new setup opens up the whole area for all to enjoy.”
