Shelley Smith and Patty Williams maintain a simple reason for opening Dearborn Café. “Everywhere we went, everybody said they hated not having a restaurant in town,” Smith said. “It was just sitting here, so we thought we would give it a try.”

Officially opened in late August, Dearborn Café sits in a familiar building at 101 E. First St. in Dearborn, Mo. The Smith family owns the property, which has previously served as a bar and restaurant but sat empty for the past year and a half.

That came to an end when the two Dearborn residents decided to make a go of the food business in their hometown.

Smith and Williams bought all new equipment, added a new porch and did a lot of painting and touch up. Smith said everything except the bar is new, but the restaurant does not serve alcohol and does not allow smoking.

“There’s not a place that hasn’t been touched with bleach water,” she added.

The Dearborn Café is open seven days a week with hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. Breakfast runs until 10:30 a.m. with lunch running until close. The breakfast menu features the usual fare of eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, etc., while the lunch menu features daily specials, which will be consistent on each day except Thursday and Saturday. Those days will be a chef’s choice.

So far, Smith said the tenderloin sandwich and fried pickles have been popular.

The building still doesn’t have any signage up and most of the business, which has been steady, comes from Facebook postings and word of mouth. There have been some minor issues since the official opening, but Smith said the patrons have been very understanding and grateful to have an option that doesn’t involve driving north St. Joseph or south to Platte City or even further to Kansas City.

Most of the staff consists of family members at this point, but with the building family owned, Smith hopes the simple idea allows the restaurant to have staying power in Dearborn.

“We’re just a country café,” she said. “There’s nothing special about it. Everybody’s friendly. We pretty much no everybody.”

Customers with questions can contact Dearborn Café at (816) 992-0117.