BELLE FOURCHE—After a year of serving pancakes, eggs, sausage, omelets, bacon, toast and a variety of other breakfast favorites, the Breakfast Club celebrated its first year in business on February 1.
Just one year ago, Rhonda and Marty Schild took a chance on a new type of business and opened a cafe that specializes solely in breakfast food and is only open during breakfast hours. A year later, patrons are still showing up for early morning eats.
The day was marked by a robust turnout with a rush to get the daily special, a 6 oz sirloin, eggs and hash browns or home fries for $17.50. The special was sold out within just a few hours of opening.
The first year of a business can be hard. “It’s a learning curve, but the community has been great,” said Rhonda. “Our big thing is having a welcoming place and having quality food.”
The Schilds did have to make changes as the year rolled along. “We made quite a bit of changes, we changed up the menu. We remodeled and redecorated and different things like that,” explained Rhonda.
A small business is often as good as its staff and in the case of the Breakfast Club, Rhonda thinks she has found some keepers! “We’ve got a good, solid staff. They’re great. They work well together,” she said. “Both of my cooks are excellent cooks. My entire staff is awesome! My husband and I—he’s, in fact, in the back doing dishes as we speak! He and I come in and try to help out as much as possible.”
The biggest struggle for the first year of business has been finding and keeping quality staff. “Oh my goodness, we went through more staff in the year of this place than I’ve gone through in more than 12 years of owning the Outlaw,” said Rhonda.
But a quality staff is in place now. “The crew I have now, they are solid. They’ve actually—most of them have been here for six months,” said Rhonda.
The Breakfast Club currently employs five people with plans to hire more in the summer.
The restaurant seats about 55 customers, and the goal is for everyone to feel like they’re eating with friends and family. “We pride ourselves on excellent food in a home-like atmosphere, you will feel like home when you come in—we’ll razz you, we’ll tease you! We want you to feel welcome—that’s the big point,” said Rhonda.
You can find daily specials at the Breakfast Club and their hours are currently 5 a.m. to noon, seven days a week. Look for expanded hours in the summer.
The owners believe in supporting other small businesses in Belle Fourche and purchased much of the steak for the daily special from Lueders and much of their produce and dairy from Lynn’s. Rhonda shared, “We, as much as possible, we buy locally, of course!”
The Schilds are looking to expand their business during their off hours. They are moving into the private event space. Currently, they are putting together menu options for private events and have booked a graduation to cater in May.
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