From fast and simple food to gourmet cuisine, Patrick McDermott, owner of Everyday People Café, has made it all. The proprietor and his partners, Nate Cordes, Michael Wahle and Troy Myers, opened the cafe in late June, and they continue to bring their collective experience to the table for a new take on home-cooked comfort food. McDermott and lead server Sharron Baird believe Everyday People brings a little something for everyone.
Q. What experiences in the past led you to Everyday People Café?
A. McDermott: I started at Bob Evans and worked there through high school. Then I was at Reverends for about 5 minutes – one of the guys here in the kitchen with me, Chris, worked there for about a year and a half as the second in command back there. I have worked at a lot of places around town before coming here. Downtown, Fishbowl, Stone’s Throw, Pisanellos and several places that don’t even exist here anymore.
Baird: I worked with Pat for four years at the Corner Grill, so I transitioned here with him.
Q.Why did you choose Bowling Green for your restaurant?
A. McDermott: I started at the Corner Grill in 2000 and worked there until the fire in 2015. Working at the Corner Grill, my dream was always to buy the grill and do it better. I started trying to find money (for the restaurant), but it just wasn’t going to happen. When Nate and Wahle approached me with a new liquor license, we opened up just to serve drinks. It was very much a turn of luck and something I’ve wanted for a long time that just finally fell into my lap. I owe them a lot of credit.
Q. What inspired you to create the menu for Everyday People?
A. McDermott: I worked at Cohen and Cooke – probably the most high-end place this town has seen in a really long time. I worked there for two years and the chefs there showed me that it’s not just a job. There’s an art to even something just as simple as a plate of eggs and potatoes. If you put the time behind it, the simple little things will make it better.
My dream for this place was to take my Corner Grill experience and that Cohen and Cooke mentality and just smash the two together. Let’s do really simple comfort food, but let’s take those extra few minutes and that little bit of extra labor and love to make it a better product. It’s never just plain – nothing here is ever just out of the box or straight up. There will always be something we did to put some effort into it.
Q. What was the thought behind the decor and atmosphere of the place?
A. McDermott: We tried to make the place family-friendly and relaxing. The pictures on the walls are of my business partners and their families growing up. For the interior, Bob Shawl — a 30 handy man and Mr. Fix-it — built the mantle and the counter from the ground up. It’s such beautiful work. So, if you like how it looks in here, please thank Bob.
Q. What options do you offer for
customers with special diets?
A. McDermott: In addition to the two flavors of pastries, we have a gluten free option for our cupcakes and muffins. We make a lot of allowances in the kitchen so that we can have (gluten free options) on other items in our menu. We have a gluten free bread in house and gluten free flour that can be made into pancakes just as easily. If you’re willing to wait, I can even make you gluten free fried chicken. It’s not a problem at all.
Q. What about vegans or vegetarians?
A. McDermott: We have several things on the menu that cater to a veggie or vegan crowd. I don’t use odd fats in the kitchen, even though
I was tempted to because I’m a food dork.
There’s no concern that if you come for the veggie hash, there won’t be anything hidden in it. Even with the oil, you can know that it won’t be tainted from the beginning.
Q. Who makes up the crowd in Everyday People?
A. McDermott: I wanted to be here for everyone. We want this to be an okay place to bring your kids, but at the same time, if you’re still up at six on Saturday morning after a night, you can come here and get one or two last ones to send you to bed along with a big, full belly.
We tend to get a lot of students coming in around noon for breakfast when they’re rolling out of bed a little late while half the place is still full of people on their lunchbreaks. I want it to be available for everybody.
Baird: Students come here for some of the drinks but also really for the food. I love working here and being proud of what I’m serving as well. Definitely the homemade items would appeal to students who want something more towards the comforts of home.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. McDermott: I’d love it to become permanent, but I plan on being here for at least the length of the lease we signed, damn it. Since we opened up too late this year, I’d like to see us be a part of the Black Swamp Festival next year. I’d like us to be a part of the community like the Corner Grill never was. The grill was a place where a lot of people went to meet, and it was a hot spot of the culture of BG, but it didn’t try to play any sort of active role. I don’t want this place to fall behind like that. I want to be a part of the community and campus life here.
Baird: I’m going to be stepping into a management position soon, so I’ll be helping with the transition from then. Eventually we’d love to put a patio in and have some outdoor seating, so people can have a drink and some breakfast outside. I want it to be a place to come and have really great cocktails and really great food. I would really like to see more food diversity for people that like vegan and vegetarian options. It’s called Everyday People Café, and I want everyone to feel comfortable here.
For University students Alyssa Lupica and Laura Dworning, Everyday People Café provided a new and interesting place to bring their friends, like Caitlyn Sloan from Akron.
“I found out by word of mouth,” Lupica said. “I like it a lot. There’s no other place around here that’s like it.”
Lupica had only visited the café twice, but all three agreed this could be their new breakfast spot.
“We would normally be at Bob Evans or swiping into a dining hall, but we like coming here because it’s so different. And the mimosas!” Dworning added, raising her glass.
Everyday People Café is located on
South Main Street and is open
from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
For more information and a list of daily specials, visit their Facebook page @EverydayCafeBG.
