Reinventing A Beloved, Hometown Cafe

Jack’s Cafe has for years been a tradition in Kenosha. A historic landmark loved by all. What a daunting task to take such a comforting and traditional cafe menu and make changes. And yet, the Andrea family has made change a tradition in their family and their business for generations. This is merely another step in creating a long lasting brand and company.

My name is Amy Sichmeller and I’m proud to be a member of the Jack’s Cafe family. Happenstance brought me together with Jack Andrea’s fourth generation, Annie Bruss, over a year ago. I had written my first cookbook and was looking for distribution in Kenosha. Of course, I started with what I consider the best hometown store in the area, Jack Andrea’s beautiful gift shop. Working with Annie proved to be a whirlwind of events, brainstorms, Google Docs and hard work paired with a lot of laughter!

2018 brought, I know, a lot of hard decisions for the Andrea family. Big change always does. I was very honored to be given a chance to reinvent and hopefully make profitable again this historic Kenosha landmark.

Here’s what you need to know about the new cafe:

The classics, our chicken salad, egg salad and tuna salad remain at the core of our menu. As we focus more on “clean labels,” we did tweak some of the recipes, omitting any high fructose corn syrup, MSG and artificial coloring. You’ll find that a trend in much of our new menu. Another mainstay, our homemade soups and chili are here to stay! In order to accommodate common food allergens and preferences we strive serve at least one gluten-free or vegan soup daily.  

The new menu has a greater emphasis on fresh, seasonal and healthy.  I would describe my cooking style as highly influenced by seasonality and whole, minimally processed ingredients. I love food with layers of flavor.  A well-seasoned dish should have sweet, salty, acidity and spice.

The layout of the cafe has changed but our customer service is still the number one priority. New friendly faces are here to make your dining experience comfortable and happy!

If you have not had the chance to visit Jack’s since the remodel, I personally invite you to do so. I believe in our vision, the dishes we are creating , and this staff of hard working and joyful young women.

We are Amy, Jenna, Janae, Jenny, Sydney, Delaney and Waverly.  We are the Jack’s girls and we hope to see you soon!