Brian MacDonald, left, one of the cooks at the Cheyenne Cafe in Joseph, chats with customers Wednesday, March 9, 2022, as they finish their lunch. The cafe planned to add a dinner menu to its offerings beginning March 11.

JOSEPH — Those who have enjoyed the Cheyenne Café’s breakfasts and lunches now can come back for dinner, since the popular Joseph eatery started serving the evening meals Friday, March 11.

“We’re adding the additional service to offer it to the locals in the community and take some of the seasonal stress off of the other establishments at dinnertime in the peak season,” said Kyle Sickles, who moved here recently just to start the venture.

Sickles moved here from Washington state about a month ago after working out a plan for Cheyenne dinners with its owner/operator Kara Meyers.

“Kara and I just started conversing via email and phone in November, talking about all this and then I moved up here from the Skagit Valley north of Seattle about a month ago,” Sickles said March 9.

The menu

Sickles, who was put in charge of the menu by Meyers, selected several items he believes will please the palates of hungry Wallowa County residents.

“I tried to incorporate a lot of more down-home, rustic stuff in the ingredients,” he said.

The menu includes items such as chicken and dumplings, turkey pot pie and Salisbury steak.

“They have a more homey feeling,” he said.

But there also are more high-class items with a local flavor such as red steelhead and T-bone steak. There’s also a standard deluxe burger and the Italian-American dish chicken Marsala.

While waiting for the entrée, customers can munch on appetizers such as garlic Parmesan fries, herb garlic bread, teriyaki barbecue skewers, broccoli cheddar dip, soups and salads.

Meyers, too, is eager to try the new menu.

“I’m very excited for him to do this,” she said. “It’s going to be great.”

Sickles said there also will be daily specials that rotate through the week. There will be brisket on Friday, pork loin on Saturday, lasagna on Sunday, meat loaf on Monday and prime rib on Tuesday.

To top it all off, there’s dessert.

“We have homemade vanilla ice cream every day,” he said. “We do a small batch. It’s a nice addition to all the pies and cakes we bake on a rotating basis, or if you want, just a big bowl of ice cream with toppings.”

Entrée prices range from $15-32.

“We’ve tried to price ourselves according to what other establishments in the area charge for comparable meals,” Sickles said.

The cook

Sickles said he’s always enjoyed cooking.

“I started cooking at a young age and wanted to learn more,” he said. “After learning more and working in restaurants — I worked in restaurants for quite a while, since I was 16 or 17. I enjoy feeding people. You don’t get to see it when you’re cooking, but when I used to wait tables, you see people come in and maybe they’re grumpy or grouchy and you can tell that they’re hungry. Then when they leave, you can tell that they’re satisfied, they’re content, they’re happy because they enjoyed some food. It’s nice to be able to provide that service for people and see what they get out of it.”

He got his associate’s degree at the Art Institute in Seattle before returning to the Skagit Valley to work in restaurants. He also ran an American fast-food truck for 10 years with a full espresso bar in a trailer.

Sickles said it was his family’s regular vacation trips to the Joseph area that caused him to fall in love with Wallowa County.

“I’ve always wanted to live here since I was really young,” he said.

Although he’s still years away from retirement, he’s thinking ahead.

“Recently, in the last couple of years, I decided I wanted to retire and live up here full time, so I may as well start now,” he said. “I might as well live where I want to retire.”

The café

Meyers, who has owned the Cheyenne for the past 15 years, said she reluctantly stopped offering dinners about 10 years ago.

“Dinners worked great,” she said. “I just couldn’t find enough help.”

She said the problem was finding people who could work seasonally.

“I try to keep my employees year around,” she said. “I’m hoping this will keep everybody employed through the winter, as well.”

She and Sickles said they’re also applying for a liquor license to serve beer and wine. That is still several weeks away, Sickles said.

The Cheyenne is open six days a week for breakfast and lunch — closed Thursdays — and five days for dinner — closed Wednesdays and Thursdays.

“We did it that way because there are a few establishments that are closed early in the week and this way, there’s another dinner option,” Sickles said. “There are other establishments people can frequent and patronize. It’s good to share.”

Meyers agreed that they don’t want to out-compete other eating establishments.

“We are hoping to get good business from locals and offer another place to eat,” she said. “We don’t want to take away from the competition … just offer another option. You can always use more places to eat for the tourists in the summer.”

Where: 209 N Main St, Joseph

Who: Kara Meyers, owner/operator

When: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday-Wednesday; 5-8:45 p.m. Friday-Tuesday

Phone: 541-432-6300

Online: Facebook

Email: karameyers73@gmail.com