The Shadow
COVINGTON, Va. (VR) – In a dining scene crowded with big chains and frozen fare, The City’s Cafe and Brewery is betting its future on something increasingly rare, a truly family-operated restaurant built on fresh, homemade food and small-town community.
Owner Jeannie Boguess opened City’s Cafe last August after months of work turning a former pool hall into a warm, welcoming space. The name itself was born at her kitchen table.
“I always said I wanted a diner,” she recalled. “My husband said, ‘Why don’t we just call it the City’s Cafe?’ and I thought that was a great idea. So really, he came up with the name.”
Jeannie is no stranger to the industry. She previously owned a restaurant in West Virginia and is no stranger to management positions, but this venture, she said, is different. It is built not only on her experience, but on her entire family’s labor and love.
City’s Café and Brewery is, in the truest sense, a family operation. Her husband runs a garage and U-Haul dealership in town, but helped build out the restaurant. Her grandchildren work in nearly every role.
“My grandson cooks in the back with me, and Molly does, too,” she said. “I’ve got grandsons and granddaughters up front, another granddaughter doing dishes, and a few more grandsons getting ready to start. That’s what it mostly is, just family in there.”
Their goal is to make customers feel like they are stepping into a relative’s kitchen. “I wanted people to come and enjoy good home-cooked fresh food and feel like you’re coming home to eat,” Boguess said.
That home-cooked focus starts with the cafe’s signature item, burgers. Inspired by the classic diner burgers she grew up loving in White Sulphur Springs, Jeannie insists on fresh, never frozen meat.
“I go get fresh meat every other day,” she said. “We never freeze it. It’s not in my refrigerator for very long periods of time.”
From there, nearly everything is made from scratch: macaroni salad, potato salad, coleslaw, chicken salad, chili, meatballs, rolls, soups, sauces, and desserts. The meatloaf, a standout with regulars, is an old family recipe. Hand-cut fries are sliced to order from locally sourced potatoes. “When you order a burger, I cut a potato,” she said. “That’s your order of fries.”
Local suppliers play a key role. City’s Cafe buys fresh vegetables from area growers and steaks from Bartley’s for its popular Saturday steak night. This special features a 10-ounce ribeye, Caesar salad, homemade roll, and baked potato, cut and prepared fresh each week.
The atmosphere matches the menu. Old Westerns like “Gunsmoke” play on the TV, and the former pool hall’s history often sparks conversations among patrons who remember spending time there in their youth.
“We’ve kind of lost the sense of family and community,” Jeannie said. “I want families to come in, sit around, eat, and laugh. We have older couples whose children and grandchildren aren’t home anymore, and they come in and talk with other tables. It just makes my heart happy to see the community be together.”
Getting to this point has not been easy. Jeannie and her family spent months traveling across West Virginia and Virginia to track down used equipment they could afford, then hauling, cleaning, and installing it themselves. Even the waitress station bears the mark of the next generation; her grandson, nine at the time, painted it himself.
Business has had its challenges. Breakfast service, built around homemade biscuits, gravy, and home fries, had to be discontinued when customers didn’t come in early.
Jeannie has since joined the Chamber of Commerce and local promotions to help get the word out.
Despite the long hours and uncertainty, she remains focused on the same simple promise, family, fresh food, and community.
“It was family started, it’s family worked, and we try to use local fresh ingredients,” she said. “I just want people to come in and try us one time. I’m sure they’ll be back.”
