By Vanessa Roach
The Red Rooster Café, located on Elk Street in Gassaway, resides in a building constructed in 1905. For many years the building housed the Gassaway Midland Department Store, and then it became the Braxton County Senior Center until a new facility was built.
The building had been empty for several years when my husband Ritchie and I were approached with the idea of purchasing it to establish a restaurant and build apartments. My husband always had an interest in having a restaurant; I tell people this was Ritchie’s dream and I’m living it.
We purchased the building in 2008 and set out to “demodel” the remodeling that had been done over the years. We removed the drop ceilings, took out the fluorescent lighting to expose the original tin ceilings, uncovered the 10-inch hemlock beams, removed several layers of floor coverings and painted and decorated. The Red Rooster Café, with its “Country French Quarters” atmosphere, opened for business the day after Thanksgiving of that year.
Dairus Davis, our cook, was the first person we hired. He has 18 years of experience in cooking and managing restaurants, and he does a great job on the grill.
The dishes we serve at the Red Rooster Café are recipes handed down from my family. My mother, grandmother, my aunts and even uncles were excellent cooks. I make all the Italian dishes, and the items on the menu are the items I have served in my home to family and friends over the years.
We run daily specials for lunch and always have a fresh homemade soup on the menu. On Friday and Saturday nights our special is West Virginia rainbow trout. All day on Fridays we serve a Mexican special of beef or chicken enchiladas with Spanish rice, a grilled taco, taco salad and nachos grande. On Sundays we host a buffet.
Meeting so many different people from all over—not just West Virginia but the United States as well—has been exciting and fun. Customers often tell us we’re the best-kept secret in West Virginia.
The Red Rooster Café’s hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call (304) 364-6023.
