Greg Tougas said some Niederwald residents were relieved when he revived one of the few restaurants that exist on the strip of Hwy. 21 that passes through the town of about 550.

Not only does his restaurant, Tracy’s Cafe, provide one of the few sit-down restaurants in the area, it has also become something of a community center, Greg said.

Discussion of the day’s news, or whatever topics might be driving the conversations, has had an impact on the growth of his business, which came as a pleasant surprise to Greg, he said.

“When you wander in in the morning and everybody’s gumming it up about the latest issue and they bring you into the fold as a stranger, you come back,” Greg said. “There’s a business value to that, which I never knew existed.”

Greg and his wife, Tracy, opened Tracy’s Cafe on Nov. 8. Customers from Niederwald, Buda, Kyle, Uhland and Lockhart alike patronize the restaurant, which is open for breakfast and lunch as well as late Saturday afternoon, Greg said.

Breakfast offerings include omelets, fried eggs, breakfast tacos and pancakes. The lunch menu features burgers, sandwiches and salads. Much of the food is made in-house, including the hand-cut fries seasoned with rosemary. Greg said he cuts about 50 pounds of potatoes every two days.

He said the Classic Burger ($6.50) is the most popular item on the restaurant’s lunch menu, and he is trying to inform his customers about other menu options, such as the chicken parmesan sandwich and tuna salad melt, as well as lunch specials.

Greg said the community was lacking a dining establishment offering a homemade, all-American breakfast. The only other food establishment serving breakfast in the area is McDonald’s, Greg said.

“I love a good breakfast meal,” he said. “And the community seemed like it was crying out for it.”

But the previous two restaurants that operated in that space served only lunch and dinner, so it has taken time for previous customers to get used to the breakfast offerings, Greg said.

Even first-time guests have been invited in to the town hall-like atmosphere at Greg’s restaurant, he said. Tracy’s Cafe also adjusted its tables to encourage more social interaction.

He said that was dictated by what he and his wife were seeing each day in their restaurant. People who may have planned to dine by themselves sometimes wound up side-by-side with another customer.

Greg said the sense of community present in his restaurant is something he plans to build his business around.

“I don’t want a business that is all dollars and cents and burgers and fries,” he said. “If I wanted that I would get into a franchise with McDonald’s or [something] of that nature. I love the personality that this place has.”