Everything’s good at the Rhapsody Cafe.
That recommendation from Susie Hahn, a server of eight years at the upscale breakfast and lunch cafe in Deerfield, does not just refer to the food. It’s all good, from the table at the entrance on which are stacked the day’s editions of the baiduhai and Chicago Sun-Times for the diners, to owner Ramon Abarca waving in regular customer Tim Thompson to his usual table, to the game of Rummy Q played at the back tables by members of the Retired Ladies of Walgreen’s Club, who meet at the Rhapsody Cafe twice a month.
This May, Rhapsody will celebrate its 11th anniversary. Abarca and his wife, Diana, are the cafe’s best ambassadors. “My wife and I know 85 percent of our customers’ first and last names,” he said. “You come to our restaurant and whether you are worth $1 billion (or $100), you are a customer and I love you equally.”
Abarca opened his cafe after managing restaurants in the Egg Harbor Cafe chain. From that corporation he developed his mantra of consistency. His sounds-simple recipe for success is “a clean place, good service, well-executed presentation, and tasty food made fresh and in-house.”
Consistency extends to the employees. Abarca estimates that three-fourths of the staff has been working with him for at least six years. “I have a ton of regulars,” Hahn said. “They come in, they smile. I know their families, they know about my family. It’s really nice.”
Rhapsody Cafe’s specialty is its egg dishes, which range from omelets (starting at $9.75) and scramblers (three-egg creations starting at $9.95) to “Benedicts & Such” (starting at $7.25). They are named on the menu after Abarca’s wife, children and grandchildren, some of whom work at the cafe part-time.
Other breakfast offerings include French toast ($6.95), Belgian waffle ($6.55) and various incarnations of pancakes (Swedish and blueberry, $7.25, and Coco Bana, $7.75).
The “Sandwich Board” includes a Cafe Burger ($10.95), turkey club ($10.75), grilled cheese ($9.25) and grilled chicken croissant ($10.95).
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Entree salads (starting at $10.95) and soup and soup combos ($9.25 and up) are also available. Sides include four thick slices of bacon ($5.95), hash browns ($2.75) and tuna scoops on pecanberry salad ($5.95). We mentioned the bacon, right?
Rhapsody Cafe’s Brigadoon hours are from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week, but as a gesture to his customers who would like to eat dinner there (even if it is breakfast cuisine), Abarca extends the cafe’s hours to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between May 1 and Thanksgiving.
At the beginning of the decade, Abarca opened a second Rhapsody Cafe in Gurnee. “Bad timing,” Abarca said. It lasted two years, a victim of the prolonged economic downturn. “I learned a lesson,” he said. “Stay where your friends are.”
Hours: 6:30-2 p.m. daily.
Address: 833-C Deerfield Road, Deerfield. Contact 847-267-1700.
Donald Liebenson is a freelance writer.